It’s A Wonderful Life [DVD] [2016]

Product Information

Michael, Paul, ed. The Great Movie Book: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference Guide to the Best-loved Films of the Sound Era. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-13-363663-1.

You don't have to be a technical expert to immediately notice the striking improvement of the picture AND sound in this 2006 edition. The print is crystal-clear and in my view, has more vividness and sharpness than ALL other previous releases of this title on home video. Computer Gaming World said in April 1994, "The picture quality still has a way to go before it reaches television standards", but was "a noble effort" that would "please fans of the film". [100] DVD and Blu-ray [ edit ] Due to the requirements of filming in an "alternate reality", as well as different seasons, the exterior set was extremely adaptable. RKO studio's head of special effects, Russell Shearman, developed a new compound using water, soap flakes, foamite, and sugar to create "chemical snow" for the film. Before then, movie snow was usually made from untoasted cornflakes, which were so loud when stepped on that dialogue had to be redubbed afterwards. [42] [43]Capra has always been a manipulative director and definitely tugs the heartstrings in It’s a Wonderful Life, but the story is so compelling, we easily fall into its charm. A film that starts as a fantasy like Here Comes Mr. Jordan or A Guy Named Joe becomes more than an angel-come-to-Earth tale and, in fact, gets pretty dark before emerging into the light. Capra balances the film nicely, making Clarence more a guide for George than a major part of the story. The alternate life shown is grim, with George’s mother closing the door in his face because he’s a stranger to her, Violet reduced to a sordid life, his old employer now the town drunk, his younger brother dead, and the new homes financed by the building and loan now a cemetery. Yet the film is one of the greatest feel-good pictures of all time. It is commonly believed that the characters of Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the cabdriver. However, in a correction for the 1999 "Annual Xmas Quiz" in the San Francisco Chronicle, which made this claim, series writer Jerry Juhl confirmed that, per producer Jon Stone, the shared names were merely a coincidence. [126] Despite this, the 1996 holiday special Elmo Saves Christmas references the rumor, during a scene where Bert and Ernie walk by a TV set, which is playing the movie. The pair are surprised by the line: "Bert! Ernie! What's the matter with you two guys? You were here on my wedding night!"

H. B. Warner, who was cast as Mr. Gower, the pharmacist, had studied medicine before going into acting. He was also in some of Capra's other films, including Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, You Can't Take It with You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. [35] In the silent era, he had played the role of Jesus Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). The name Gower came from Capra's employer Columbia Pictures, which had been located on Gower Street for many years. Also on Gower Street was a drugstore that was a favorite for the studio's employees. [36] Cox, Stephen. " On a Wing and a Prayer". Los Angeles Times December 23, 2006: E-1. Web. January 9, 2012.

Schultz, Barbara (June 7, 2014). "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie". commonsensemedia.org . Retrieved September 16, 2020. The film's elevation to the status of a beloved classic came three decades after its initial release, when it became a television staple during Christmas season in 1976. [74] This came as a welcome surprise to Frank Capra and others involved with its production. "It's the damnedest thing I've ever seen", Capra told The Wall Street Journal in 1984. "The film has a life of its own now, and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I'm like a parent whose kid grows up to be President. I'm proud ... but it's the kid who did the work. I didn't even think of it as a Christmas story when I first ran across it. I just liked the idea." [75] In a 1946 interview, Capra described the film's theme as "the individual's belief in himself" and that he made it "to combat a modern trend toward atheism". [75] It ranked 283rd among critics, and 107th among directors, in the 2012 Sight & Sound polls of the greatest films ever made. [76] Granted, there are some imperfections in this divine film, just as a Persian carpet always contains a flaw. For me the initial levity of Clarence as a blinking star is a bit too cute after the stage is set up by the people of Bedford Falls on bended knee entreating for divine intervention for George. But once Henry Travers shows up as Clarence in person that is rectified (I like the way he tells George, "You've never been born," as if what was about to happen was the most natural thing in the world. However, the errors I recall now with regards to this film are my own. The first couple of times I saw the film I thought that Mr. Potter showed up at the end to join in the festivities because the magic of Christmas was such that even his heart grew to the right size. For years I was convinced that when they are searching Uncle Billy's hovel for the missing money and it looks like somebody will be going to prison that George not only says "It's not going to be me," but adds "for once in my life it is not going to be me."