BBBBB
(out of 5)
Perennial Christmas classic that director Frank Capra’s name is most often attached to and that really is as good as its reputation would have it. James Stewart is a depressed husband and father on Christmas Eve who, thanks to all his personal and financial problems, wishes the world had been created without him, because he’s pretty sure it would have been better that way. A visiting angel begs to differ, giving him a magical glimpse of the way things would be if he had never come along. The film was dismissed as ‘Capracorn’ upon its release by critics, but later television viewers recognized it for the feel-good classic that it really is. Stewart’s personality fits into Capra’s idealistic world with the comfort of a well-worn glove.
Liberty Films
USA, 1946
Directed by Frank Capra
Screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, additional scenes by Jo Swerling, from a story by Philip Van Doren Stern
Cinematography by Joseph F. Biroc, Joseph Walker, Victor Milner
Produced by Frank Capra
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Production Design by Jack Okey, William Cameron Menzies
Costume Design by Edward Stevenson
Film Editing by William Hornbeck
Academy Award Nominations
Best Actor (James Stewart as “George Bailey”)
Best Directing (Frank Capra)
Best Film Editing (William Hornbeck)
Best Motion Picture (Liberty Films)
Best Sound Recording (RKO Radio Studio Sound Department, John Aalberg, sound director)
Golden Globe Award
Best Director (Frank Capra)
