It's A Wonderful Life Movie Analysis

Now known as a Christmas classic, It's a Wonderful life was directed by Frank Capra in 1946. The setting takes place Christmas Eve in Bedford Falls. The story focuses on the life of George Bailey, a man who struggles with his purpose in life. When he was 12 years old George saves his younger brother Harry from drowning when he fell through the ice. George loses hearing in one ear. He later saves his boss from making the mistake of poisoning innocent townspeople. He there meets Mary, a young sweet girl. She whispers in his ear “I will love you forever, George Bailey.” In high school, he encounters Mary again, and they get together at the school dance. His dreams of wanting to leave town and build things all over are crushed when his father dies.

It shows George’s journey to see what it would be like if he didn’t exist. He sees that all the people he’s helped out in the past are now poor and seen as inferior. It makes George realize that he did have an impact on these people’s lives. He begs Clarence to go home to his wife and his children. This shows the side of George we haven’t seen before. He has the compassion to fight to get back to the ones he loves. All the townspeople pitch in the money to save his business including his brother Harry, home from the war, giving a toast to him at the end to George, “The richest man in the town.” This fulfills his dream of being wealthy, the one he thought would never come true unless he left town to build things and see the

“Capra uses the holidays as a mere framing device for an in-depth character study into one man’s life of disappointment — a kind of film noir with a second chance, a human tragedy with revisionist fantasies” (Fraley The Film Spectrum). The fact that it is Christmas makes Clarence being an angel coming from heaven a little more believable. The costumes the characters were dressed in matched their roles well. George’s family looked middle class and Mr.Potter looked well dressed because of his wealth. They also fit each time period well due to it changing throughout his life spanning over decades. In the beginning, which is in the Turn of the Century, George reads National Geographic Magazine and Mr. Potter rides around in a horse-drawn carriage. Next in the Roaring Twenties they have a black nanny and dance the Charleston at their school dance, George wears a brown football uniform and they graduate the Class of 1928. During The Great Depression, telephones were seen used in homes and banks closed so George gives out all his money to keep his business, the Building, and Loan. During World War II, Mary is head of the U.S.O and Mr. Potter runs the draft board. Last comes the Post-War era at the end that show the men returning home from war where Harry receives his medal from being in the Navy. These make the film more relevant and