It’s a Wonderful Life at 75: A Christmas
Lesson Left on the Cutting Room Floor
The Stream,
by
Al Perrotta
Original Article
Posted By: DVC,
12/13/2021 11:47:01 PM
This Christmas marks 75 years since Oscar-winning director Frank Capra released arguably the greatest movie ever made.
Finding life lessons in It’s a Wonderful Life is like finding sand at the beach. Every time you go to it, you find more and more. This year is no exception.
It’s a Wonderful Life is Not a Hallmark Christmas Movie
You know I love me those Hallmark Christmas movies. But watching It’s a Wonderful Life this year, a thought struck me. It’s a Wonderful Life is no Hallmark Christmas movie. No matter how many Hallmark Christmas movies try to mimic It’s a Wonderful Life.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
SALady 12/14/2021 12:09:25 AM (No. 1006278)
Back when Saturday Night Live was still funny (so a very long time ago), they did a skit showing the lost ending of "It's a Wonderful Life". In it, Uncle Billy remembers that he left that money at the bank and Mr. Potter must have stolen it. So the group goes to Potter's office and beats him severely.
It was the ending you know you really wanted. Frank Capra missed a major opportunity there!!!
14 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Safari Man 12/14/2021 1:04:45 AM (No. 1006295)
Or as Seinfeld would have said, your best revenge is living well.
8 people like this.
Hmmm. What recent real-life story does this remind you of? Decent, well-liked billionaire wins election over dour, wicked pantsuit despite her evil connivings. When the middle-class Americans who put him in office demand he “lock her up” for her many self-serving transgressions against the country, he righteously allows her to stew in her own juices, drunkenly bemoaning her reckoning as a betrayal by the Little People.
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
MissMann 12/14/2021 3:51:13 AM (No. 1006315)
If you haven't already, please, please add "Meet John Doe" to your Christmas movie list. It's another fine outing for Frank Capra and holds up so well.
7 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
slsusnr 12/14/2021 4:39:28 AM (No. 1006338)
I show this movie to my NJROTC cadets and then we discuss it. We are required to have suicide prevention classes, and this is a great message. What a waste of life! Think about how George influenced all those around him. Capra himself probably never had a clue about what a difference he made in so many lives. This is certainly in the top ten in any list of greatest movies ever made.
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
chumley 12/14/2021 6:16:50 AM (No. 1006366)
I was in my 20's before I saw it for the first time, but loved it. One of my favorite lines is "Awww. Youth is wasted on the wrong people". Super heartwarming story. I also notice the cop and the cab driver are Bert and Ernie. That can't be an accident on the Muppets part.
Not too keen on the strong communist messages, (rich banker bad, poor banker good. Poor people in general virtuous. Etc.) but you take the good with the bad.
7 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
wakeupcall 12/14/2021 8:39:40 AM (No. 1006456)
The servants of Satan the evil of the Global Marxist Communist democrats/republicrats GOPe, Global Marxist Communist One World Government, who are voting at every gathering to exclude God our Father from their political platform. Also the Marxists Communist democrats elected as republicans, RINO's, who have helped their comrades for they are false republicans who do not believe in God our Father.
Christians, it is time to separate ourselves from the Satan worshipers as instructed by God in His Holy Bible. Christians, we are now living in the time of the fifth trump of God, and it will not be too much longer until we enter into the sixth trump as the instructions in Daniel and Revelation tell us so we can be prepared.
2 Corinthians 6
Live separate from unbelievers and apostates
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
If you believe you are a Christian it is time for you to wake up and follow the instructions of God our Father.
3 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
wakeupcall 12/14/2021 8:40:38 AM (No. 1006458)
He who controls the Gate (government) controls the city, controls the nation.
When the IRS controls the tongue of a pastor, is this the will of God or of Satan?
Let me put it this way. When man, not God, holds the tongue of a pastor, is it right?
"We want to have righteous men and women be the leaders in every power base in the world." Why?
Proverbs 29: 2 When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.
"The church, politics, the judiciary, economics, education, medicine, the media, the press, all have leaders. Leaders lead according to their ethics. Their leadership is an out working of their ethical allegiance.
Our desire is to have the righteous leading and ruling in the affairs of men. Is that a Biblical goal?"
The gate is the seat of authority for:
Civil Leadership (what we today call "political leadership")
Judgment (or Judiciary)
Education
Commerce
Proverbs 14:19 The evil bow down before the good; And the wicked, at the Gates of the righteous.
He who controls the Gate controls the city, controls the nation.
Which do we want?
To be trampled under the foot by God's enemies, or to possess the Gates of God's enemies?
Otherwise:
If we abandon the Biblical mandate to serve and lead in the Gate, we will be conquered, ruled, and enslaved.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
AltaD 12/14/2021 9:22:50 AM (No. 1006493)
I can why this author, and most fans, believe that the ending Capra filmed was perfect but I have to say that the alt-ending he didn't film has a certain appeal.
6 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
red1066 12/14/2021 10:13:00 AM (No. 1006541)
There are two movies shown at Christmas where I end up with tears in my eyes. One is absolutely "It's a Wonderful Life", and the other is White Christmas. The ending of White Christmas with all the men gather from a WWII unit makes me think of my father and my uncles as well as all the family friends I grew up with. All were WWII veterans, and the ending of White Christmas makes me think of them.
9 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
dman 12/14/2021 12:35:42 PM (No. 1006706)
Nominate this for "must read". As others here: I agree with Capra's final edit, but Perotta provides an important perspective on "the REST of the story".
It's not about us, but about God. .. and "vengeance" is His, per Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19.
4 people like this.
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Comments:
I ran across this and found it to be, at first glance, a shame that the "delicious" final scene was cut, and another version of a final scene from an earlier version was also left out.
But the author's summation makes me tend to agree with Frank Capra's final cut that we see today....and I love the movie, have seen it many times.