Alex writes about It’s a Wonderful Life.
Excerpts:
In Wonderful Life Capra lets the story unfold through George Baileys eyes. His world and his dreams crumble and were in the middle of it. We feel everything he feels and were in peril and just as anxious. His beautiful long shots and his tight close ups of Stewarts grimacing features as his last hope for survival topples in Potters office is both claustrophobic and expansive.
What you see on film is the first and only time they did that scene. They got it in one take.
Another beautiful observation from Alex about Donna Reed:
Reeds ability to embody the girl every boy wants to marry was uncanny. She was able to allow herself to pine over George and wear her heart on her sleeve, and at the same time, pepper her with a steely reserve and a reckless abandon. Watch as Reed pulls out her own Honeymoon money in order to pay back the terrified costumers as they wait restlessly in the lobby of The Baileys Building and Loan. Her eyes flash, her hand goes straight up in the air, and theres not a moments hesitation. Reed is wonderful in this role, and it is through her eyes that we see the pain and ultimate allegiance Stewart metamorphosiss into at the climax of the film. A radiant performance by a very gifted actress.
And one of Alex’s comments about Stewart’s performance brought tears to my eyes:
I love him when he realizes that Clarence (another wonderful performance by the oft forgotten Henry Travers) is not a dream or a hallucination, and seems to literally wake up in the middle of a crowded bar after a fight with his friend Nick. He turns on the shoulders of the people gathering on the street, and with a look of rage and horror he screams Marys name in succession. Its a bravura moment, and one Ive never seen in any other Stewart film.
Yes!!
Go read Alex’s post. It’s unbelievable. Trivia, facts about Capra, comments on the acting … and then her last paragraph made me well up with tears – where she expresses what the movie really means to her.
Alex’s post has changed my mind about not wanting to watch it again…
JFH – hahaha
I kinda need to see it, like, right now – so I can keep my eye open for all her observations!
Ah, how could you not want to watch it again? ;)
I watch it AT LEAST twice a year, and bawl like a scalded dog at the end every time, even if the end is all I see. It’s one of my Top 10 favorite movies.
(Another piece of trivia: The boy who opened the floor over the pool? Alfalfa!)