“George Bailey, I’ll love you till the day I die.” — Mary Hatch, whispering into George’s bad ear, in “It’s a Wonderful Life”
LIKE MANY AMERICANS THIS TIME OF YEAR, I RECENTLY WATCHED Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” for the umpteenth time. It is a wonderful movie that embodies the spirit of the season.
Of all the many times I have seen that movie, one viewing in particular stands out. It was Thanksgiving 1989 and we were spending the weekend at June Lake, a destination favored by my wife’s family since she was a teen. That particular holiday weekend my brother-in-law had rented a cabin located next to the cabin that was owned, at the time, by the Capra family. Overlooking Silver Lake near Rush Creek, it was a classic rustic pinewood cabin that had been “modernized,” probably in the late ’50s.
That night, with the fire for warmth, it seemed appropriate to watch that movie, once again for me, but for the first time for most of the kids. Just as we started the movie, a light snow started to fall that served to perfect the ambiance of the scene. It had been a long day, dinner had been late and only my niece, Christa, and I stuck with the movie to the end.
On this most recent look at the movie, I also watched the special features found on the flip side of the DVD and thought I would share some of the trivia gathered from the interviews with Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra Jr., as well as at IMDB.
• Freddie Othello is the name of the character Mary is talking to when approached at the dance by George Bailey. Freddie later uses a key to open up the floor to reveal the pool beneath. If he looks familiar it may be because the actor, Carl Switzer, had some years earlier played Alfalfa in the “Our Gang” comedies.
• That floor, complete with the pool underneath, still exists today, at Beverly Hills High School.
• The movie is the only one ever made based on a Christmas card. It seems that writer Phillip Van Doren Stern wrote a story called “The Greatest Gift” but had no luck in selling it. Frustrated, he mailed 200 copies of the story as a Christmas card to various people, one of whom brought it to the attention of RKO’s David Hempstead, who wanted to turn it into a movie featuring Cary Grant.
• RKO, which gave up on the package, sold the rights to Frank Capra for the same $10,000 that RKO had paid to Mr. Van Doren Stern. That $10,000 in 1944 would be equivalent to $132,000 today.
• The movie did only moderately well at the box office and did not return the high cost of production ($49 million in today’s dollars) in the first year of release.
• Rushed into early release (December 1946) to qualify for the Oscars, the movie was nominated for five, but did not win any.
• The Motion Picture Academy did present a technical achievement award to the film for the development of the “snow” used while shooting in Encino in the summer of 1946. Previously, painted cornflakes had been used, but Frank Capra did not like the crunching noise made when they were stepped on.
• It has long been believed by many that the names of two of the characters, Bert (the cop) and Ernie (the taxi driver), were Jim Henson’s inspiration for the names of two of his Muppets. Henson never confirmed this rumor, which has been strongly denied by those who worked with Mr. Henson at the time the “Sesame Street” characters were developed.
• The fictional town of Bedford Falls is set in New York. We know this because the telegram received by Mr. Gower notifying him of his son’s death is addressed to “Bedford Falls, New York.”
• The name of Mr. Gower is derived from Gower Street in Los Angeles, on which Columbia Studios was located. That’s where Frank Capra filmed “It Happened One Night,” which earned Mr. Capra’s movies the sobriquet of “Capra Corn.”
• The movie garnered the attention of the FBI in 1947 when an analyst submitted a report on the “Communist infiltration of the motion picture industry.” The report referred to the film’s “obvious” attempt to portray Mr. Potter as the epitome of an evil banker as a “common trick used by communists.”
• Clifford Odets and Dalton Trumbo, who were caught up in the House Un-American Committee hearings, both worked on the script with Frank Capra, though neither was given credit. Trumbo was officially blacklisted, Odets was not.
• One ad-libbed scene occurs when Uncle Billy is leaving a celebration and off camera we hear a loud crash, after which Uncle Billy declares: “I’m all right! I’m all right!” In reality a clumsy stage hand had knocked some equipment over. Reviewing the dailies, Capra decided to keep that scene as shot. He later tipped the stage hand $10.
• A second ad lib occurred in the scene during the run on the bank, when one woman says: “Could I have $17.50?” George then leans over and kisses her. Capra stated that the woman’s instructions were to simply say, “Whatever comes to mind.” Both the words and the kiss were ad libs on the part of both actors.
• When Capra approached Stewart with the idea for the movie, he caught himself midway through describing the story line. As Stewart told the story, Capra paused and said: “This story does not tell very well, does it?” Stewart then replied: “Frank, if you want to do a movie about me committing suicide with an angel with no wings named Clarence, I’m your man.”
The IMDB database is an excellent source for more bits of trivia on the movie.
For those who are fans, I hope you enjoy the movie again. The Stanford Theatre in Palo Alto plays the movie annually on Christmas Eve. If you have never seen it on the big screen, you really should, at least once.
Dennis Lund is a mechanical engineer who lived in Benicia for more than 20 years.
Sharing is caring!
Great story Dennis, do you know when the movie was released for television?
Thanks RKJ.
Not sure when it first aired but it was on TV in the late 50’s.
Interesting note on that subject though: It aired only occasionally prior to about 1970 when the studio that owned the movie failed to renew their rights to it. After that it became part of the ‘public domain’ meaning that it could be aired without paying any fees. Once that occurred it was then seen on TV on a regular basis.
A good post, Dennis. We watched that old movie again, a couple nights ago. Still enjoyable. More sociable and communitarian than “socialist” or “communist.”
Robert,,
Not sure if any ‘symbolism’ was intended in ‘it’s a Wonderful Life’, certainly if there was it was not on the level of a movie such as ‘High Noon’.
I think Capra was just being simple and straight forward with this one. The fact that he used Trumbo to help with the script likely had more to do with friendship or respect for his work than anything else.
Here’s another fun fact: from the film’s release in 1946 until 1956, it was listed by the FBI as suspected Communist propaganda.
Imagine if it were released today. Potter would be considered the ‘good guy’ by the Tea Party and Faux News.
You really don’t understand the Tea Party. Nor do you watch Fox News. Nice try. Please remember it is till the Christmas Season and try to store your hate away for a little while. Please.
You’re the only one spreading the hate. Holiday season or not, the TP and Faux are still, and will always be, what they are.
Wow … I guess you really don’t see or read what you wrote. Equating the Tea Party folks to a hateful money grabber “Potter”. And you accuse me of spreading hate? Wow. I hope you find peace and love.
TP funded by Koch brothers. Koch brothers = money grabbers. Potter, by your own definition = money grabber. Thanks for supporting my argument. Peace.
Fox News Presents: It’s a Wonderful Life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jDBzUTDUBI
Brilliant!
Funny. I get the humor and satire. Unlike Benician, I can laugh at mockery.
Let me add this in jest … George Bailey believed in small business and free enterprise to help the poor. He was a Tea Partier! He embraced the values of what we hold dear. You will recall the scene that Mr. Potter ran the draft board, put a congressman on hold … He would have loved Obamacare! Crony capitalism! He is rich and connected. Welcome to the Obama administration! But I say that in jest ….
I don’t embrace big government and redistribution of wealth …. But I don’t call names. I try to understand all view points and welcome the debates.
But Benician should remember this … Many in history have related hate to ignorance. I see Benician hating frequently on organizations he does not understand or know. Ignorance springing forth hate.
But I wish Benician well and much cheer. I just believe he would be more effective with fewer verbal bombs.
Anyone that disagrees with you, you consider hateful. Faux supports the likes of the Koch brothers and Dick Cheney. You find it hard to believe they’d like a real-life Potter? TP’ers like to hang Obama in effigy and equate him to Hitler (a guy who just loved blacks, didn’t he?). They support the hateful language coming out of the mouths of the Duck Dynasty frauds (with TP lead cheerleader Sarah Palin defending the lead dolt without even reading what he said!). I call them out and I’m the hateful one? Get a clue, dude.
Benician your big problem is the recent and on going success that the Conservatives are having. Just think Benician the Republicans have a good chance of taking back the Senate and will retain the House. Now I know all that is hard to take. But the numbers on approval of President Obama are even harder for you to take. Happy New Year.
You are one hateful sad person. I hope you can find it in your heart to see others in a more accepting light. Your level of hate blinds you. I wish you peace.
As is your pattern, you make assertions easily challenged, then cower and call others haters for having done so. I call you out on your b.s. This started out as a simple assertion on my part. You made a mountain out of a mole hill, then succumbed to name-calling when you couldn’t back up the drivel you spouted. You can’t defend the TP, nor Faux news, so I’m a hater. Fine. It says more about you than it does about me.
Sorry Benicia you are out numbered on the folks that know just what you are. Matter said it well. Happy New Year Benician you will need it.