#It's a wonderful life full
#It's a wonderful life series
#It's a wonderful life tv

And he begrudged credit to his most valuable collaborators, particularly those known for being to the left politically, and unhesitatingly distanced himself from them when they all came under sinister, Red-scare scrutiny.Many of the holiday movies we consider classics or cult favorites today did not seem destined for such glory when we first reviewed them. A conservative Republican, Capra fancied himself one of the wealthy and powerful elite while boasting a populism that engaged Depression-era audiences.

#It's a wonderful life full

Oddly, even liberal fans persist in not acknowledging that Capra's films are full of the contradictions (some say hypocrisy) that marked his complex, conflicted personality and politics.

#It's a wonderful life tv

It was not until Capra's oeuvre was rediscovered in the '70s, as a lapsed copyright bargain package for TV syndication, that his message movies were embraced again by audiences for their charm and traditional values. His old friend and rival William Wyler scored a triumphant comeback with The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946), which began filming the same day as It's A Wonderful Life and completely overshadowed it by perfectly capturing the country's mood.

#It's a wonderful life series

And with the world at war, Capra decided to set aside social criticism for the uncontroversial patriotism of his Why We Fight series for the US Army. Deeds says of one attorney, 'Even his hands are oily'). The pictures all affirm democracy while expressing disillusionment with its failings, raising up messianic innocents to denounce the corruption of politicians, journalists and lawyers (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) and Meet John Doe (1941) вЂ“ established the warm mythos which idealises small-town values, scorns big-city cynicism and celebrates the goodness of common people. His inimitable trilogy of satirical social-conscience comedies - Mr. We've come to know his comedy-dramas of Ordinary Joes versus The System as defining a style and tone so recognisable it's been adjectivised into 'Capra-esque'. The first studio director to claim the accolade of having his name come first in the credits - hence calling his autobiography The Name Above The Title - and the winner of three directing Oscars, Capra had a string of hits throughout the '30s. Meanwhile, Capra was vainly trying to re-establish himself as a major player in Hollywood. His script was supposedly too political, too dark and too sophisticated, but it was he who wrote the immortal line: 'Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.' Trumbo, never credited, became the first of nine screenwriters who contributed. At Cary Grant's urging, RKO bought the film rights and hired Dalton Trumbo to adapt it. One recipient was his agent, who sent it to the studios. After having it rejected by several magazines, he added the seasonal setting, printed 200 copies as 24-page booklets titled The Greatest Gift, and sent them as Christmas 'cards'. Historian and novelist Philip Van Doren Stern was in a contemplative mood one morning while shaving, and was struck with the idea for a story about a suicidal man confronted by his guardian angel, who shows him the difference he's made to people's lives. And a tinkling bell on the Baileys' Christmas tree tells George that Clarence's successful mission has won him his wings. George has an epiphany, cries, 'I want to live again!' and is restored to his family and friends who toast him as 'the richest man in town'. The angel shows him what others' lives would have been like, and what their town would have been like, if, as he wished, he had never been born.

So a despairing man named George Bailey is prevented from committing suicide by the intervention of a funny little old fellow named Clarence Oddbody, 'Angel, Second-Class'.

Up in heaven, a chorus of prayers for help are heard coming from the small town of Bedford Falls. A supremely entertaining homily on simple goodness.