Dec 17
Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Finally I had the chance to watch Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (imdb, wikipedia, clipland) and besides the fact that it is an entertaining upbeat perfect-fit-for-christmas film, I couldn’t help myself but noticing a number of structural influences the film obviously had on following film works.
First, there is 1989’s Christmas Vaccation (imdb), one of the modern classics in the X-mas film genre. John Hughes was clever enough to cite a few passages from Capra when doing his draft of a classic holiday season movie. There is the loose stair post, which George repeatedly tears off in IAWL and Clark finally fixes with the help of his chainsaw in CV. Then there is the abstract theme of a man in financial trouble, torn between caring for his family and giving in to outside forces, culminating in a complete disaster right on christmas day. Both films even feature a pool scene, somewhat reminiscent of The Party (imdb).
Having a look at the credits you might point out that Frank Capra III, who is a descendant of the IAWL Frank Capra, was Second Assistant Director on CV. Finally this is the the link that explains further influences like Clark’s living-room rant, which George does as well in IAWL. And the plain fact that both movies end with the local police singing along christmas carols (or the hymn respectively).
Another interesting link that might appear a bit farfetched is the relation to Back to the Future (imdb). George in It’s A Wonderful Life builds Bailey Park, which magically disappears und the angel’s influence, also the town is later on renamed to Potterville. Might be all the -villes here, but the eliptical visits of Marty in BTTF to his housing estate in the 50s and 80s, the Biff-Potter-similarity, struck a chord for me.
Further, the overall concept reminds of the 1992 The Muppet Christmas Carol (imdb), in IAWL with Clarence, the second-grade angel, who in the later part of the film guides George around the town. Just like in Dante’s Divine Comedy, a transcendant guide leads the protagonist through a series of carthartic moments that permit him to find new meaning in life. Of course the Muppet’s movie itself is based on the classic Dickens tale A Christmas Carol. Among others, film reviewer James Berardinelli had already pointed out that obvious fact. “In both stories, a man revisits his life and potential death (or non-existence) with the help of supernatural agents”.
Groundhog Day (imdb) , according to the WGA one of the greatest scripts/films of all time, besides the time of year, seems to draw a bit from IAWL as well. Especially in the first half, where George expresses he wants nothing more than leaving this small town, the similarities become clear. A small town, an outbound protagonist - ok, these two films haven’t invented this plot, but the connection is there.
Last a small finding: in 2007 there was a cheesy Vodafone TV commercial (I still have to track it down exactly) where a guy is so electrified by his cheap mobile phone contract that he feels the urge to run around town and wish everybody a cheerful christmas, just like George does after his experience with Clarence.
Only some observations that needed to be shared. Happy holiday!
