A 1946 American Christmas fantasy about a despairing small-town banker shown by a guardian angel what the world would have been without him.
Production
Frank Capra produced and directed his first postwar feature through his independent Liberty Films. James Stewart played George Bailey in his first role after returning from active duty as a bomber pilot in Europe. The fictional Bedford Falls was built as an elaborate set on the RKO ranch in Encino.
Reception
The film lost money in 1946 against an estimated $3 million budget. It received five Academy Award nominations but won none, and Liberty Films folded soon after.
Legacy
A lapsed copyright in the 1970s placed the film in regular television rotation each holiday season, where it built the canonical reputation it had failed to earn at release. It now anchors the American Christmas-movie tradition.
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