It's a Wonderful Life

 

Whether or not you believe in angels, this is a wonderful movie and a Poly tradition. The stylish direction of Frank Capra and charm of James Stewart lift this film into all-time-classic status.

 

Stewart plays a troubled, partially deaf small-town family man whose sense of failure and moral despair leads him to contemplate suicide as Christmas approaches. An impish guardian angel (second class) appears, to show him how good his life has been and to steer him back to happiness. Beautifully crafted and acted, its humour and gentleness imbued at times with an almost Dickensian darkness, the film has come to be seen (in Philip French’s phrase) as ‘a complex inspirational work’, achieving cult status as one of the most popular and enduring of all Christmas entertainments.