It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

It's a Wonderful Life has a message packed straight into the title, but the greater message is universal: one good person doesn't just have the capacity to change the world for the better; rather, such betterment is inevitable in their presence. The Earth, in deprivation of a single, ordinary man, shifts beneath our feet, out of daylight and into darkness.

The religious worldview of the film ties in well with Christmas, connecting the Holiday season with age-old Christian ideas. Our opening sees angels discussing a grave matter: the disillusionment and suicidality of George Bailey; this sequence is not only visually well executed, but tells an important truth of the film: guardian angels are real and they watch over us even now. We are assured of this by Clarence, who states directly to George his status as George’s guardian angel as well as his assignment.

But the supernature of the angels is not the only thing captured with clarity. George’s hometown, Bedford Falls, is brought to life with lively exterior sequences, the modest set of the Bailey Building & Loan, and the ever-developing appearance of the Bailey home (with the exception of the post cap on the stairs which refuses to remain fixed in place). Light plays an important role as well with much of the film taking place during the day and evening; George’s journey downward, however, is one made in total darkness.

James Stewart's portrayal of George at his lowest is convincing to anyone familiar with despair, mumbling, brooding, and wallowing in his own self-appointed pit of misery; his crisis is legitimate but his assessment of his life is not. He even cynically declares "I'm worth more dead than alive."

It is only after getting a look into the gloom and the dim that George is ready to affirm his self-worth. He sees the degradation of culture and character that are left in Potter’s wake with no one to fight against it. His friends are hard and cruel; his old mentor is a reviled drunk; the sense of community is gone. His loved ones are also irrevocably changed; his mother becomes loveless and uncharitable, his wife Mary leads a quiet and lonely life, and his own brother lies six feet under earth, as George was never present to save him in childhood.

Finally, in a powerful moment, George cries out to God, exclaiming his desire to live. With his prayer answered, he is overjoyed at the prospect of accountability, so long as he can have back the life he was so prepared to throw away. But this is not dark Bedford Falls. This is his home. His friends and family come together, repairing George’s catastrophic situation and enabling him to make good on all accounts due. His salvation was only made possible through the Bedford Falls he had helped to create in the first place.

A jingle from the Christmas tree prompts George’s daughter to exclaim that the sound signifies an angel has just received its wings. With an excited smile, George agrees as Auld Lang Syne is sung in merriment around him. Sound plays an important role in both the beginning and end of the film, with a church bell seen ringing in both cases, assuring us of one thing: it is not that the bell tolls for no man. It tolls for every man.

With a surprisingly deft message about life and the choice of throwing it away, It's a Wonderful Life remains an incredibly compelling story and an all-time holiday classic.