"George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life) George Bailey is a fictional character and the protagonist in Frank Capra's 1946 film ""It's a Wonderful Life"". The character is a building and loan banker who sacrifices his dreams in order to help his community, to the point where he feels life has passed him by. Eventually, due to a cruel business rival's manipulations, Bailey falls into despair so deep that he contemplates suicide, until his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, gives him a valuable perspective on the worth of his life. The character was listed ninth on the American Film Institute's 2003 list"
"final Frank Capra production, ""It's a Wonderful Life ""(1946). The role was Stewart's first since returning from service in World War II, during which he experienced what is now recognized as post-traumatic stress disorder. Capra paid RKO for the rights to the story and formed his own production company, Liberty Films. The female lead went to Donna Reed when Capra's perennial first choice, Jean Arthur, was unavailable, and after Ginger Rogers, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Dvorak, and Martha Scott had all turned down the role. Stewart appeared as George Bailey, an upstanding small-town man who becomes increasingly frustrated by his"
"Life"" premiered at the Globe Theatre in New York on December 20, 1946, to mixed reviews. While Capra thought the contemporary critical reviews were either universally negative, or at best dismissive, ""Time"" said, """"It's a Wonderful Life"" is a pretty wonderful movie. It has only one formidable rival (Goldwyn's ""The Best Years of Our Lives"") as Hollywood's best picture of the year. Director Capra's inventiveness, humor, and affection for human beings keep it glowing with life and excitement."" Bosley Crowther, writing for ""The New York Times"", complimented some of the actors, including Stewart and Reed, but concluded that ""the weakness"
"""It's a Wonderful Life"" (1946) and ""Miracle on 34th Street"" (1947). Moviefone listed the two movies as number two and three respectively in their ""25 Best Christmas Movies of All Time"". ""The Times"" of London, in a similar ranking, had the two in tenth and eight respectively, while placing fourth 1942's ""Holiday Inn"", the movie that launched Bing Crosby's ""White Christmas"". Particularly Frank Capra's ""It's a Wonderful Life"", starring James Stewart has been called ""a testament to the family values of small-town America just after WWII."" ""Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"" (1964) regularly appears on lists of the worst films"
"Life Is Beautiful Life Is Beautiful ( ) is a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his fertile imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was partially inspired by the book ""In the End, I Beat Hitler"" by Rubino Romeo Salmonì and by Benigni's father, who spent two years in a German labour camp during World War II. The film was a critical and financial success, despite criticisms"
"wins for the Academy Award for Best Director in the 1930s and 40s for films such as ""It's a Wonderful Life"" (1946). Capra produced the four films that were televised from 1956–1958. The second four films were produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, with veteran filmmaker Owen Crump in charge; these were televised between 1958 and 1962. The final film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and televised in 1964. Each special explored a single subject in detail. The host for the first eight films was Dr. Frank C. Baxter, a USC professor of English and television personality who played the"
"Isn't Life Wonderful! </ref> Isn't Life Wonderful! is a 1953 British Technicolor comedy film directed by Harold French. It was released in the U.S. as Uncle Willie's Bicycle Shop, the title of Brock Williams original 1948 novel based on his boyhood experiences. An Edwardian family must deal with its black sheep, the alcoholic Uncle Willie (Donald Wolfit). In Edwardian England, alcoholic Uncle Willie (Donald Wolfit) is an embarrassment to his family. Head of the household father (Cecil Parker), decides to set Willie up as the manager of a bicycle shop, hoping to impress visiting American heiress Virginia van Stuyden (Dianne"
"a Wonderful Life"" (1946) and ""Stairway to Heaven"" (1946), perhaps tapping into so many people's experience of loss of loved ones and offering a kind of consolation."" In December 2017, a digitally restored version was shown in British Cinemas. Kevin Maher, writing in ""The Times"", said the restoration was ""crisp"" whilst describing the film as being a ""..definitive fantasy classic"" and also as ""essential viewing."" The Academy Film Archive preserved ""A Matter of Life and Death"" in 1999. According to Powell in his ""A Life in Movies"", the United States was the only market in which the film's name was"
"Donna Reed Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American film and television actress and producer. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra's 1946 film ""It's a Wonderful Life."" In 1953, she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Lorene Burke in the war drama ""From Here to Eternity"". Reed is probably most widely known for her work in television, notably as Donna Stone, a middle-class"
"A Double Life (1947 film) A Double Life is a 1947 film noir which tells the story of an actor whose mind becomes affected by the character he portrays. It stars Ronald Colman and Signe Hasso. It is directed by George Cukor, with screenplay by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. Ronald Colman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in this film. Celebrated stage actor Anthony ""Tony"" John, riding high on the success of his current comedy ""A Gentleman's Gentleman,"" is offered the lead in a new production of Shakespeare's ""Othello"" by theatrical producer Max Lasker. Lasker"
"Wonderful Life (1964 film) Wonderful Life (US: Swingers' Paradise) is a 1964 British film made as a vehicle for pop star Cliff Richard and is the third (although the least successful) in a series of film musicals that included ""The Young Ones"" and ""Summer Holiday"". Written by Peter Myers and Ronald Cass, directed by Sidney J. Furie, choreographed by Gillian Lynne, it also stars Susan Hampshire, Una Stubbs, Melvyn Hayes, Richard O'Sullivan, Gerald Harper and The Shadows. The movie was filmed in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria city in Spain, and the ""desert"" scenes shot on Maspalomas sand dunes on"
"films, (2) make four former Army officers independently rich, and (3) virtually prove fatal to my professional career."" Liberty Films Liberty Films was an independent motion picture production company founded in California by Frank Capra and Samuel J. Briskin in April 1945. It produced only two films, the Christmas classic ""It's a Wonderful Life"" (1946), originally released by RKO Radio Pictures, and the film version of the hit play ""State of the Union"" (1948), originally released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Liberty Films' logo was a big church bell chiming loudly. Capra had made two previous attempts at independent production. He formed Frank"
"of film. Wonderful Life (1964 film) Wonderful Life (US: Swingers' Paradise) is a 1964 British film made as a vehicle for pop star Cliff Richard and is the third (although the least successful) in a series of film musicals that included ""The Young Ones"" and ""Summer Holiday"". Written by Peter Myers and Ronald Cass, directed by Sidney J. Furie, choreographed by Gillian Lynne, it also stars Susan Hampshire, Una Stubbs, Melvyn Hayes, Richard O'Sullivan, Gerald Harper and The Shadows. The movie was filmed in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria city in Spain, and the ""desert"" scenes shot on Maspalomas sand"
"career. In the ""wishing"" scene outside the old Granville house, Capra was surprised to see Reed accurately throw a stone to break a window, a skill she acquired playing baseball with her brothers on their Iowa farm. Mary Hatch Mary Hatch Bailey is a fictional character in Frank Capra's 1946 film ""It's a Wonderful Life"". She is the high school sweetheart and later wife of protagonist George Bailey (played by James Stewart as an adult and Bobby Anderson as a child). Mary is played by Donna Reed as an adult and Jean Gale as a child. She is loosely based"
"1946 classic film ""It's a Wonderful Life."" Author Philip Van Doren Stern said in a 1946 interview, ""Incidentally, the movie takes place in Westchester County. Actually, the town I had in mind was Califon, N.J."" The historic iron bridge in Califon is similar to the bridge that George Bailey considered jumping from in the movie. Califon became a regional household name when frequently mentioned by Merv Griffin on his TV show during the 1970s. He and his wife Juliette owned a home in nearby Lebanon Township, which had a Califon mailing address, and, while they were married, they were often"
"was as James Stewart's somewhat befuddled but kind-hearted guardian angel Clarence Odbody in Frank Capra's 1946 film ""It's a Wonderful Life"". Traver's character saves Stewart's from committing suicide, and shows him how wonderful his life really is. Though the film was a financial flop, it later became a Christmas classic and one of the most beloved films in American cinema. However, despite his long life, Travers would never know that his performance as Clarence would become his most celebrated, as the film only became a Christmas television perennial in the 1970s and 1980s, long after the actor's death. Travers retired"
"by Walker himself to be his replacement. Although having worked with three cinematographers had been difficult for Capra, it turned out very well in Walker's opinion, because the scenes each had shot were so different that he felt that Biroc's didn't have to match his or Milner's visual style. According to a 2006 book, ""A spate of movies appeared just after the ending of the Second World War, including ""It's a Wonderful Life"" (1946) and ""Stairway to Heaven"" (1946), perhaps tapping into so many people's experience of loss of loved ones and offering a kind of consolation."" ""It's a Wonderful"
"It's a Wonderful Life (2007 film) It's a Wonderful Life is a 2007 Hong Kong comedy film written, directed by and starring Ronald Cheng, who makes his directorial debut. The film co-stars Tony Leung, Vincent Kok, Alex Fong, Teresa Mo and Louisa So. The Jade Emperor (Patrick Dunn) is offering a reward for a proposal plan to promote the economy of Heaven. When Thunder God (Ronald Cheng), who known for his cleverness, submits his proposal to the Jade Emperor, Thunder God's girlfriend, the Saint of Nine Heavens (Mia Yam), reveals that thirty years ago, Thunder God once descended to Earth"
"(who decided to direct ""It's a Wonderful Life"" instead); later that year producer-director Roy Del Ruth acquired the story. The casting of Ann Harding and Victor Moore was announced in June 1946, Don DeFore and Gale Storm in July, and filming proceeded from August 5 to mid-October 1946. The production schedule and Christmastime climax of the story suggest a Christmas release was originally planned, but for whatever reason, the movie's release was delayed until Easter 1947. The screenplay was adapted for a radio version on ""Lux Radio Theater"" in May 1947, with Don DeFore, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, and Gale"
"Mr. Potter Henry F. Potter (commonly referred to as ""Mr. Potter"" or just ""Potter"") is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1946 Frank Capra film ""It's a Wonderful Life"". He occupies slot #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Greatest Villains in American film history (in its 2003 list entitled AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains). Mr. Potter was portrayed by veteran actor Lionel Barrymore. Both Dan Duryea and Charles Bickford were considered for the role of ""Potter"". In 1931 Lionel Barrymore won an Academy Award for Best Actor in ""A Free Soul"","
"""Lifetime Achievement"" Award for his role as little ""Tommy Bailey"" in the 1946 classic, ""It's a Wonderful Life"", and during the Christmas season of 1997, he produced a holiday special for the Public Broadcasting Service. During the late 1990s, as ""It's a Wonderful Life"" enjoyed a revival of interest nationally, Hawkins and Paul Peterson wrote the """"It's a Wonderful Life"" Trivia Book"". Hawkins explains the durability of ""It's a Wonderful Life"": ""Well, the reason it caught on was that the film fell into public domain. Somebody at the studio let the copyright go, and television stations all over the country"
"a Wonderful Life"". He later won two music Oscars for the non-Capra film ""High Noon"". Bosley Crowther, the film critic for ""The New York Times"" noted that John Willoughby was just the latest of the everyman that Frank Capra had portrayed in earlier films. Crowther wrote: In the ""Variety"" review, there was a more critical look at the plot: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: ""Meet John Doe"" was dramatized as a radio play on the September 28, 1941 broadcast of The Screen Guild Theater, starring Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward Arnold in their"
"$10,000. Capra adapted the story into ""It's a Wonderful Life"" in 1946. In December 1946, James Stewart, who played George Bailey in the film wrote to Van Doren Stern, calling the story ""an inspiration to everyone concerned with the picture... the fundamental story was so sound and right."" Philip Van Doren Stern Philip Van Doren Stern (September 10, 1900 – July 31, 1984) was an American author, editor, and Civil War historian whose story ""The Greatest Gift"", published in 1943, inspired the classic Christmas film ""It's a Wonderful Life"" (1946). Philip Van Doren Stern was born in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania into"
"It Was a Wonderful Life It Was a Wonderful Life is a 1993 documentary film about homeless women in the United States. It won the Gold Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. It was also nominated for an award by the International Documentary Association and for Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival. The film follows six homeless women who were once part of the middle class and explores what caused them to become homeless. It was narrated by Jodie Foster. Lou Hall, one of the homeless women in the film, took her own life on November 7,"
"ordinary existence and financial troubles. Driven to suicide on Christmas Eve, he is led to reassess his life by Clarence Odbody, an ""angel, second class"" played by Henry Travers. Although ""It's a Wonderful Life"" was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Stewart's third Best Actor nomination, it received mixed reviews and only disappointingly moderate success at the box office. However, in the decades since the film's release, it grew to define Stewart's film persona and is widely considered as a sentimental Christmas film classic and, according to the American Film Institute, one of the 100 best American movies ever made."
"In an interview with Michael Parkinson in 1973, Stewart declared that out of all the movies he had made, ""It's a Wonderful Life"" was his favorite. After viewing the film, President Harry S. Truman concluded, ""If Bess and I had a son we'd want him to be just like Jimmy Stewart."" In the aftermath of the film, Capra's production company went into bankruptcy, while Stewart started to have doubts about his ability to act after his military hiatus. His father kept insisting he come home and marry a local girl. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, his generation of actors were fading and"
"Mary Hatch Mary Hatch Bailey is a fictional character in Frank Capra's 1946 film ""It's a Wonderful Life"". She is the high school sweetheart and later wife of protagonist George Bailey (played by James Stewart as an adult and Bobby Anderson as a child). Mary is played by Donna Reed as an adult and Jean Gale as a child. She is loosely based on Mary Pratt, a character in Philip Van Doren Stern's ""The Greatest Gift"". Mary Hatch is one of the most famous female characters in movie history. Mary Hatch is the younger sister of Marty Hatch, a friend"
"as noted earlier, worked on the Manhattan Project) on the 1947 MGM film ""The Beginning or the End"", which dealt with the history and concerns of the atom bomb. Reed helped provide the story but did not appear in the final film. Reed was top billed in a romantic comedy ""Faithful in My Fashion"" (1946) with Tom Drake which lost money. MGM lent her to RKO Pictures for the role of Mary Bailey in Frank Capra's ""It's a Wonderful Life."" The film has since been named as one of the 100 best American films ever made by the American Film"
"by professionals from Hollywood and New York City. Hawkins was also close to ""It's a Wonderful Life"" star Jimmy Stewart, who signed for various charities six copies of a commemorative 50th anniversary book on the classic film. Hawkins picked up the books at Stewart's Beverly Hills home on July 3, 1997, the day after Stewart's death at the age of eighty-nine. Hawkins also worked with Stewart again in the 1950 film ""Winchester '73"", which was partially filmed at Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona. And Stewart wrote the foreword to Hawkins' previous ""It's a Wonderful Life Trivia Book"". Hawkins said"
"It's a Wonderful World (1939 film) It's a Wonderful World (1939) is a romantic screwball comedy-mystery, starring Claudette Colbert and James Stewart and directed by W. S. Van Dyke. Private detective Guy Johnson (James Stewart) is well paid to watch over Willie Heywood (Ernest Truex), a wealthy man who likes to drink a bit too much and gets into trouble as a result. However, when Heywood's recent ex-girlfriend Dolores Gonzalez (Cecilia Callejo) makes a public nuisance of herself over their relationship, a drunk Heywood goes to see her. It is a setup. Dolores is being held at gunpoint by a"
"""The Stranger"" (1946), an independent production he starred in as well as directed. Welles would subsequently call it his worst film, but it was the only one he ever made that turned a profit in its first run. In December 1946, the studio released Frank Capra's ""It's a Wonderful Life""; while it would ultimately be recognized as one of the greatest films of Hollywood's Golden Age, at the time it lost more than half a million dollars for RKO. John Ford's ""The Fugitive"" (1947) and ""Fort Apache"" (1948), which appeared right before studio ownership changed hands again, were followed by"
"5th Golden Globe Awards The 5th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1947 filmmaking, were held on 10 March 1948 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. "" ""'Ronald Colman - A Double Life"" ""' ""Rosalind Russell - Mourning Becomes Electra"" ""' ""Elia Kazan - Gentleman's Agreement"" ""' ""Gentleman's Agreement directed by Elia Kazan"" ""' ""Edmund Gwenn - Miracle on 34th Street"" ""' ""Celeste Holm - Gentleman's Agreement"" ""' ""Life With Father composed by Max Steiner"" ""' ""Miracle on 34th Street written by George Seaton"" ""' ""Black Narcissus photographed by Jack Cardiff"" ""' ""Richard Widmark in"
"Clarence Odbody Clarence Odbody (born May 1653) is a fictional angel in Frank Capra's 1946 film ""It's a Wonderful Life"", where he was portrayed by Henry Travers, and in the 1990 sequel, ""Clarence"", where he was played by Robert Carradine. Odbody is loosely based on ""a stranger"", a character in Philip Van Doren Stern's 1943 booklet ""The Greatest Gift"". In 1977's ""It Happened One Christmas"", a remake of the 1946 film, a gender-reversed Clarence appeared as Clara Oddbody, played by Cloris Leachman. The 1986 musical ""A Wonderful Life"" features Odbody, who was played by David Hyde Pierce in its 2005"