Over the decades, Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday-themed family film,It’s a Wonderful Life,has established its place in American culture as a Christmas classic. Perhaps it’s more correct to call ittheChristmas classic. That would come as a great shock to anyone alive back then when it first hit (empty) theaters.
An ode to nostalgia among the Greatest Generation (back when that generation were just in their teens and 20s), the movie itself has taken on a larger reputation embodying the very concept of nostalgia,the ultimate Hallmark moviebefore the Hallmark Channel existed. That cheery title belied the fact that the production of the film had been a colossal pain for everyone involved, and left the director in misery and self-doubt, lashing out at all those creative parties he depended on most. Forget the cheery aura, nobody made any friends on this set.
To put things in necessary perspective, this movie was assembled back before re-watching movies was really a thing, before Jimmy Stewart was a huge star, and snow was considered a ground-breaking special effect. Stewart put acting on the back burner to serve on a US bomber in WWII. Arriving back home, he found himself forgotten about, having aged out of the type of movies he once starred in as a leading man.
Already walking on eggshells around a “flak-happy” Stewart, Capra’s relationship with the writers was so bad they wanted to strangle him, and the movie left its director in debt and defending himself against FBI agents accusing him of communist indoctrination. It’s a nice little premise, even if theChristmas theme is completely secondaryto the real point of the film. Now, if only the participants could play nicely. Contrary to popular belief, this influential piece of pop culture was ignored for years until it garnered real interest as cheap network TV viewing fodder.
Its a Wonderful Life
Before Capra Made a Classic, He Made Enemies
The film is cleverly designed to not only reminisce on childhood but reframe past and current traumas (bank runs, war, depression) in a broader perspective,encouraging individuals to think of the greater society and greater good rather than wallow in their own troubles and fears. A powerful message that still resonates. One that would turn out to attract the attention of the United States government. More on that in a second.
Casting was mostly painless; Lionel Barrymore (channeling earlier radio performances as Ebenezer Scrooge) was selected as the amoral Mr. Potter, Donna Reed was tapped as Mary Bailey, and Stewart was finally cast as the mopey George Bailey.Reed wasn’t the first choice, and Stewart didn’t want to make a movie about a suicidal man, but had no recourse. After five years away, the roles had dried up, Stewart was too gaunt and grizzled to resume his lost matinée idol status, and desperate for work to get his mind off the war. The decorated veteran was also likely suffering from hearing loss and PTSD after multipletours in WWII, biographer Robert Matzentold the Chicago Tribune:
“The back story here is that Stewart, very publicly, when he got back from the war was asked, ‘If you’re going to make a picture now, what do you want to make?’ And he said, ‘A comedy, I have to make a comedy. The world has seen too much trauma and horror and suffering.'”
Almost immediately, things began to fall apart. Co-star Reed described the environment as tense.More specifically, everybody hated Capra. The dysfunctional atmosphere ultimately soured the film so much for composer Dimitri Tiomkin that he pledged to never see the movie after the poor treatment Capra showed him. In defense of Capra, Tiomkin didn’t put in his full effort, diverting his time between this movie and another commitment, Capra feeling betrayed by his old friend. Cutting out the weakest tracks from the score, he next took exception to the script by the duo of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, firing them. Thankful to be off the set and away from their boss, their replacement soon found himself arguing with Capra too.
It’s a Wonderful Life Remake Will Focus on Person of Color To Deliver a Story of Community
Kenya Barris explains his vision for remaking It’s a Wonderful Life with a person of color as the lead.
Making it Snow in Los Angeles
The most mundane aspect of the movie, the weather effects, usually goes unnoticed despite being historically significant. Traditionally, studios used whatever they could to replicate snowflakes and drifts. They worried about the consequences later. One method was white-colored cornflakes cereal, a cheap option that required directors to re-record most of the outdoor dialogue because the fake snow was too crunchy.
Destroying any usable audio and stymying any hint of realism, Capra thought dubbing was a waste of time and good performances.We don’t know how much ofIt’s a Wonderful Lifewas filmed with the cheap stuff, but at some expense, the effects crew was able to concoct an improved snow to blanket the movie’s fictional setting, Bedford Falls. A precursor to therisky modern “blockbuster strategy,“the cutting-edge movie’s then-staggering $3 million budget made it very hard to break even.
If you think this is ridiculous or a sign of the director’s hubris, it sure wasn’t for RKO. InCinema as Weather, author Kristi McKim recounts how RKO bragged that said chemical slurry was “the largest special effects crew ever assembled,” the preparation taking the best part of a month to set up.RKO was touting the film as a technical marvel.
Effects chief Russell Shearman used a combination of “foamite” — the gunk you shoot out of a fire extinguisher — gypsum, ground ice, and gallons of pulverized plaster to create their fictional, picturesque New England town in wintertime. Truly remarkable, though it probably led to some breathing difficulties and bloodshot eyes. Although, it beats frolicking in asbestos, the standard faux-snow in the ’30s. The result?The expensive project left him and his Liberty Films company reeling financially after only grossing around $3.3 million.
The Snow in The Wizard of Oz Was 100% Pure Asbestos
The classic 1939 movie used asbestos in a number of ways, including using the toxic mineral as fake snow.
Is ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ a Communist Conspiracy or Wholesome Family Viewing?
This was not how Stewart wanted to restart his career, and it somehow got even worse.Because it was the late ’40s, and the Cold War paranoia was beginning to simmer, naturally J. Edgar Hoover’s attention turned to every single film coming out of Hollywood. Soon Capra had larger concerns than a studio lot full of stale frosted flakes, everyone who had ever known or come into contact with him under scrutiny.
His recompense for the movie was career instability and accusations of disseminatingsecret Soviet propaganda, perSex and Violence. FBI agent D.M. Ladd described the film as subversive and"discredit[ing] bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore as a ‘Scrooge type’ so that he would be the most hated man in the picture.“The Scrooge casting hypothesis was correct, but the G-Men were reading way too much into the bank plot.
Never mind the fact that Jimmy Stewart was a lifetime conservative.The circumstantial connection to socialists Dalton Trumbo and Clifford Odets was enough to cast doubts on the film’s true intent to the FBI. The mere insinuation or gossip that a film was “pink” was enough to have Feds tapping your phone lines and picking through your garbage like a famished raccoon.
The film was nominated for several Oscars, but the losses incurred mitigated any sense of recognition Capra felt, his last few years full of resentment over the collapse of Liberty Films and the industry he believed ruined him. Reviews of the film were always glowing, as any nasty political connotations the feel-good movie possessed at the time faded neatly into the background.It’s a Wonderful Lifeis arguably the crowning achievement in Jimmy Stewart and Frank Capra’s careers, but at launch it was a bitter disappointment. Time was far kinder to the movie than paying audiences ever were, as generations of people needed something to distract themselves while cooped up for days alone with their families making awkward small talk. Thanks, Frank.
StreamIt’s a Wonderful Lifeon Prime Video and The Roku Channel.
