It’s a Wonderful Life 1946
- Director: Frank Capra
- Seen by this director: Arsenic and Old Lace, It Happened One Night, maybe others
- Based on the book: no
- Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchel, Beulah Bondi, Gloria Grahame
- Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
- James Stewart – The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Greatest Show on Earth, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Rear Window, Harvey, Rope, maybe others
- Donna Reed – Pepe, maybe others
- Lionel Barrymore – Probably something
- Thomas Mitchell – TV series
- Beulah Bondi – TV series
- Gloria Grahame – The Greatest Show on Earth, Oklahoma
- Why? James Stewart. And direct orders from several friends to see it NOW!
- Seen: 24 December 2021
Oh no, it starts with people praying. For
George Bailey (Stewart). But OK, it’s all rather secular so maybe it’s all
right.
George has been a thoroughly decent
person since he was a kid. Everyone loves him. Now he’s so despondent over all
that life has done to him that he’s contemplating suicide for the insurance
money. Apprentice angel Clarence (Mitchell) is sent down to Earth to help him.
This is George’s story. And the story of
his broken dreams.
The film is as good as they say.
4 ½ * of 5.
We agree to disagree on this one, more or less completely. The World Order is now restored. I've watched the whole thing twice and could not fathom why it is so beloved by the whole wide wonderful world. Capra and Stewart can pull off anything, so even this is quite watchable. But so trite, so superficial, above all so utterly blatant in delivering THE MESSAGE (that subtle) and therefore so utterly boring. "Forrest Gump" delivers the same message in a much more original and effective way, with better plot and more interesting characters, with finer and subtler humour, and without any angels.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad we disagree again. We must be very cautious about agreeing too much, the universe would be upset. Even on Forrest Gump we disagree - I found THAT trite and superficial and just too cute for words. I choose Jimmy Stewart any time. And despite it's sentimentality and trite message, what I found moving was the slow and painful erosion of dreams. As that happens, it can be a compensation to find comfort in everyday things, though family life was not what I chose, so that bit was a little too sweet for me.
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