It's A Wonderful Life was the first film to be made for Frank Capra's Liberty Films studio. The original first film for the studio was going to be another Christmas themed movie called It Happened on Fifth Avenue. However Capra fell in love with this story and gave It Happened on Fifth Avenue to the Allied Artists studio and to director Roy Del Ruth.
It's A Wonderful Life started it's life as a short story called The Greatest Gift written by Philip Van Doren Stern. RKO had bought this story in 1944, and showed it to Cary Grant's agent, to turn it into a vehicle for the actor. However they could not come up with a suitable script. So they sold the rights to Liberty Films.
This film was also important because it was the first film Frank Capra directed after WW2. During World War 2, Capra had not been making his usual films. He instead was enlisted by the army, to make films for the army, and these became the classic, Why We Fight series. So the director had been absent from public light for a few years. While other directors who were enlisted in the army such as John Huston, William Wyler, and George Stevens, had begun making films that related to their war experience, Capra's film hardly changed and rarely reflected his war experience.
Capra had trouble casting many of the parts, and went though many people, but for George Baily, he knew the actor had to be Jimmy Stewart from the beginning, and he was right, Stewart was perfect.
Oddly enough when this film came out it lost money at the box office, and received mixed reviews from critics. Not quite the welcome back Capra was expecting. However through various TV showing this film has earned it's rightful place as a classic.
-Michael J. Ruhland
Resoures Used
Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide by Leonard Maltin
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