Isn’t life beautiful?: 15 facts about the Christmas classic

2023-12-25 21:38:00

Close-up Christmas Special 15 things you should know about “Isn’t life beautiful?” need to know

James Stewart (center) in “Isn’t Life Beautiful?”

© Granata Images / Imago Images

Over 70 years old and still magical: James Stewart as a suicidal savings bank clerk who is brought back on the right path by an angel. 15 facts about Frank Capra’s immortal Hollywood fairy tale “Isn’t life beautiful?”.

The film was a Flop, when it was in theaters in 1946. It grossed around $3.3 million. The production costs were around 3.5 million dollars, a fairly high budget for an independent production. The literary source was Philip Van Doren Stern’s Short Story “The Greatest Gift” from 1939. Since the author couldn’t find a publisher for it, he sent it to 200 friends and acquaintances in 1943 as a Christmas card in the form of a 24-page booklet, which ultimately ended up on the table of producer David Hempstead from the RKO film studio. He bought the material for $10,000, but an adaptation starring Cary Grant never made it past the planning phase. Director Frank Capra then bought the rights for the same amount.The Writer Dorothy Parker worked on the script, but was not named in the credits. For the film town of Bedford Falls, one of the films was built on the grounds of the RKO studio’s Encino Ranch biggest backdrops built in Hollywood history. In two months, three blocks of houses with 75 shops, a residential area, a commercial area and a slum area were built on 16,000 square meters. The main street was 275 meters long. Numerous trees that were planted back then are still standing today. The recordings lasted from April 8th to July 27th, 1946, and the California heat was particularly difficult for the actors because they had to film in winter clothing. It was 32 degrees when filming the scene in which angel Clarence saves the life of our hero George Bailey. If you look closely, you can see how James Stewart is sweating. This is what the trailer looked like:

The Martini clan in the film is based on Frank Capras eigener Familie, who emigrated from Sicily to the USA in 1903. The goat in her car makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to the last name: Capra is the Italian word for goat. In one scene, police officer Bert holds a newspaper in his hand with parts of a headline on it. In full it read “Smith Wins Nomination”, one innuendo on Frank Capra’s own classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” from 1939 with James Stewart. Since Frank Capra wanted to shoot with the original sound without dubbing, he had a new one artificial snow from extinguishing foam, soap and water. To date, white-colored cornflakes had been used for the fake winter splendor, but these would have been too loud for Capra’s intentions. The only Oscar the film won went to the effects specialists at the RKO studio. Twenty minutes of time? Here one Making Of from 1990:

“Isn’t Life Beautiful” is the first of only two films from the production company Liberty Films, which was founded in April 1945 by directors Frank Capra, William Wyler and George Stevens. The second was the political drama “State of the Union” (1948) with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The company was purchased by Paramount in 1947 and dissolved in 1951. Originally, “Isn’t Life Beautiful?” released in US cinemas in January 1947. Since the producers still wanted to send him into the Oscar race, they moved the start up to December 1946. In hindsight it was a mistake film caused massive damage, because it was in direct competition with William Wyler’s war return epic “The Best Years of Our Lives”, which won seven Oscars as best film of the year and became the most commercially successful film of the 1940s. Frank Capra was only allowed to take home a Golden Globe for Best Director, as revealed in a wonderful interview with the British TV talker Michael Parkinson in 1973 James Stewartthat “Isn’t life beautiful?” was his favorite of all his films:

This is what the critics said:
“Moignant, but so skillfully written, conducted and played that you want to believe it.” (“Newsweek”)
“A beautiful, wonderful film. As Hollywood’s best film, it has only one dangerous competitor, ‘The Best Years of Our Lives'” (“Time”)
“For all its characteristic moods, Mr. Capra’s film is a mass of simple, cheesy platitudes.” (“New York Times”)
“So prim that it borders on artificial baby babble.” (“The New Yorker”)This is what Frank Capra said:
“I didn’t care if the critics said “Isn’t life beautiful?” applauded or panned. I thought it was the greatest film I had ever made. It was neither made for the oh-so-bored critics nor for the oh-so-jaded writers. It was a film that said to the oppressed, the pushed around, the poor: Cheer up, my boy! No person who has a friend is really poor. Three friends – and you’re filthy rich!”

3Sat shows “Isn’t life beautiful?” on December 25, 2023 at 8:10 p.m. This text comes from the stern archive and was published for the first time at Christmas 2016,