It's a Wonderful Life
It's a wonderful laugh! It's a wonderful love!
Country
Production
Budget
$3 180 000
Box office
$9 644 124
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Camera operator
Joseph F. Biroc
Composer
Artist
Audition
Editing
William Hornbeck
Whole Team (27)
Whole Team (27)
Short description
A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
What's left behind the scenes
- In one scene, Donna Reed's (1921-1986) character was required to break a window with a stone, and director Frank Capra (1897-1991) hired a sniper to shoot the window on cue. To everyone's surprise, Reed broke the window herself. She had played baseball in school, so she had a great arm.
- The plot of the film takes place around Christmas, but it was filmed during the height of the summer heat. At one point, the heat became so unbearable that Frank Capra was forced to declare a day off.
- Sam makes a fortune from plastic products, and Harry becomes an engineer at his father-in-law's glass factory. Both of these circumstances mirror the past of director Frank Capra himself. By education, he was a chemical engineer. Unable to find work in his field, he—like the protagonist of this film—considered himself a failure for many years.
- The bridge scene in which Clarence saves George was filmed on an open set when the air temperature was 30 degrees Fahrenheit. That is why James Stewart can be seen sweating in some of the shots.
- Before filming this movie, falling snow on screen was depicted using white-painted cornflakes. Their fall was quite noisy, so the dialogue had to be recorded afterward and dubbed onto the footage. Director Frank Capra wanted to record the sound live, so they began 'making' snow for the filming using foamite (a fire-extinguishing foam compound), soap, and water. Afterwards, for filming silent snowfall, the resulting mixture was passed through a wind machine under high pressure. Over 22,000 liters of the new compound were used for filming this movie. The American Film Academy awarded the special effects department of RKO Pictures a prize for inventing the new snow compound for filming.
- Sam makes a fortune on plastic products, and Harry becomes an engineer at his father-in-law's glass factory. Both of these circumstances reflect the past of director Frank Capra himself. He was originally trained as a chemical engineer. Unable to find work in his field, he – like the hero of this film – considered himself a failure for many years.
- Since the 1970s, the film has been regularly shown on major US television channels on Christmas Eve.
- James Stewart was very nervous about the kissing scene, as it was his first on-screen kiss since returning to Hollywood from the war. They decided to film it without rehearsals. Stewart played the scene so well on the very first take that the passionate embrace accompanying the kiss had to be cut due to the censors.
- Director Frank Capra paid close attention to every shot. In a key scene in the film, a desperate George sits in a bar and prays to God to save him. By that time, James Stewart (1908-1997), who played the role, was already close to a breakdown, had a fit, and burst into tears. Capra did not expect this at all, and the cameras were set up at a decent distance from the actor. Stewart's emotions impressed the director so much that he asked the actor to play the scene exactly the same way again so he could film it in close-up. Stewart refused, saying that the tears were not acted, but real. Ultimately, Capra took the film to a laboratory, where he endlessly cut and enlarged frames until he got a close-up. This is why this scene looks so “grainy” compared to all the other scenes in the film.
- The entire gym hall slides apart, revealing a swimming pool below. This scene was filmed at a school in the Beverly Hills area, which – along with the swimming pool – is still in operation today.
- James Stewart was very worried about the kissing scene, as it was his first on-screen kiss after returning from the war to Hollywood. They decided to film it without rehearsals. Stewart played the scene so well on the first take that the passionate embrace accompanying the kiss had to be cut due to censors.
- When Thomas Mitchell's (1892-1962) drunken character leaves the house, it sounds as if he has stumbled into trash cans on the sidewalk. In reality, someone on set dropped an entire tray of props just as Mitchell exited the frame. Stewart burst out laughing, to which Mitchell responded, "I'm fine," a line that wasn't in the script. Director Frank Capra decided to keep the take in the film and gave the person who dropped the tray a $10 bonus.
- The Bedford Falls town set took two months to build and became one of the longest sets in the history of American cinema. It covered 4 acres of RKO Studios land. It included the storefronts of 75 shops and other buildings, a central street, an industrial area, a large residential area, and a slum district. The central street was over 250 meters long and spanned three city blocks.
- The audience is left unaware of Mr. Potter's fate after he accuses George of embezzling $8,000 that Uncle Billy mistakenly slipped into Mr. Potter’s newspaper. This was rather unusual for the time, as the so-called “Hays Code” (the ethical code of film production in Hollywood) required that the guilty party either face punishment or repent in the film's finale.
- Before this film, falling snow on screen was depicted using cornflakes painted white. Their fall was loud enough that dialogue had to be recorded later and dubbed over the image. Director Frank Capra wanted to record the sound live, so they began "making" snow for the shoot out of foamite (a foam fire-extinguishing agent), soap, and water. To create a silent snowfall, the resulting mixture was passed through a blower under high pressure. Over 22,000 liters of this new compound were used for the film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded RKO's special effects department an Oscar for the invention of this new cinematic snow.
- The scene on the bridge where Clarence saves George was filmed on an outdoor set when the temperature was below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. That's why James Stewart appears to be sweating in some scenes.
- When the drunken character of Thomas Mitchell (1892-1962) exits the house, judging by the sounds, he stumbled over garbage cans on the sidewalk. In reality, someone on the set dropped an entire tray of props just as Mitchell walked out of frame. Stewart burst out laughing, to which Mitchell replied, “I’m okay,” which was not in the script. Director Frank Capra decided to leave this take in the film and gave the person who dropped the tray $10 as a bonus.
- In one scene, Donna Reed (1921-1986) was required to break a window with a stone, and director Frank Capra (1897-1991) hired a sniper to shoot the window on cue. To everyone's surprise, Reed broke the window herself. She had played baseball in school, so she had a good throwing arm.
- The film's plot unfolds around Christmas time, but it was filmed in the height of summer heat. At one point, the heat became so unbearable that Frank Capra had to declare a day off.
- Director Frank Capra paid meticulous attention to every shot. In a key scene, a desperate George sits in a bar and prays to the Lord to save him. By that time, the actor playing the role, James Stewart (1908-1997), was close to a breaking point; he had a breakdown and burst into tears. Capra hadn't expected this, and the cameras were set at a considerable distance from the actor. Stewart's emotions impressed the director so much that he asked the actor to play the scene exactly the same way again so he could film it in a close-up. Stewart refused, stating that the tears were not acted, but real. Ultimately, Capra took the film to the laboratory, where he endlessly cropped and enlarged the frames until he achieved a close-up. This is why this scene looks so 'grainy' compared to all the other scenes in the movie.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
