1. It’s a Wonderful Life
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 Theatrical release poster |
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It’s a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story “The Greatest Gift“, which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and privately published in 1945.[3] The film is considered one of the most loved films in American cinema and has become traditional viewing during the Christmas season…
The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his dreams in order to help others and whose imminent suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers). Clarence shows George all the lives he has touched and how different life in his community of Bedford Falls would be had he never been born.
Despite initially performing poorly at the box office due to high production costs and stiff competition at the time of its release, the film has come to be regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world.[4]
The film was nominated for five Oscars and has been recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best American films ever made,[6] placing number 11 on its initial 1998 greatest movie list, and would also place number one on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time.[7]
