It’s a Wonderful Life

E98970

It’s a Wonderful Life is a classic 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film that follows a despairing man who is shown by an angel what the world would be like if he had never been born.

Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
It's a Wonderful Life 2

Statements (65)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Christmas film
drama film
fantasy film
film
alternateRealityName Pottersville
angelRank AS2
basedOn Philip Van Doren Stern
The Greatest Gift
blackAndWhite true
character Clarence Odbody NERFINISHED
George Bailey
Harry Bailey
Henry F. Potter
Mary Hatch Bailey
Mr. Gower
Uncle Billy Bailey
cinematographyBy Joseph Biroc
Joseph Walker NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
culturalStatus Christmas classic
director Frank Capra NERFINISHED
distributor RKO Radio Pictures NERFINISHED
editedBy William Hornbeck NERFINISHED
featuresAngel Clarence Odbody NERFINISHED
fictionalLocation Bedford Falls
genre Christmas
drama
fantasy
hasTheme community support
family
redemption
sacrifice
self-worth
suicide prevention
initialBoxOfficePerformance disappointment
laterReception classic
musicBy Dimitri Tiomkin NERFINISHED
narrativeFocus George Bailey's life
narrator Heavenly voices
notableSong Auld Lang Syne
originalLanguage English
plotElement guardian angel shows alternate reality
preservationStatus National Film Registry
surface form: United States National Film Registry
producer Frank Capra NERFINISHED
productionCompany Liberty Films
registrySelectionYear 1990
releaseDate 1946-12-20
releaseYear 1946
runtimeMinutes 130
screenwriter Albert Hackett
Frances Goodrich
Frank Capra NERFINISHED
Jo Swerling NERFINISHED
selectedFor National Film Registry
setInPeriod 20th century
setInPlace Bedford Falls
starring Beulah Bondi NERFINISHED
Donna Reed NERFINISHED
Gloria Grahame NERFINISHED
Henry Travers NERFINISHED
James Stewart NERFINISHED
Lionel Barrymore
Thomas Mitchell NERFINISHED
Ward Bond NERFINISHED
tagline The timeless classic that will warm your heart

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sheldon Leonard actedIn It’s a Wonderful Life
Frank Capra directed It’s a Wonderful Life
Albert Hackett notableWork It’s a Wonderful Life
this entity surface form: It's a Wonderful Life
Frances Goodrich notableWork It’s a Wonderful Life
Frank Capra notableWork It’s a Wonderful Life
Gloria Grahame notableWork It’s a Wonderful Life
James Stewart notableWork It’s a Wonderful Life
this entity surface form: It's a Wonderful Life