Review Excerpt: It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Joe Barlow (c) Copyright 1999, all rights reserved
With our first glimpse of Bedford Falls, the idyllic, snow-kissed setting of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life, we know something is amiss. It's Christmas Eve, but there's no joy in the air--only a sense of tension and foreboding. There are voices in the night; from every home we hear the prayers of townsfolk, requesting salvation for one of their own--George Bailey, the beloved secretary of the town's Savings and Loan office. His name is chanted like a mantra, hovering on the lips of every resident. "Please, Lord," they plead, "help George Bailey."
Bailey (James Stewart) is a man whose life hasn't turned out the way he envisioned it. He's no longer the wide-eyed boy who dreamed of travel, exploration, and--most importantly--making a difference in the world; now in his late twenties, he's deeply entrenched in a job he despises. George is kind to everyone, a trait responsible for his current predicament. He simply can't say no. To anyone. For any reason. He loans money to friends when he can barely afford to buy clothes for his children. He finds himself deaf in one ear after risking his life to save his brother from drowning. He abandons his dream of going to college when his father's business needs him. Everyone, it seems, owes at least a portion of their well-being to George's selflessness.
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