1.) Alternate Realities One of the great things about living in a university town is that you get to hear some great lectures by famous people—for free. Back in the 80s, I attended a lecture on the subject of evolution by the late, great Stephen Jay Gould. He talked about how incredibly subtle mutations in the gene pool can, over time, create titanic changes in the history of earth. He called this the Phenomenon of Contingency. To illustrate his point, he mentioned two movies that deal primarily with the subject of an individual’s impact on the course of history—the way small choices can resonate through the future. The movies he sited were It’s a Wonderful Life and Back To The Future. He might have mentioned a dozen or so works of modern science fiction, or the Hindu concept of the Net of Jewels. Or all of Buddhism, for that matter. But he was right on the money with It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie is about keeping your eye on the Cosmic View, rather on selfish or ego-centric desires. George has forgotten how much good he had done in Bedford Falls because the effects of his actions have been blurred by time. Clarence the Angel reveals (or re-reveals) it to him.
2.) The Look of Existential Terror on George’s Face The first moment when George feels the relentless grip of fate squeezing him is truly chilling. We can see the desperation on his face as he confronts an Existential Choice: leave and pursue his dreams, or stay in Bedford Falls and secure his father’s legacy. Who hasn’t had to make this kind of choice, at some point?
3.) Ward Bond Bert the Cop is played by the inimitable character actor Ward Bond, who shone in movies throughout the 40s and 50s. Just to name two others: The Maltese Falcon and The Searchers.
4.) Donna Reed Not many actresses can pull off the feat of being both sexy and noble. Reed does.
5.) Gloria Grahame (Violet, The Floozie) Violet is kind of Mary Magdalene to Donna Reed’s Mary. She is a sexually liberated woman who is not punished by the plot. Rather, she achieves a kind of sublime quality without giving up her edge. I really like how the movie rehabilitates her at the end.
6.) Clarence’s Drink Clarence doesn’t hesitate to order a drink at Martini’s bar. He may be an angel-second-class, but he’s still Irish.
7.) Dinner With Pop The scene before the dance party is pure magic. It summarizes the warm, nurturing, earthy family life that all Americans want (but so few of us have).
8.) The Evil Rich Guy In the character of Potter, Lionel Barrymore is essentially playing the devil. Potter is physically crippled, but his handicap represents an even deeper spiritual flaw. With all his talk of foreclosing on the “rabble” of Bedford Falls, he anticipates the Koch Brothers, Mitt Romney, and all the rest of the 1%.
9.) The Good Rich Guy If Potter represents the evil capitalist, then George Bailey embodies the spirit of the New Deal. His Savings-and-Loan company serves the community by minimizing its profits and making high risk loans to decent, working class people. For this reason, It’s a Wonderful Life always struck me as a very progressive movie. But it stops well short of being truly Socialist. There is, after all, the example of the “good” capitalist in Sam Wainwright, George’s childhood friend who makes a pile in the war industry. Wainwright is a genuinely sympathetic character who saves the day at the end of the movie (despite the fact that George stole his girl).
10.) Zuzu’s Petals Was there ever a better symbolic evocation of the simple poignancy of everyday life than Zuzu’s Petals?
(Author’s Note: this post originally appeared on my old blog, Bakhtin’s Cigarettes.)
Ash Clifton, Writer 