It’s a Wonderful Life is a Christmas fantasy film from 1946, written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Frank Capra, among others. Indeed, many people contributed to the script, including Dorothy Parker, Dalton Trumbo, Marc Connelly, and Clifford Odets. Capra also directed the film, which stars James Stewart as the lovable and ambitious George Bailey. Donna Reed costars as George's wife, Mary, and the story follows George throughout his life as he becomes an important fixture in his small, economically precarious town of Bedford Falls, New York.
The story upon which the film was based was entitled The Greatest Gift and written by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1939. It was first brought to the attention of Cary Grant, who wanted to turn it into a vehicle for himself, but it eventually ended up in the hands of Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Frank Capra. The writers did not get along, with Goodrich often complaining about Capra's arrogance in the process. Filming took place at a studio in Culver City, California in 1946.
Upon its release, the film was met with mixed reviews, many of them critiquing the sentimentality of the film. Its more universal acclaim did not come about until it began airing on television in 1976 during the Christmas season. Since then, it has become a canonical classic of the holiday season. Of the film's delayed success, Capra said, "The film has a life of its own now and I can look at it like I had nothing to do with it. I’m like a parent whose kid grows up to be president. I’m proud… but it’s the kid who did the work. I didn’t even think of it as a Christmas story when I first ran across it. I just liked the idea.”
