So even though Christmas Day has come and gone, Santa’s stash of goodies is already unwrapped and those last bites of glazed Christmas ham have been gobbled up, there is absolutely no way that I could have let this holiday season pass by without writing an entry about my favorite film of all time: Frank Capra’s cinematic masterpiece “It’s A Wonderful Life”.
I should probably preface this blog post by declaring my most genuine, perhaps over the top ,“if-I-could-live-in-it-I-would” love for this movie. And good God do I love it. From the small-town charm of the fictionalized snowy Bedford Falls, to each character, so detailed and real, to Jimmy Stewart’s unparalleled performance as good ol’ George Bailey, that “do-good” man in all of us so burdened by misfortune and his own doubt that he contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve – every aspect of this film strikes a chord with me. While it may be easy to dismiss Capra’s tearjerker of a film as cheesy holiday fluff, “It’s A Wonderful Life” embodies so much more than the whimsical characteristics of the Christmas season – no, it narrates a message powerful enough to transcend time, place, and even season with its universal theme: “Each man’s life touches so many other lives”. It’s a movie that never lets you down and reminds you just how precious life is. We, like George Bailey, affect our friends and family and colleagues and peers and people that we don’t even know – on a daily basis. You never know whose life you may change.
"To my big brother George, the richest man in town!"
While it cannot be denied that December 24, 1946 is George Bailey’s “crucial night” for rather important and significant reasons, it is crucial in its own right as well – for Christmas Eve in the 1940s was a very big deal.
The overwhelming majority of movies that depict a 1940s Christmas that I have seen – such as “A Christmas Story” , “Christmas in Connecticut”, and of course, “It’s A Wonderful Life”, to name a few – show the Christmas tree being decorated the night before Christmas. Though I am unsure of how many families actually did this during the decade, clearly the “Christmas Eve Tree-Trimming” tradition must have occurred in enough homes to warrant its prominent portrayal in films. The Bailey tree, showered in tinsel, was most likely covered in lead tinsel – a popular Christmas tree staple in mid-century America until the late 1960s, when the government banned the sale of lead tinsel due to its harmful effects on both individuals and the environment. Also on their tree are numerous ornaments of colored balls – unquestionably the most popular Christmas ornament throughout the decades. However, during WWII, due to a shortage of the paint needed for the ornaments, these colored balls were often plain with only a single stripe or two painted around the ball. After the war, the ornaments were fully colored again, much like what is shown hanging from the Bailey tree.
George comes home; the Bailey's tree.
But perhaps the most important decoration of all was not an item, but a person: George’s brother Harry – a fighter pilot during the War who has made it home just in time for Christmas Eve. There is no doubt that Harry’s Christmas homecoming represented the reunion that many soldiers, all over the country, were having with their families on that very same night. Capra’s decision to send Harry home just in time to toast his “big brother George, the richest man in town” tugged on the heartstrings of those all over the U.S., and Capra once again, through the magic of filmmaking, has conveyed the widespread message of the importance of friends, family, and togetherness – regardless of the season, or decade.
the depiction of holidays in classic american film 