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This is not only a Christmas classic but a classic in any sense of the word. It is the best of Stewart and Capra adding up to one of the most heartwarming stories of all time.  This may exhibit Stewart is his everyman role once again, but it breaks away from Mr. Smith in many ways making it another read more

Though many point to 1939 as "The Greatest Year in the History of Hollywood," I always remind people to celebrate 1946 as well.  For a film noir fan like myself, the quality is virtually unparalleled--Gilda, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Big Sleep, The Blue Dahlia, The Killers, and N read more

By the time director Frank Capra had come to the project of “It’s a Wonderful Life” he had already mastered the ability to tell a warm-hearted tale, with films such as: The Miracle Woman, 1931, American Madness, 1932, Lady for a Day, 1933, It Happened One Night, 1934, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936, read more

Originally posted on Classic Film Aficionados: By the time director Frank Capra had come to the project of “It’s a Wonderful Life” he had already mastered the ability to tell a warm-hearted tale, with films such as: The Miracle Woman, 1931, American Madness, 1932, Lady for a Day, 1933, It Happened read more

By the time director Frank Capra had come to the project of “It’s a Wonderful Life” he had already mastered the ability to tell a warm-hearted tale, with films such as: The Miracle Woman, 1931, American Madness, 1932, Lady for a Day, 1933, It Happened One Night, 1934, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936, read more

Classic Film Aficionados By the time director Frank Capra had come to the project of “It’s a Wonderful Life” he had already mastered the ability to tell a warm-hearted tale, with films such as: The Miracle Woman, 1931, American Madness, 1932, Lady for a Day, 1933, It Happened One Night, 1934, read more

By the time director Frank Capra had come to the project of “It’s a Wonderful Life” he had already mastered the ability to tell a warm-hearted tale, with films such as: The Miracle Woman, 1931, American Madness, 1932, Lady for a Day, 1933, It Happened One Night, 1934, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, 1936, read more

Classic Film Aficionados By the time director Frank Capra had come to the project of “It’s a Wonderful Life” he had already mastered the ability to tell a warm-hearted tale, with films such as: The Miracle Woman, 1931, American Madness, 1932, Lady for a Day, 1933, It Happened One Night, 1934, read more

All you can take with you is that which you give away. A man finds out what the world would have been like if he’d never been born in…  It’s a hell of a day.  It’s Christmas eve and George Bailey sits on a stool in Martini’s Bar, Bedford Falls, USA.  He’s despera read more

Christmas traditions include stories.  It starts with the Gospel of Luke and the first Christmas story.  From 1843 we have Dickens' immortal tale of redemption and charity in A Christmas Carol.  Over the years many movies have added to our emotional connection to the holiday and none read more

Singer Cliff Richard never achieved huge success in the U.S. despite scoring three top 10 records on the Billboard pop chart in the 1970s and 1980s. In contrast, he ranks as the third best-selling singles artist in Great Britain history--topped only by The Beatles and Elvis Presley. H read more

James Stewart was an “every man”, an American kinda guy and a much loved actor.  His films are classics.  He was nominated for 5 Academy Awards winning one for The Philadelphia Story (1940) and he received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1985.  He was also a Kennedy Center Honor recipient.  read more

Review No. 376 The Bottom Line: It’s a wonderful film. Directed by: Frank Capra Written by: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra Based on: “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern George Bailey: James Stewart Also Starring: Donna Reed, Henry Travers, Lionel Barrymor read more

There I was at the IFC Center in New York, about to see a 35mm print of Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE in a theater filled with excited fans. Even better, Donna Reed’s daughter was on hand to introduce her mother’s most famous film, on the 66th anniversary of its theatrical debut. It was read more

How Frank Capra revolutionized ‘snow-making’ in It’s a Wonderful Life! I just wanted to share this fabulous article from life.time.com that explains how Frank Capra revolutionized the onscreen snow-making process while filming It’s a Wonderful Life. The article explains the e read more

This slideshow requires JavaScript. It’s a Wonderful Life has become a nauseating mainstay of the American Xmas tradition, but the movie was seen elsewhere in the world when it was released in 1946. What the movie was about at its core seems to have been perceived differently in other countri read more

All you can take with you is that which you give away. Every year I resist watching Christmas movies until I feel the joy of the season come over me.  And every year that happens later and later.  That’s not to say I don’t feel joy, but that time seems to fly by so quickly these days I read more

The vast array of memorabilia that has sprung up around It's a Wonderful Life (1946) over the last two decades tends to support the general sense of the holiday staple as the ultimate example of director Frank Capra's corny sentimentality, strengthening that idea we have of the movie being all about read more

The vast array of memorabilia that has sprung up around It's a Wonderful Life (1946) over the last two decades tends to support the general sense of the holiday staple as the ultimate example of director Frank Capra's corny sentimentality, strengthening that idea we have of the movie being all about read more

The vast array of memorabilia that has sprung up around It's a Wonderful Life (1946) over the last two decades tends to support the general sense of the holiday staple as the ultimate example of director Frank Capra's corny sentimentality, strengthening that idea we have of the movie being all about read more