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'It's a Wonderful Life' airs for Christmas and viewers are sharing how much the film still means to them

NBC aired the classic film on Christmas Eve and viewers took to social media to share the significance of it in their annual Christmas traditions.
PUBLISHED DEC 25, 2019
A still from 'It's a Wonderful Life' (Liberty Films)
A still from 'It's a Wonderful Life' (Liberty Films)

'It's a Wonderful Life' released in 1946 and though it performed poorly at the box office then, 73 years on, the movie is an integral part of every American family's Christmas traditions. The New York Times review of the movie when it released called the sentimentality of the film its weakness. However, today, that is what viewers love about the film.

Produced and directed by Frank Capra, 'It's a Wonderful Life' was based on the short story and booklet, 'The Greatest Gift', which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1943. The story follows George Bailey (James Stewart) who had given up on his dreams to help others. His imminent suicide on Christmas Eve gets his guardian angel Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) to intervene and show George all the lives he had touched and how different Bedford Falls would be if George hadn't been born.

NBC aired the movie this Christmas Eve and viewers took to social media to share how much it means to them even after all these years. One viewer tweeted, "I remember, back when they first started running 'It’s a Wonderful Life' all over TV. I was having a rough time in my life. It gave me new hope. Wishing you all the same feeling- Merry Christmas- happy holidays- thank you all for your friendship and support."

Author Matt Haig also shared his thoughts on the movie, writing, "Just watched It’s A Wonderful Life for the umpteenth time. My son’s first watch. Halfway through: ‘I’m not really getting it.’ ‘Just wait.’ At the end, emotional: ‘wow, that was amazing.’"

Users are talking about how the movie has been part of their Christmas traditions, with one sharing, "My family's Christmas Eve tradition used to be to come home after Mass and watch the second half of It's a Wonderful Life. I don't remember when I finally saw the whole movie."

It's been long accepted that 'It's a Wonderful Life' is one of the best Christmas movies. One user tweeted, "'It's a Wonderful Life' was labeled as "Communist propaganda " by Ayn Rand which is how you know it's a good Christmas movie."

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