CHRISTMAS EVE: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
I don't even remember the first time I saw this, but I was an adult. In fact, the first time I saw the story, it was not this movie. It was a made for TV movie starring Marlo Thomas and Wayne Rogers called It Happened One Christmas.(Note to Self: Find a copy of that version someday) If you've never seen It's a Wonderful Life, and I'm sure there are not many who haven't at least caught bits and pieces when switching channels in the wee hours of Christmas Eve, you owe it to yourself to watch it from start to finish. It has been remade in all shapes and forms. Every sitcom and TV drama has done an episode based on this movie where the hero or heroine sees what his world would have been like if he'd never been born. Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, the all-around great guy that everybody loves in a fictional town called Bedford Falls. Through circumstances beyond his control, he finds himself in extreme financial trouble, and is contemplating suicide when an angel, Clarence, comes to his rescue. As they begin to talk, Clarence grants George the wish of having never been born, and George is able to see just what would have happened. I won't spoil things for you by telling the ending, but this has always been one of my favorite quotes: "Remember, George. No man is a failure who has friends." This is THE classic Christmas film, and as many times as I've seen it, I never fail to cry at the end. Because even through all of my trials and disappointments, I really do have a wonderful life.
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