An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
For the scene that required Donna Reed to throw a rock through the window of the Granville house, director Frank Capra hired a marksman to shoot it out on cue. To everyone's amazement, Reed broke the window by herself. She had played baseball in high school and had a strong throwing arm.
Mr. Emil Gower:
I owe everything to George Bailey. Help him, dear Father.
Giuseppe Martini:
Joseph, Jesus and Mary. Help my friend, Mr. Bailey.
Ma Bailey:
Help my son, George, tonight.
Bert:
He never thinks about himself, God, that's why he's in trouble.
Ernie Bishop:
George is a good guy. Give him a break, God.
Mary:
...
On Christmas Eve when he is hugging Tommy, George is clean shaven at 1:25:35 (2007 DVD). By the time he climbs the stairs to check on ZuZu he has a heavy 5 O'clock shadow on his face (at 1:28:36).
A ringing facsimile of the Liberty Bell (without the crack) forms the backdrop for the studio logo, which is Liberty Films, and the opening credits are in a scrapbook with Christmas decorations. The bell reappears before the end credits, and the end credits have a Christmas card picture as a backdrop.
The film was colorized three times. The first colorized version of the film was produced by Hal Roach Studios (now Sonar Entertainment), the second by Republic Pictures. A third colorization of the film was produced by Legend Films for Paramount, the film's current copyright holder, in 2007.
English, French
£49,845 (UK) (19 December 2008)