It's A Wonderful Life - 1946 - Frank Capra
PART 1: The Christmas Movie
Q#1) What year did the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" come out?
A: It's a wonderful life came out in 1946.
Q#2) What was the name of the angel in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The name of the guardian was Clarence Odbody.
Q#3) What was the name of the mean old man in the film, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The name of the mean old man in It's A Wonderful Life is, Mr.Potter
Q#4) What was the name of the younger brother in the famous Christmas film, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The name of Georges younger brother was Harry.
Q#5) How much money did the Uncle lose in the film, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The uncle lost eight thousand dollars.
Q#6) How many children do the Bailey's have in the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The Bailey's have four children.
Q#7) What branch of the armed forces did Harry Bailey join in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: Harry joins the Air Force in the movie.
Q#8) In the film, "It's a Wonderful Life", what dance are George and Mary doing when they fall into the pool?
A: George and Mary are doing "The Charleston"
Q#9) George saves his younger brother's life in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life". What does George do?
A: George jumps in the water and saves his younger brother from drowning.
Q#10) What permanent ailment does George Bailey have that prevents him from joining the war effort in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: George has hearing loss. He lost it while saving his younger brother.
PART 2: Something Darker?
It's a pretty grim life, actually all is not so rosy in It's A Wonderful Life when Frank Capra died, it was inevitable that It's a Wonderful Life would be trotted out to demonstrate his life-affirming, joyous love of people.
The film is a classic, even if it is wildly overexposed, and even if a fluke of paperwork is mostly responsible for its star status. Had its copyright been properly renewed in 1975, It's a Wonderful Life would not have been in the public domain for so many years and thus would not have become, during the '80s, as omnipresent as Christmas carols and shopping days til Xmas.
Granted, it might have joined Miracle on 34th St. and Christmas Carol as beloved, but once a year, holiday movie traditions. But because TV stations were able for so long to repeat it at no cost, it became a Christmas classic ad nauseum.
Yet viewing It's a Wonderful Life as wholesomely heart-warming takes uncritically the notion that it celebrates the triumph of small-town sweetness over impersonal modernity.
Far from being the feel-good movie of 1947, It's a Wonderful Life is in fact one of Capra's most relentlessly depressing works. The film's framing story indeed draws on the backward-looking myth of the small town favored by Hollywood's not-notably rural filmmakers.
Pottersville is as atmospheric a film noir as any of the period's movies, and unlike the wholesome framing story, it seems no inversion of reality at all. It's a realistic, if appalling, view of how things looked to be playing out in the society off the screen.
As it happens, some things did not turn out as badly as Capra seemed to fear. Post-war prosperity (and the federal deposit insurance programs) made bank failures a relative rarity, at least for a few decades, and thrift institutions like George Bailey's building and loan in fact did help underwrite the rise of suburbia, and thus the fulfillment of some Capra-era dreams.
Yet in the same period the country's cities did come more and more to resemble Pottersville, albeit with the added woe of racism. And suburbia itself represented a turning-away from the spiritual strength and communal ties of places like Bedford Falls in favor of materialism and the security of the organization man.
And was Bedford Falls that wonderful anyway? Even in his purportedly wonderful life, George Bailey lives in a town mostly owned by Old-Man Potter. He is saddled with a loser of an uncle, and he is forced to give up his dreams of seeing the larger world and succeeding in a creative career. One of the movie's most visually stunning shots is when George, informed that his brother won't be taking over the building and loan, turns away from his chosen destiny to live up to his obligations at home. He knows Bedford Falls is a trap, and it ultimately drives him to suicide.
“Happiness here was pursued by the hounds of living hell; the American Dream was so close to the nightmare,” critic David Thomson writes. “The film that had failed in 1947 had become a token of uplifting fellowship, yet it was a film noir full of regret, self-pity and the temptation of suicide. How could so many people convince themselves that it was cheery?”
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Your Question: What are the key elements of film noir? and how does "It's a Wonderful Life' fit in as a film noir (or not)? (300 words).
A: My paragraph answer!!!
There are many elements to film noir but there are some very important key elements. Some of the important key elements to film noir are: the setting is often dark, rainy... not very happy or uplifting, flashbacks, which help explain certain things, and the movie is normally a genre of the thriller, gangster, crime and thriller type of movie. I think the most important aspect of film noir are the main characters. First, the protagonist. In a film noir setting the protagonist is usually a male. The male, normally, is a very deep, complex and ambiguous character, with many vague aspects about their morals and personality. The protagonists in film noir can be very though to analyze. Lastly, there is the the alluring female that the man will fall in love with. Then, the plot will normally twist somehow.
Now onto It's a Wonderful Life. In my opinion, I think that, It's a Wonderful Life on the outside is a harmless cheery movie, but, on the inside and going deeper into the movie, I think it could be classified and categorized as film noir. There are many times in the movie where we see that the characters are happy and joyous for example, in the later beginning of the movie, Georges' family is happy and they all love each other and all seems to be going well. On the other hand though, there are also many times where we see some of the characters sad, depressed, not knowing what to do. For example, George Bailey had some sad and mad moments in the movie, such as, George had to give up his dreams to pursue a more creative career. Also at the beginning we see a young George Bailey be slapped by the mean old man Mr.Potter. Georges ears bleed a little. There are also some times where George is quite mad at his wife. There are also some times where George is quite agitated. An example is: when George comes back from his honeymoon, he sees that a "run on the bank" had just occurred and that the bank is in danger of collapsing financially.
Now there is a part in the movie where we see George being guided by his guardian angel. His guardian angel shows him what life for his family, friends and everyone around him, would have been like if he would have never been born. George, at first, doesn't realize this is happening. The way he reacts to people not knowing who he is and all that, he is very distressed. Those were his family that he dearly loved and his friends. He also is quite frantic when this is going on. When George returns to Bedford Falls, while the guardian angel is showing him around, it's not Bedford Falls anymore. The beautiful town he once use to know, had become a sleazy town full of night clubs and pawn shops. At this point it doesn't seem to be going so well fro George. He eventually gets back into the life where he had been born.
At the end of the movie, George goes back to his family, after just recently being put back into his original life, and hugs them and all that. He is happier than could be just to see his family again. In my overall opinion, It's a Wonderful Life could fit in as a film noir movie. It seems cheerful and happy to people on the outside, but, diving deeper into the movie, we see the darker and more depressing aspects of the life of George Bailey. So to conclude, in my opinion It's a Wonderful Life, could fit into the film noir category.
Q#1) What year did the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" come out?
A: It's a wonderful life came out in 1946.
Q#2) What was the name of the angel in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The name of the guardian was Clarence Odbody.
Q#3) What was the name of the mean old man in the film, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The name of the mean old man in It's A Wonderful Life is, Mr.Potter
Q#4) What was the name of the younger brother in the famous Christmas film, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The name of Georges younger brother was Harry.
Q#5) How much money did the Uncle lose in the film, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The uncle lost eight thousand dollars.
Q#6) How many children do the Bailey's have in the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: The Bailey's have four children.
Q#7) What branch of the armed forces did Harry Bailey join in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: Harry joins the Air Force in the movie.
Q#8) In the film, "It's a Wonderful Life", what dance are George and Mary doing when they fall into the pool?
A: George and Mary are doing "The Charleston"
Q#9) George saves his younger brother's life in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life". What does George do?
A: George jumps in the water and saves his younger brother from drowning.
Q#10) What permanent ailment does George Bailey have that prevents him from joining the war effort in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life"?
A: George has hearing loss. He lost it while saving his younger brother.
PART 2: Something Darker?
It's a pretty grim life, actually all is not so rosy in It's A Wonderful Life when Frank Capra died, it was inevitable that It's a Wonderful Life would be trotted out to demonstrate his life-affirming, joyous love of people.
The film is a classic, even if it is wildly overexposed, and even if a fluke of paperwork is mostly responsible for its star status. Had its copyright been properly renewed in 1975, It's a Wonderful Life would not have been in the public domain for so many years and thus would not have become, during the '80s, as omnipresent as Christmas carols and shopping days til Xmas.
Granted, it might have joined Miracle on 34th St. and Christmas Carol as beloved, but once a year, holiday movie traditions. But because TV stations were able for so long to repeat it at no cost, it became a Christmas classic ad nauseum.
Yet viewing It's a Wonderful Life as wholesomely heart-warming takes uncritically the notion that it celebrates the triumph of small-town sweetness over impersonal modernity.
Far from being the feel-good movie of 1947, It's a Wonderful Life is in fact one of Capra's most relentlessly depressing works. The film's framing story indeed draws on the backward-looking myth of the small town favored by Hollywood's not-notably rural filmmakers.
Pottersville is as atmospheric a film noir as any of the period's movies, and unlike the wholesome framing story, it seems no inversion of reality at all. It's a realistic, if appalling, view of how things looked to be playing out in the society off the screen.
As it happens, some things did not turn out as badly as Capra seemed to fear. Post-war prosperity (and the federal deposit insurance programs) made bank failures a relative rarity, at least for a few decades, and thrift institutions like George Bailey's building and loan in fact did help underwrite the rise of suburbia, and thus the fulfillment of some Capra-era dreams.
Yet in the same period the country's cities did come more and more to resemble Pottersville, albeit with the added woe of racism. And suburbia itself represented a turning-away from the spiritual strength and communal ties of places like Bedford Falls in favor of materialism and the security of the organization man.
And was Bedford Falls that wonderful anyway? Even in his purportedly wonderful life, George Bailey lives in a town mostly owned by Old-Man Potter. He is saddled with a loser of an uncle, and he is forced to give up his dreams of seeing the larger world and succeeding in a creative career. One of the movie's most visually stunning shots is when George, informed that his brother won't be taking over the building and loan, turns away from his chosen destiny to live up to his obligations at home. He knows Bedford Falls is a trap, and it ultimately drives him to suicide.
“Happiness here was pursued by the hounds of living hell; the American Dream was so close to the nightmare,” critic David Thomson writes. “The film that had failed in 1947 had become a token of uplifting fellowship, yet it was a film noir full of regret, self-pity and the temptation of suicide. How could so many people convince themselves that it was cheery?”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your Question: What are the key elements of film noir? and how does "It's a Wonderful Life' fit in as a film noir (or not)? (300 words).
A: My paragraph answer!!!
There are many elements to film noir but there are some very important key elements. Some of the important key elements to film noir are: the setting is often dark, rainy... not very happy or uplifting, flashbacks, which help explain certain things, and the movie is normally a genre of the thriller, gangster, crime and thriller type of movie. I think the most important aspect of film noir are the main characters. First, the protagonist. In a film noir setting the protagonist is usually a male. The male, normally, is a very deep, complex and ambiguous character, with many vague aspects about their morals and personality. The protagonists in film noir can be very though to analyze. Lastly, there is the the alluring female that the man will fall in love with. Then, the plot will normally twist somehow.
Now onto It's a Wonderful Life. In my opinion, I think that, It's a Wonderful Life on the outside is a harmless cheery movie, but, on the inside and going deeper into the movie, I think it could be classified and categorized as film noir. There are many times in the movie where we see that the characters are happy and joyous for example, in the later beginning of the movie, Georges' family is happy and they all love each other and all seems to be going well. On the other hand though, there are also many times where we see some of the characters sad, depressed, not knowing what to do. For example, George Bailey had some sad and mad moments in the movie, such as, George had to give up his dreams to pursue a more creative career. Also at the beginning we see a young George Bailey be slapped by the mean old man Mr.Potter. Georges ears bleed a little. There are also some times where George is quite mad at his wife. There are also some times where George is quite agitated. An example is: when George comes back from his honeymoon, he sees that a "run on the bank" had just occurred and that the bank is in danger of collapsing financially.
Now there is a part in the movie where we see George being guided by his guardian angel. His guardian angel shows him what life for his family, friends and everyone around him, would have been like if he would have never been born. George, at first, doesn't realize this is happening. The way he reacts to people not knowing who he is and all that, he is very distressed. Those were his family that he dearly loved and his friends. He also is quite frantic when this is going on. When George returns to Bedford Falls, while the guardian angel is showing him around, it's not Bedford Falls anymore. The beautiful town he once use to know, had become a sleazy town full of night clubs and pawn shops. At this point it doesn't seem to be going so well fro George. He eventually gets back into the life where he had been born.
At the end of the movie, George goes back to his family, after just recently being put back into his original life, and hugs them and all that. He is happier than could be just to see his family again. In my overall opinion, It's a Wonderful Life could fit in as a film noir movie. It seems cheerful and happy to people on the outside, but, diving deeper into the movie, we see the darker and more depressing aspects of the life of George Bailey. So to conclude, in my opinion It's a Wonderful Life, could fit into the film noir category.