It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

1 correction since 13 Dec '24, 20:17

(16 votes)

Corrected entry: George is in a life crisis that leads him to contemplate suicide at a bridge. Clarence shows George how much George's life means by showing him how the world would be. if George wasn't born. But Clarence doesn't show George what the world would be like if George completed his suicide. Clarence gave reasons why George should have lived up to the bridge scene. But Clarence doesn't give reasons for George staying alive beyond the bridge scene. Life insurance and remarriage are already two benefits to the family's problems. According to the plot, George's dilemma is whether to jump off the bridge or not.

Correction: You're missing the point by a parsec or so. Clarence is there to SAVE George's life, to give him a reason to go on living; indeed, Clarence's future as an angel depends on him doing so. He's not there to just dispassionately show him the options and let him kill himself if he still wants to; that wouldn't exactly be very angelic, would it.

Tailkinker

So true and I think this plot was done in a Christmas story.

Correction: Because Clarence gets George to admit that suicide is not the solution George is looking for. That's when George says, "I guess it'd be better if I was never born," and that everyone in his life would be happier and better off if that had been the case. So Clarence gives him that wish, and it works. George ends up wanting to live again and is rewarded.

Continuity mistake: When George crashes his car into the tree, the front of the vehicle is against the tree, but the next shot of George exiting the car shows the vehicle off to the side of the tree.

Scott215

More mistakes in It's a Wonderful Life

Harry Bailey: A toast. To my big brother George. The richest man in town.

More quotes from It's a Wonderful Life

Trivia: The opening credits list a copyright date of 1947, but distributor RKO rushed IAWL into theaters December 20 1946, to replace 'Sinbad the Sailor' whose Technicolor prints were not ready. It went into general release January 1947. The rush probably cost Capra and his partners their indie studio Liberty Films, whose first production opened in a record blizzard back east and failed to make back its money; it also wound up losing out at the Oscars against a powerful postwar drama 'The Best Years of Our Lives' rather than facing a much weaker Oscar field in 1947. Then again, confusion over its copyright date seems to have allowed it to slip into public domain for about 20 years from 1973, leading to its constant (cost-free) play at Christmas time, cementing its reputation as America's favorite holiday movie.

DougM

More trivia for It's a Wonderful Life

Question: Why does George keep saying "Hot dog" after wishing for a million dollars and then using the lighter?

Answer: It was a common phrase at the time, like someone saying "oh boy!" or "hot damn."

More questions & answers from It's a Wonderful Life

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