This year Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life celebrates its 75th anniversary, and as well as celebratory NBC airings the classic Christmas tale of hopelessness and redemption will be getting a brand new restored Blu-ray edition. While the movie has its critics, there are millions who watch the film every single year and place the James Stewart-led story in their top ten movies of all time. However, despite being one of the most quoted and loved festive movies, that wasn’t the case when the film first arrived in cinemas as a rushed-out theatrical flop.

It’s a Wonderful Life tells the story of George Bailey, a man who feels unable to continue with his life and attempts suicide until he receives a visit from an angel who shows him what the people he knows would have gone through had he never existed. While it is not the cheery and bouncing holiday movie that sees Austrian bodybuilders trying to find an in demand Christmas toy, or a jolly white-bearded man taking kids on a magical journey on Christmas Eve, the movie’s themes are probably those most overlooked by many at this time of year and if there is ever a time to consider the good in life over the bad, then why not at Christmas time.

When the movie arrived in theaters on December 20th, 1946, the film scraped in just $3.3 million of its $3.7 million budget after being thrown into cinemas last minute when a movie that was meant to be released was not ready on time. Being the first major movie to star Stewart after his World War II service, the result was not exactly the return to acting Stewart or the studio had expected

When it came to the Academy Awards for that year, many critics had taken warmly to the movie, and pegged it for a number of honors. However, of the five films nominated for Best Picture, It’s a Wonderful Life was the only one to walk away empty-handed, seeming to seal the fate of the movie before it had been given a fair crack of the whip. But as time, and television, would tell, Capra’s movie would see its day, because let’s face it, who remembers The Razor’s Edge, The Yearling, The Best Years of Our Lives or Laurence Olivier’s Henry V with any great affection?

Additionally, none of those movies are being given the kind of celebratory release that It’s a Wonderful Life is getting, with Paramount Home Entertainment bringing the film out on a special Blu-ray edition with the restored original movie along with the colorized version for those who like that kind of thing. The special release also includes a collectible card series, in-depth recipes for the whole Bailey Family Holiday Recipes menu, all contained in beautiful blue and silver packaging.

For those still unsure whether the movie is that iconic after 75 years, NBC is once again dedicating primetime space on multiple nights this December to the movie that is older than the majority of those regularly tuning into the station, and that is not the kind of treatment just any old movie gets. Having seen the Covid pandemic cause many mental health issues over the last couple of years, watching It’s a Wonderful Life this year will probably hit a little differently, but it may also go some way to remind us all that no matter how dark life gets, if you don’t face it alone, then it really can be a wonderful life.

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