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It's a Wonderful Life

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RETRO Classic movie

It’s A

Wonderful

Life

75

ANNIVERSARY

FILM FACTS

As Frank Capra’s classic tale of despair

and salvation turns 75, Retro uncovers

fascinating facts about a cherished

movie that flopped in 1946 before being

rescued by TV audiences decades later…

FILM GEM

At one stage the film

was titled The Greatest

Gift and Cary Grant was

slated to play George. When

Capra bought the rights,

he replaced Grant with

James Stewart.

4 PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES

COSTUMES WERE DESIGNED

by RKO’s costume head Edward

Stevenson who, early in his

career designed for Greta Garbo,

and whose later years were

spent dressing Lucille Ball for

TV. He didn’t try to make the

costumes period authentic…

Mary’s Charleston dress had

a fitted Forties style rather than

the Twenties boyish look.

COMPOSER DIMITRI TIOMKIN,

who received a phenomenal 22

Oscar nominations for the likes

of High Noon (1952) and Giant

(1956), is credited as writing the

musical score but he tried to have

his name removed. When RKO

moved the film’s release date

from spring to make it a more

festive release, Tiomkin’s score

was judged as too sombre so was

heavily cut and moved around,

much to his disdain.

SET DECORATOR EMILE KURI,

responsible for making the Bailey

set look just like a home, went

on to work for Disney and was

one of the leading imagineers

of Disneyland.

IN THE FAMOUS swimming pool

scene, it’s not Donna Reed you

see toppling in but pioneering

stuntwoman Lila Finn. Lila also

rode in a horse-drawn carriage

through the burning warehouses

in the escape from Atlanta scene

in Gone With the Wind (1939)

(as Vivien Leigh’s double) and

doubled for Dorothy Lamour

and Olivia de Havilland.

She was also a

world-class athlete,

representing the

US women’s

volleyball team.

FILM GEM

Joseph and Franklin,

the two angels we hear at

the beginning of the film, were

voiced by actors Joseph Granby

and Moroni Olsen. The latter

voiced the Magic Mirror

in Snow White and the

Seven Dwarfs (1937).

8 SUPPORT CAST

Jimmy the Raven

James Stewart wasn’t the only

Jimmy on set – Jimmy the

Raven hung out with Uncle Billy

at mortgage lender Building

and Loan. The bird belonged to

animal trainer Curly Twiford.

Jimmy’s career started in You

Can’t Take It with You (1938),

and he starred in hundreds of

movies, including The Wizard of

Oz (1939), where he landed on

Scarecrow’s shoulder.

Lionel Barrymore (Mr Potter)

Best actor Oscar winner

for A Free Soul (1931),

Barrymore acted in a

wheelchair from 1938,

aged 50, due to a hip

injury and arthritis.

He’s the great uncle of

Drew Barrymore of ET

(1982) fame.

Lillian Randolph (Annie)

Randolph was the original

voice of Mammy Two-Shoes in

MGM’s Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Robert J. Anderson (young

George)

Anderson and Karolyn Grimes

(Zuzu) later starred together in

The Bishop’s Wife (1947).

Gloria Grahame (Violet)

Won Best Supporting Oscar for

1952’s The Bad and the Beautiful.

Beulah Bondi (Ma Bailey)

She also played Stewart’s

mother in Mr Smith Goes

to Washington (1939), Of

Human Hearts (1938) and

Vivacious Lady (1938).

Ellen Corby

She had an uncredited role as

Ms Davis (who George helps with

$17.50 during the bank run).

She would become best known as

Grandma Walton in the TV show.

Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer

The kid who opened the dance

floor that covered the swimming

pool was child star Switzer,

who had appeared in dozens

of Our Gang shorts between

1935 and 1940. He later

became a hunting guide

but was killed, age 31,

in what was judged

‘justifiable homicide’

after an argument

over $50.

42 RETRO

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RETRO

Classic movie

4 STELLAR PLAYERS

5Academy

Awards

nominations

38

James Stewart’s

age (he plays

George from the

age of 21 to 38).

25

Donna Reed’s age

(she plays Mary

from 18 to 35)

HENRY TRAVERS (CLARENCE) had a successful Broadway

career, starred in seven Oscar Best Picture nominees,

including Mrs Miniver (which won), but didn’t live to see

the late success of It’s a Wonderful Life (he died in 1965).

JAMES STEWART (GEORGE BAILEY) The movie was Stewart’s

first picture after 20 months fighting in Europe during the

Second World War. Stewart recalled “Frank really saved

my career... It was over four and a half years that I’d been

completely away from anything that had to do with the

movies.” When filming started and Stewart began to have

doubts over the importance of acting, Capra asked Lionel

Barrymore to give Stewart a pep talk. Barrymore asked

Stewart if he thought it was more decent to drop bombs

on people than to bring rays of sunshine into their lives

with his acting talent, and Stewart’s resolve was restored!

THOMAS MITCHELL (UNCLE BILLY) had starred in

Gone with the Wind, High Noon and Mr Smith Goes

to Washington, and won a Best Supporting Oscar for

Stagecoach (1939). He was considered for the role of Mr

Potter, but Lionel Barrymore’s popularity from his radio

versions of A Christmas Carol secured the part.

DONNA REED (MARY BAILEY) As homemaker Mary, Donna

Reed shot to fame but her TV show (1958-1966) made

her a cultural icon. She again played a housewife, but

used her role as producer (and sometime writer) to create

an interesting character, saying: “My TV series certainly

aggravated men. Hollywood producers were infuriated

that Mom was equal and capable.”

42 the

number of angels

who got their

wings during the

film, as we hear

42 bell rings

9

the number of

screenwriters

involved. Only

four were credited

131

$156,000

$2,362,427

budget for the film

$3.3

HEAD TO HEAD

They started filming on the same day, and

were released in the same month…

Oscars won

Domestic rentals

$3.78m

production and

distribution cost

IAWL

0

length of the film

in minutes

vs

vs

Capra’s salary for the

film, which he put

into the production

of the movie

The Best Years

of Our Lives

8

$3.3 $11.3

million

box office takings

FILM GEM

Special effects technician

Russell Shearman won a

Technical Achievement Oscar for

developing a method to simulate

falling snow. He was also part of

the team that won a Special

Effects Oscar for Portrait

of Jennie (1948).

It’s A Wonderful Life

VERSUS

The Best Years of

Our Lives

Capra was inspired to make It’s A Wonderful Life after his wartime

experiences. He said “There’s nothing glamorous about war. I didn’t want to

be a war hero, nothing. That’s why I made a movie about an ordinary guy.”

3 MISHAPS

DURING FILMING THE scene where

Mr Gower beats young George’s

ear, H.B. Warner drew blood.

“My ear was beat up, and my face

was red and I was in tears... H.B. was

perfect. He reached the crescendo.

At the end, when it was all over, he

was very lovable. He grabbed me

and hugged me, and he meant it.”

ROBERT J. ANDERSON

WHEN A DRUNK Uncle Billy walks

home, you hear a loud crashing

noise. A crew member had dropped

a tray of props but Thomas Mitchell

improvised by ad-libbing “I’m

alright. I’m alright”. The clumsy crew

member was rewarded with

a $10 bonus by Capra.

DURING THE BRIDGE scene, George

Bailey is sweating as he grapples

with the biggest decision of his life.

While James Stewart was fearful,

his sweat was real – it was 90°

during shooting. The cast and crew

were given a day off during filming

to recover from heat exhaustion.

44 RETRO

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3

Classic movie

CAPRA SCENE NOTES

ONE OF CAPRA’S favourite scenes is

the long-distance phone call between

George, Mary and Sam Wainwright,

when George realises he’s in love with

Mary. “I think that’s one of the best

scenes I’ve ever put on the screen. I love

that scene. It’s an offhand and offbeat

way of playing a love scene. Scenes

like that are just great when you can

find them, because love scenes are so

difficult to stage. It’s very difficult to get

a real emotion out of them, you can’t

play them straight.”

THE LOOSE KNOB on the banister

of George’s home was meant to be

symbolic – the imperfection angers

him, but he embraces it at the end of

the film when he knows he’s saved. “You

can explain the inner feelings of the

man through an inanimate object. It’s

a very difficult thing to know how to

use a sight gag.”

THE HIGH SCHOOL dance sequence

where George and Mary fall into the

swimming pool hadn’t been written

into the script. Capra recalled: “That

was on the first day of shooting… I

didn’t know there was any pool there.

We were out at Beverly Hills High. So

we knew we were going to do this

Charleston contest, the sequence was

all laid out. And someone said, did you

know there’s a swimming pool under

here? I said, a swimming pool? Let’s see

it. So somebody went and opened it,

and I said, Jesus, we’ve gotta use this,

that’s all. We just ran into it and I just

took advantage of it!”

WONDERFUL LEGACY

IT’S A WONDERFUL Life

continually shows up in other

films and TV programmes –

in clips, quotes, references

and nods to, including

Home Alone (1990), Cheers

(1987), Gremlins (1984),

Scrooged (1988) and National

Lampoon’s Christmas

Vacation (1989).

BEDFORD FALLS WAS part

of a four-acre set built at RKO

Encino Ranch – when it was

sold to developers in 1954,

the set was demolished but

the Martinis’ house in Bailey

Park survived. The three-bed

home at 4587 Viro Road, La

Canada Flintridge, sold for

a cool $1.6m in 2020.

GEORGE BAILEY DRIVES a

1919 Dodge Brothers Touring

Car, and crashes it into a

tree before he contemplates

taking his own life. The car

was driven with such force

that the bumper needed to be

repaired, and the left front

fender and wheel were both

replaced so that it could go on

to star in other films. The car

now has a private owner.

Bedford Falls was a fictional town but it’s thought Capra was inspired by

Seneca Falls, northwest of New York, which he visited while writing the film’s

screenplay. The town has a bridge with a plaque honouring a 17-year-old canal

worker who, in 1917, sacrificed his life by jumping into the Barge Canal to save

the life of a young woman who’d attempted suicide by leaping in.

4

RKO rushed IAWL into theatres on December 20, 1946, to replace

Sinbad the Sailor whose Technicolor prints were not ready. It went

into general release January 1947, during a record blizzard in the east,

which may have contributed to its poor ticket sales. It also went headto-head

with powerful post-war drama The Best Years of Our Lives.

THE BAILEY BUNCH

JIMMY HAWKINS PLAYED Tommy,

who had to be excused for

burping. Hawkins was reunited

with his screen mum in 1958 in

The Donna Reed Show where he

played the boyfriend of Donna’s

TV daughter. He also starred again

with his screen dad James Stewart

in Winchester ’73 (1950).

AGED SIX, KAROLYN Grimes played

Zuzu, whose flower lost its petals.

Although she starred in 16 movies,

Grimes’ film career ended when

both her parents died when she

FILM GEM

Capra couldn’t get his first

choice of leading lady, Jean

Arthur, as she was rehearsing the

role of Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday

for the stage. Capra also asked

Ginger Rogers who said no as

“the woman’s role was such

a bland character”.

was a teenager and she was sent

to live with her aunt.

CAROL COOMBS PLAYED Janie

and was set to reprise her role,

alongside Karolyn Grimes, in

the sequel It’s A Wonderful Life:

The Rest of the Story, which was

abandoned before filming started

in 2014.

KNOWN AS BABY Dumpling in the

Blondie films (1938-1950), Larry

Simms, a child model and actor

from the age of two, played Pete,

and later served in the US Navy.

Timeline

1938 Writer Philip Van Doren

Stern awakes with an idea for

a story, inspired by A Christmas

Carol

1943 Unable to sell his

story, The Greatest Gift, Stern

prints 200 copies as a 21-page

Christmas card for his friends

1944 In April RKO Pictures buys

the story rights for $10,000

1946 IAWL was shot in the

summer during a recordbreaking

heatwave

1946 December 20, the movie

was released

1947 The FBI flagged the

film as ‘communist’ as it

“represented rather obvious

attempts to discredit bankers”

and “deliberately maligned the

upper class”.

1974 The film lost its copyright

protection, which meant it

was regularly played during

the holidays throughout the

Seventies. This lasted for 20

years and contributed to its

huge popularity.

1980 The first time Karolyn

Grimes (Zuzu) saw the movie.

1990 Congress national film

registry added the film to their

library.

RETRO


RETRO

Classic movie

“QUOTE UNQUOTE”

“If you want to see the real Jimmy Stewart, you can find

him in It’s A Wonderful Life. Everything is magnified,

but that’s the closest you can come to the real Jim.”

HENRY FONDA

“As much as I liked Donna Reed… the sad fact is

that on It’s A Wonderful Life we just didn’t have any

chemistry… on screen or off. We just didn’t hit it off. And

I think the film suffered.” JAMES STEWART, explaining why he asked for co-star

Donna Reed to be replaced in The Stratton Story (1949)

“It’s only a classic now because of television. I always hated the

idea of television, but it’s the one thing that found an audience

for It’s A Wonderful Life. Now everyone thinks it’s a smash hit.”

JAMES STEWART

“I was forever playing straight woman to the hero.” DONNA REED.

Her goody-goody image changed when she was cast as a prostitute in From Here to

Eternity (1953), a role she won an Oscar for.

“Every year, it gets to be more and more important

because people need that message. They don’t feel

like they’re doing anything, and then by watching

this movie they see that we’re all important. Each

life touches so many others. That’s what people need

now.” JIMMY HAWKINS (TOMMY)$$

Money talks

$

$$$$ “I wish I had a million dollars,” says a young George (in 1919).

No wonder – that’s more than $16.5m today.

$$$$ Uncle Billy loses $8,000 (1946), equivalent to $120,000.

$

$$$$ Ms Davis asks for $17.50 from the Building

and Loan to tide her over during the bank run

of 1930 – that’s $291.

$$$$ George’s weekly salary in

1936 is $880 – no wonder he’s

tempted by the $20,000 annual

salary that Mr Potter offers ($390k).

FIRST

& LAST

$ $

It was Donna Reed’s first

starring role.

The first voice heard in the film is

Mr Gower, who is praying: “I owe

everything to George Bailey. Help

him, dear Father.”

The very last line spoken in the

film is “Attaboy, Clarence”.

This was the first and last time

Capra produced, financed,

directed and co-wrote one

of his films.

GETTING IT RIGHT

RKO HAD THREE scripts

written for IAWL – by Clifford

Odets, Philip Van Doren Stern

and Dalton Trumbo. Capra read

all three scripts and kept a

couple of scenes from Odet’s

version – the relationship

between Mr Gower and George

– but wrote an entirely new

script. “I had some awfully

good writers working with me,

but somehow they couldn’t

see what I could see in the

thing. I finally just sat down

and wrote the script the way

I wanted it to be. So that’s

why it is a very personal

statement.”

CAPRA REJECTED DALTON

Trumbo’s screenplay. According

to film historian Joseph

McBride: “The harsh, explicit

social criticisms of Trumbo’s

script cut too close to the bone

for Capra.” He didn’t want a

political film, rather one that

demonstrated the value of

the individual, and one that

exposed the dangers of atheism.

THREE CAMERAMEN WERE

involved in shooting IAWL but

only two were credited. Capra

fired veteran cameraman Victor

Milner (who’d won an Oscar

for Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra,

1934) and replaced him with

Joe Walker, who was on loan

from Columbia. Walker joined

the set during the shooting of

the run on the bank and reshot

all the big street scenes. He had

to return to Columbia to shoot

The Guilt of Janet Ames (1947)

so trained Joseph F. Biroc, who

finished up.

*

PS

It’s great to think Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie were

named after pals Bert the policeman and Ernie the taxi driver,

but it’s a coincidence. Jim Henson and producer Jon Stone

thought the prototype puppets looked like those two names.

FILM GEM

After the school prom,

George and Mary sing Buffalo

Gals – a song that dates back to the

19th century. It was sung at minstrel

shows and, as the performers toured, the

name of the New York city of Buffalo

was adapted to local audiences

– so could be changed to

Boston, Alabama…

FILM GEM

Capra, Stewart, Barrymore,

H.B. Warner (Mr Gower) and

Samuel S. Hinds (Pa Bailey) were all in

You Can’t Take It With You (1938). In total,

12 actors appear in both films but not

Henry Travers (Clarence), who’d played

Grandpa Vanderhof on Broadway

but was beaten to the film role

by Barrymore.

WE GOT SO EXCITED WE COULDN’T STOP AT 75, SO HERE’S AN EXTRA ONE!

It took two months to build Bedford Falls while dance

rehearsals for the film lasted 10 days, from April 3 to April 13.*

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