December 2003

Some Kind of Wonderful

Christmas film classic didn’t have a fairytale beginning but grew into timeless popularity

by Kathleen A. Ervin

We all know the story, for it has become a Christmas classic—etched into our collective memory. At its core, It’s a Wonderful Life is a parable of a good, honest man who, after years of struggling to do the right thing, questions his life and the choices he’s made. Teetering on the brink of despair, George Bailey finally concludes that his life has been a failure. Surmising that it might have been better if he had never been born, he contemplates suicide, only to be rescued by an angel determined to get his wings.

While It’s a Wonderful Life is often referred to as a sentimental movie, the issues it presents—questioning what makes a man a failure or a success—are hardly lighthearted. Perhaps that accounts for the strong reactions it evokes. As the year ends, we tend to take stock of our own lives, questioning our worth and our place in a world that often doesn’t behave as we expect.

Things didn’t go as expected for the movie, any more than they did for George Bailey. But the film became synonymous with Christmas, one of the most popular films of all time.

The original screenplay for It’s a Wonderful Life grew out of a short story (The Greatest Gift of All) that, ironically, no one wanted. After it made the rounds of publishing circles unsuccessfully, author Philip Van Doren Stern distributed the 24-page pamphlet as a Christmas card, where it finally fell into the hands of a Hollywood agent. But writers were unable to translate the dark tale into a workable screenplay and, after many fruitless attempts, the script was finally shelved and deemed unusable.

For the rest of this story, you can order the December 2003 issue of Hampton Roads Monthly magazine.