How “It’s a Wonderful Life” became an American classic

It’s a Wonderful Life is an supernatural Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra in 1946. It is based on the short story and booklet “The Greatest Gift” self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943. The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams in order to help others in his community and whose thoughts of suicide on Christmas Eve bring about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Oddbody. Clarence shows George all the lives he touched and what the world would be like if he had never been born.

Although It’s a Wonderful Life initially received mixed reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office, it became a Christmas classic after its copyright lapsed in 1974 and it fell into the public domain, which allowed it to be broadcast without licensing or royalty fees.

Today, It’s a Wonderful Life is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time and among the best Christmas films ever made. Capra revealed that it was his favorite among the films he directed and that he screened it for his own family every Christmas season. It was one of Stewart’s favorite films.

In 1990, It’s a Wonderful Life was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being deemed as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

In the following recording, we hear famed radio commentator Paul Harvey tell “the rest of the story” of how It’s A Wonderful Life became the beloved classic that it is today.