Its a Wonderful Life [VHS]

by Frank Capra (Director)

VHS, 1996

Status

Available

Call number

PN1995.C5113 I87

Description

A man is saved from a suicide attempt by an angel and is then shown how important he is to the people who love him. A Christmas classic.

Publication

Lions Gate (1999)

Similar in this library

A Christmas Story (Full-Screen Edition) by Bob Clark

A Charlie Brown Christmas (Remastered Deluxe Edition) by Various

ISBN

0782006647 / 9780782006643

UPC

017153208337

Collection

Christmas

Awards

National Film Registry (1990)

AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies 1998 (11)

AFI's 10 Top 10 (Fantasy — 3)

AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions (8)

AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers (1)

Language

English

Original publication date

1946-12-20

Rating

(58 ratings; 4.2)

User reviews

LibraryThing member DeubrookLibrary

An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman (Jimmy Stewart) by showing what life would have been like if he never existed.

2 more

LibraryThing member comfypants

Angels intervene when a selfless man considers suicide.

I had had the impression of this movie being sappy, sentimental mush. So it really took me by surprise when I sat down to actually watch the whole thing (instead of seeing a scene here or there out of context) how much I was genuinely

emotionally involved. It does kind of turn dopey once Clarence shows up, though. I can't help but thinking it would be a better movie if it ended there and skipped the whole "what if" gimmick.

Concept: D
Story: C
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: A
Music: C

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 2.9/4

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LibraryThing member datrappert

Perfection; this film never grows old and this Platinum Anniversary Edition is excellent. This prompted my wife and daughter to agree to watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, then Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. They agree that it's hard to find anything modern to match the spirit these films have. I'm not

going to say old actors are better than new ones; they aren't. But when films were made with a wide audience in mind rather than just those willing to pay to go to the movie theater on a date, they were simply better as a whole. There are always exceptions, of course.