It's A Wonderful Life

It's A Wonderful Life, 1946
It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)



I can't believe there's another movie that's part of the 365 Movie Challenge that stars James Stewart. I know I just brought it up with Natalie Wood and Miracle on 34th Street, but when I finally get caught up I'm going to make a list to see which actor is in more movies than any other actor on my list. At this point, I think it's safe to say that James Stewart is going to sweep that competition easily when you factor in all the Alfred Hitchcock movies that top the list.

After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)

I subscribe to four magazines that I get on a monthly basis, and because I spend the majority of my 'down time' writing for the 365 Movie Challenge now I've neglected some of my magazines. It's kind of pathetic that I just finished reading a December issue in February, and side note: it's less exciting to read articles about the holidays after the fact. Anyways, I stumbled on this great article in Good Housekeeping by Philip Van Doren Stern titled The Greatest Gift. It was the short story that the magazine first published in 1944 that inspired the movie. This was such a great surprise for me and it makes me feel a little better about writing about a movie that I watched in late December in January. The movie follows the short story just about as closely as it can, but like all stories turned to movies there are still differences.

Final thoughts: I liked this movie, it wasn't bad, but it's no Miracle on 34th Street and certainly not A Christmas Story. It does have a lot to offer and even though it is a bit of a Christmas story, I think it's one you can pop in whenever you're in a bit of a bum mood and feel better about the day after the movie.

OFFICIAL COUNT: 153 DOWN 212 TO GO

Next up: Lawrence of Arabia