This is a movie that, because of its long run time, I tend to be slow getting around to watching it during the annual holiday season, though always do try to play it at some point. This actually isn't one of my most beloved holiday-set movies, simply because it's, to considerable extent, a decidedly "dark" film, whereas during the holidays more upbeat fare seems so welcome.

Growing up (which I did during the '60s and '70s), this movie played a lot starting from Thanksgiving Day afternoon onward. I watched it a number of times back then, into early adulthood - and eventually became tired of it.

I started falling back in love with this movie only since beginning earlier during the present decade, when I finally - after decades of annually choosing to bypass it - decided to watch it again. That did the trick, and compelled me to then also purchase a copy of the film on DVD. (I have the feature set that pairs it with White Christmas.) Now it's one of the holiday classics that I try to get around to watching a time or two annually.

So far I haven't gotten around to watching a single Christmas movie this holiday season - though definitely am intending to start doing something about that any day (or hour) now.

It's going to be on one channel or another maybe on a marathon. I get tired of feeling like you have to watch the same set of films that correspond to certain holidays. I know there was a remake it two along the way. I will look out for those for a change. I do like a lot of the scenes but it is a movie that you can easily memorize just because it is every where. A bunch of grumpy hipsters like to put it down but that is just lame. I also have a copy of Frank Capra's biography The Name Above the Title which has some good background on the picture. It's a long book and Capra is really stuck on himself.

So far I have rewatched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, Elf, and a cute flick from the 90s All I want for Christmas about a kid played by Thora Birch, wants her parents back together. Of course all the classic cartoons I always watch.

@gen, Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I understand what you're saying about getting tired of seeing this back when every station was playing all through the season (my dad says the same thing). I was only introduced to it last year, and so am looking forward to seeing it again sometime in the coming weeks.

You're right: it is a rather dark film in some aspects, but personally, I still think it's brilliant. I have a couple other holiday films I want to get around to viewing soon. You mentioned White Christmas; is that a good one?

@znexyish Hmm, interesting. I didn't know there was a remake. I've heard of The Name Above the Title, as well as the fact that in writing it Capra was very egotistical. Which kind of amuses me considering the kind of movies he made...or maybe not. I don't know, maybe that actually makes sense?

barry, I'm confident you'd enjoy White Christmas. It's very entertaining, well-done, and has top talent, not to mention is decidedly feel-good. It's one of my top two or three favourite holiday classics, and always has been since I was a kid.

Yep: I definitely eventually o.d.'d on It's a Wonderful Life during my growing-up years, from watching it so many times. Heavy rotation will do that - and it certainly did get aired a lot, all throughout the annual holiday season, back then. Took me something like ballpark of thirty years, subsequent to whenever I stopped watching it decades ago, that I finally decided enough time had passed to give it a new look. I'm so glad that I did.

One of the things I enjoy this film for all these years later is now being so much more familiar with supporting actors and actresses of the '30s, '40s, and '50s, so now enjoying, whenever I watch, playing the "What all else do I know that actor/actress from?" (and the "Do I have them in also any other movies that are in my DVDs collection?") game.

A great thing about IaWL is that, while it's set during the holiday season, it's the type of film/story that's not so specific to Christmas and the holidays that really it works just as well for viewing anytime else throughout the year.

@barrymost said:

@znexyish Hmm, interesting. I didn't know there was a remake. I've heard of The Name Above the Title, as well as the fact that in writing it Capra was very egotistical. Which kind of amuses me considering the kind of movies he made...or maybe not. I don't know, maybe that actually makes sense?

Not as many as A Christmas Carol of course. There was a made for television version called It happened one Christmas from 1977 starring Marlo Thomas, with Cloris Leachman as the Angel and Orson Welles as Potter. I faintly remember it. There was also a Hallmark channel version and many adaptations for radio, stage and musical. Also a great SNL take off from 1986 with Dana Carvy, Jan Hooks, and Jon Lovits. You can find it on YouTube.

As for Capra he had a big personality to be sure. A story is that the great screenwriter Robert Riskin who wrote some of the Capra films got fed up with him and handed Frank a stack of blank paper and told him to give that the Capra treatment. IAWL was not a big hit or all that popular when it first came out. Even then he had his detractors among critics who called his style Capra-corn.

As you may know the story was part of a Christmas card sent out by one Philip Van Doren Stern called The Greatest Gift which you can find on the internet. Instead of going through Dickens again, read that instead.

Another Christmas movie that is just kind of set around the holiday that I like is Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck.

I very slightly (as in, for the most part, not at all) remember the Marlo Thomas made-for-t.v. version of long ago.

I learned about the film by listening to the band Fishbone. I had bought an EP of theirs that has the same title as the film. Utterly brilliant EP! The record's cover art made the movie look corny as hell to me, and it wasn't until decades later that I finally saw it. The film wasn't bad at all, with some dark moments to it indeed. That doesn't mean I'll be viewing it this month though.

I might skip it this year. Or watch it on New Year's eve?

I've been very lax about watching Christmas movies this year, other than a number of vintage Christmas cartoons - plus now am in the process of watching a bunch of 1901-1925 Silent Christmas shorts that I had never seen before.

Still am hoping to watch some favourite Christmas classics within the coming hours or days though (my 2-1/2 weeks holiday vacation has a week and a half more to go).

A lot of Christmas movies I have playing in the background.

I have always thought this movie is just sentimental claptrap. It's one of the few older Christmas films I did not like.

@genplant29 said:

I've been very lax about watching Christmas movies this year, other than a number of vintage Christmas cartoons - plus now am in the process of watching a bunch of 1901-1925 Silent Christmas shorts that I had never seen before.

Still am hoping to watch some favourite Christmas classics within the coming hours or days though (my 2-1/2 weeks holiday vacation has a week and a half more to go).

Gen, did you leave a response after mine & then change your mind & delete it?

Yes, brat. I added a Merry Christmas, etc. greeting here, then noticed that all the same subscribers of this thread, plus several additional other posters, are on the other also-active-today thread for this movie, so decided to move my holiday greeting from here to there so as to have the largest readership.