It's a Wonderful Life

Christmas Eve finds George Bailey (James Stewart) deeply troubled, and repeated prayers for his wellbeing from numerous friends and family members reach Heaven. Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers), Angel Second Class, is assigned to save him and earn his wings. Joseph, the head angel, reviews George's life with Clarence. At the age of 12, George (Bobby Anderson) saved the life of his younger brother Harry (Todd Karns) who had fallen through the ice on a pond, though George lost the hearing in one ear. Later, as an errand boy in a pharmacy, George saved his grief-stricken boss, druggist Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner), from mistakenly filling a child's prescription with poison. George's dream has been to see the world. Selfless to a fault, he repeatedly sacrifices his dreams for the well-being of others until Harry graduates from high school and can replace him at the Bailey Building and Loan Association, vital to the people of Bedford Falls. On Harry's graduation night in 1928, George discusses his future with Mary Hatch (Donna Reed), who has had a crush on him since she was a little girl. Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) and Harry break the news to George his father has had a stroke, which proves fatal. Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), a heartless slumlord and majority shareholder in the Building and Loan, tries to persuade the board of directors to stop providing home loans for the working poor. George persuades them to reject Potter's proposal, but they agree only on the condition that George himself run the Building and Loan. He gives his college money to his brother with the understanding that when Harry returns he will take over the Building and Loan. When Harry graduates from college, he unexpectedly brings home a wife, whose father has offered Harry an excellent job in his company. While Harry is still aware of his prior commitment and is more than willing to take over the Building and Loan, George cannot deny his brother such a fine opportunity. Once more, George has to set aside his ambitions. After their wedding, as George and Mary leave town for their honeymoon, they witness a run on the bank that leaves the Building and Loan in danger of collapse. Potter offers George's clients "50 cents on the dollar," but George and Mary quell the panic by using the $2,000 earmarked for their honeymoon to satisfy the depositors' needs until confidence in the Building and Loan is restored. Mary enlists the help of Bert the Policeman and Ernie the Cab Driver to create a tropical honeymoon for George in Bedford Falls. Years pass and George and Mary raise a growing family. George starts up Bailey Park, an affordable housing project. They and the other residents no longer have to pay Potter's high rents. When World War II erupts, George is unable to enlist, due to his bad ear. Harry becomes a fighter pilot and is awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down 15 enemy aircraft, including one that would have slammed into a U.S. transport ship full of troops. On Christmas Eve, 1946, Uncle Billy is on his way to deposit $8,000 for the Building and Loan when he runs into Mr. Potter. He proudly shows Potter the front-page article about Harry receiving the Medal of Honor. Potter grabs the newspaper angrily and later discovers the money inside; he keeps it. When Uncle Billy goes to deposit the money, he finally realizes it is missing. Frantic searching fails to turn it up. In desperation, George appeals to Potter for a loan to save the company, but Potter turns him down and swears out a warrant for his arrest for bank fraud. Henry Travers as Clarence Odbody after "saving" GeorgeGeorge wanders home, stressed and broken down, and inadvertently takes his frustrations out on his family; verbally abusing his wife and children before storming off. George gets drunk to escape his woes. Driving wildly in a snowstorm, he crashes his car into a tree near a river. George staggers to a bridge that spans the river, intending to commit suicide, and feeling he is "worth more dead than alive" because of a $15,000 life insurance policy. Before George can leap in, however, Clarence jumps in first and pretends to be drowning. After George rescues him, he reveals himself to be George's guardian angel. George responds skeptically to this revelation and bitterly wishes he had never been born, so Clarence shows him what the town would have been like if he had never existed. In this alternate reality, Bedford Falls is called Pottersville and is home to nightclubs and pawn shops; Bailey Park was never built; Mr. Gower was convicted of poisoning the child and spent many years in prison; Martini (William Edmunds) no longer owns the bar; Violet (Gloria Grahame) is a dancer who gets arrested as a pickpocket; Uncle Billy has been in an insane asylum for years; Harry is dead, since George was not around to save him, and the soldiers Harry would have saved also died; Mrs. Bailey is a hardened widow running a boarding house, and Mary is a spinster librarian. When George becomes agitated by the whole situation, Bert the policeman has to intervene. They tussle. George flees to the bridge and begs God to let him live again. His wish granted, a jubilant George runs home to happily greet the men waiting to arrest him. A flood of people enter with donations to save George and the Building and Loan. George's friend Sam Wainwright sends him a line of credit for $25,000 via telegram. In the middle of the impromptu celebration, the newly arrived Harry proposes a toast to his big brother, "the richest man in town." Seeing how many lives he has touched, George Bailey finally realizes that he truly has a wonderful life. As the group sings "Auld Lang Syne", George finds Clarence's copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with a note thanking George for helping him get his wings.