It's A Wonderful Life

Premiered December 20, 1946.

This is another case where due to a film's popularity, we'll depart a bit from our usual format.

If you're reading this blog, chances are you're familiar with the plot of It's A Wonderful Life:
George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), through circumstances beyond his control, never gets to leave the his hometown of Bedford Falls and pursue his dreams.  He later falls in love with and marries Mary (Donna Reed).  George and Mary have four children and settle in Bedford Falls.  George becomes a pillar of the community.

When a large sum of money is lost, which may cost him his business and might lead to his arrest, George considers suicide.  His suicide attempt is interrupted by Clarence (Henry Travers), his guardian angel, who shows George what the world would've been like if he'd never been born.

Since we're focusing on Oscars this month, It's A Wonderful Life features multiple members of the cast and crew that received awards from the Academy.

This film was nominated for six Academy Awards and won the Technical Achievement Oscar for its technique of making fake snow.

This film's director Frank Capra won three Best Director Oscars for directing It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, and You Can't Take It With You.

Capra also produced and directed Prelude To War, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Jimmy Stewart won Best Actor in 1940 for The Philadelphia Story.

Donna Reed won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for From Here To Eternity.

Lionel Barrymore, who plays the evil Mr. Potter, won the Best Actor Oscar for A Free Soul.

Thomas Mitchell, who plays George's eccentric uncle Billy won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Stagecoach.

Last but not least, Gloria Grahame, who plays Bedford Falls' resident "bad girl" Violet Bick, won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for The Bad And The Beautiful.  Grahame is best remembered today for her roles in film noir movies. 

J.A. Morris says:
I'll start by saying this is a great film.  I'm old enough to remember when it fell into the public domain and was on TV constantly on multiple channels every December.  So I have lots of sentimental attachment to It's A Wonderful Life.  However, I don't think it's perfect.

Like others, I find the depiction of librarians to be ridiculous.  When George sees what Bedford Falls would've been like if he'd never been born, he freaks out when Clarence tells him "She became an old maid. She never married...she's just about to close up the library!"  My co-blogger and I have both worked in libraries for many years.  The idea that Mary becoming a librarian is the worst thing that could've happened is insulting to librarians and women in general.  It's also worth noting that, even in "librarian drag," Donna Reed is still a very attractive woman and even in 1946, this depiction of librarians was probably an outdated stereotype.

Does George's contemplation of suicide and subsequent descent into darkness when he sees what the world would be like without him make it a somewhat depressing film?  Yes, but the holiday season can be a depressing for many people, so it makes sense that It's A Wonderful Life has been a Christmas classic for decades.

The lesson of the finale, that George is "the richest man in town" since he has so many friends is a great message for a Christmas movie or a movie set during anytime of the year.

The acting is great all-around, especially Barrymore's portrayal of Mr. Potter.  Barrymore created one of the greatest villains in movie history.  It's interesting to note that, unlike other Christmas villains, Potter is not reformed at the end and gets away with stealing the Bailey's money.

Some trivia:
The pool hidden under the gym floor is real!  It's called the Swim Gym, it's located in Beverly Hills High School and was built in 1939!  It still works today.

Ellen Corby has a small role as Miss Davis.  Corby later gained fame when she played Grandma Esther on the The Waltons.

While the librarian stuff is stupid, It's A Wonderful Life is still worth watching seven decades after its release and it's overall message about respect for your fellow human beings and how one person can improve lives of so many people is as relevant as ever.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

It's A Wonderful Life is one of my all-time favorite holiday films, partly because of repeated exposure due to its public domain status when I was growing up.   I found the portrayal of small town America charming and the ways it integrates recent (at the time) history like WWII and the Great Depression into the story line is interesting. 

That being said, it's the characters that make the movie work.  We sympathize with George feeling stuck and I appreciate that even secondary characters like forgetful, animal loving Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) are interesting and help drive the plot, which is a credit to the screenwriters and actors who brought them to life.

It's interesting to note that a couple of the child actors that appear in It's A Wonderful Life  also show up in different roles in another holiday classic.   Robert J. Anderson who plays young George Bailey...

...and Karolyn Grimes who plays George's daughter Zuzu both appear in the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife. 

Additionally, a former child star, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer of Our Gang/Little Rascals fame has a featured role in the famous dance scene involving a swimming pool under the floor of the Bedford Falls HS gym.

Carl Switzer as Freddie Othello.

As J.A. Morris says above, there is a good deal of darkness to the story -- it does involve a suicide attempt -- but the holidays can be a very difficult time for many and I think acknowledging this is important.

Plus, in optimistic Frank Capra fashion, it all ends well thanks to Clarence's timely intervention.  There's a fine balance of humor and pathos in this movie, which provides much to enjoy on repeated viewings.

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 candy canes

Announcing "Oscar Takes A Holiday!"

If you pay any attention to popular culture, you’re probably aware that we’re in the middle of what’s known as “awards season,” which culminates on February 24 with the Academy Awards ceremony.

We have mixed feelings about the Oscars, since the academy sometimes gets it wrong.  For example, how is it that Cary Grant never won an Oscar (and only received two nominations)?  Yet we always end up watching the ceremony (or at least part of it) every year.

Lots of Academy Award winning actors, directors and writers have also worked on holiday movies, specials and episodes.  Some movies that take place at Christmas have even won Oscars. Perhaps the most obvious example is Edmund Gwenn’s performance as Santa Claus in Miracle On 34th Street, which earned Gwenn a Best Supporting Actor statuette.  

So all this month, leading up to the Oscars ceremony on February 24, we’ll be posting new reviews of holiday programming that features contributions from Oscar winning talents. Expect reviews of well-known films, episodes and specials and some things you never heard of.

Please check back this Monday, February 4 for the beginning of “Oscar Takes A Holiday!”

The Goldbergs: "A Christmas Story"

Premiered December 9, 2015

"My mom got the Hanukkah she always wanted:Christmas!"
-Adam Goldberg

It's Christmas vacation 1980-something and the Goldbergs' matriarch Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) is frustrated by her family's lack of interest in celebrating Hanukkah.

Her husband Murray (Jeff Garlin) and their kids Erica (Haley Orrantia), Barry (Troy Gentile) and Adam (Sean Giambrone) are disappointed Hanukkah presents become increasingly less interesting on each of the eight nights.

Erica gets school supplies for Hanukkah.

This in contrast to the "Christmas Wonderland" at the Kremp house across the street.  Virginia Kremp (Jennifer Irwin) and her kids are smiling and excited about Christmas.

This makes Beverly feel like she is "not good at family."  So she invents a new holiday which she calls "Super Hanukkah."  Instead of eight nights of gifts, they will save up presents, put them under a "Hanukkah Bush" and open all of them on one night...or one morning.

Since school is out, Adam and his older brother Barry pass time playing games and watching their favorite holiday film, A Christmas Story.  Adam gets upset when Barry would rather spend time with his girlfriend Lainey (AJ Michalka).

In order to get Barry to stay, Adam "double-dog dares" Barry to put his tongue on their freezing-cold tether ball pole.  When Barry stalls, Adam ups the ante and issues a triple-dog dare.  They both wind up frozen to the pole.

Murray finds himself getting (inadvertently) wrapped up in the spirit of the season.  The Kremps had hired a "Santa" to stop by their house and drop off gifts.  When that falls through, they ask Murray to play Santa.  He finds that strangers treat him nicer and give him free stuff when he wears the Santa suit.

Beverly's father Al (George Segal) is disgusted by the idea of Super Hanukkah and is also unhappy to see Murray in the Santa suit. He thinks his daughter's made-up holiday is an insult to their ancestors who made great sacrifices in order to carry on their Judaic traditions.  Al decides to dress up a character he calls "Hanu-Claus" in order to make Beverly and the others feel guilty.  This leads to an ugly argument between Beverly and Al.

The jar stores all the traditions Beverly has passed down to her children (it's empty).

Will Al ruin Beverly's new holiday?  Will Barry and Adam be recused from the frozen pole?

J.A. Morris says:

There isn't a lot of holiday programming that focuses on Hanukkah, so this episode of The Goldbergs is a welcome addition.

It's understandable that Beverly would feel envious of her neighbor's holiday celebration.  I also sympathized with Al when he felt like their family traditions were being disrespected.

It's not an accident that the title of this episode is "A Christmas Story."  We see the Goldberg boys watching the movie of the same name several times and of course the "tether ball pole" scene is a reenactment of Flick's encounter with a flagpole.  There are other references to A Christmas Story, but I won't spoil them.

George Segal sings a Hanukkah-themed version of "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" and accompanies himself on banjo.  It's worth noting that Segal is an accomplished banjo player and has released several albums.

"A Christmas Story" is a very funny episode that parodies a classic Christmas movie while featuring a great story about holidays and family traditions.

J.A. Morris's rating:

4 dreidels!

RigbyMel says:

As J.A. Morris points out above,  there is a distinct lack of Hanukkah TV programming, so it's nice to have this episode attempt to include both Hanukkah and Christmas.

I rather suspect that Beverly's feeling of "not being good at family" is universal whether one is Jewish, Christian or nothing in particular, especially during the holiday season when familial expectations seem to run especially high.  I also quite like that "A Christmas Story" does a good job of demonstrating that this is a feeling that can be pretty common.

I can see both sides of the Beverly vs. Al Haunkkah argument -- Christmas and Hanukkah are both holidays rooted in religious tradition, but the cultural permeation of Christmas into pretty much every aspect of life in the U.S. in December means it's also a secular holiday.   This leads to tensions from a strictly religious point of view and balancing that tension can be tricky.  I have known of other Jewish families who choose to fold secular Christmas into their festive season as well as Christians who choose to include menorahs in their holiday decorating, but I recognize that these choices might not work for all. 

I appreciated the references to the film A Christmas Story as well as to the 1980s SNL "Hanukkah Harry" sketches that were folded into the episode.   Nostalgia is an important part of the mid-winter festive season as it is practiced today regardless of religion -- and as The Goldbergs trades on 1980-something nostalgia year round, it feels natural in context.

Just like in A Christmas Story, the Kremps and Goldbers celebrate the holidays with "Chinese Turkey."

"A Christmas Story" is a fun and funny festive addition to your holiday viewing  -- especially if one grew up in the 1980s -- and is recommended.

RigbyMel's rating:

.5



3 and a half dreidels.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Premiered November 2, 2018.

On a Christmas Eve in Victorian London, the Stahlbaum family is preparing to celebrate their first Christmas without their mother Marie.  Middle child Clara (Mackenzie Foy) is having an especially tough time getting through the holiday.

She receives an egg for Christmas that’s accompanied by a note from her mother.  It tells Clara that everything she will ever need is inside the egg.  Unfortunately, the egg is locked, and there appears to be no key.

Drosselmeyer takes a look at Clara's egg in his workshop

The family attends a Christmas party hosted by Clara’s godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman).   As per tradition,  the children at the party follow ribbons through Drosselmeyer’s mansion to locate their Christmas presents.   Clara’s ribbon leads her to a strange alternate world where she finds the key to her mother’s egg. 

Almost immediately,  a mouse steals the key and takes off.  With the help of a nutcracker soldier named Captain Phillip Hoffman (Jayden Fowora-Knight), Clara pursues the mouse and winds up in a palace.

She meets rulers of three realms who are at war with the Land Of Amusements, which is ruled by Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren).

The Sugar Plum Fairy (Kiera Knightley), regent of the Kingdom of Sweets,  hosts a ballet which tells the story of the creation of their world.

The Four Realms owe their existence to Clara’s mother’s invention of a device that made toys come to life.

Sugar Plum believes the key to defeating Mother Ginger’s forces is to make use of the device (which operates with the same key as the one for Clara’s egg) to turn toy soldiers into a real army.

However, Clara may not have the whole truth about the conflict!

Can Clara bring peace to the Four Realms and make it back to her world and her family?

J.A. Morris says:

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is a beautiful looking film based on a classic Christmas story.  Mckenzie Foy is a likeable, talented lead and it’s nice to see a girl on the big screen who is interested in science.  The cast is full of big names who give solid (if not great) performances. 

However, there’s not a lot of substance to the movie and it felt like a lot of content was edited out.  This gives it the feeling of being both too long and not long enough at the same time.

Since this film was recently released and is still playing in some areas, I’m reluctant to reveal much more about it..

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms is decent and it’s worth seeing once, but the movie isn’t likely to become a classic.

J.A. Morris’ rating:

.5

2 and a half candy canes.

RigbyMel says: 

This movie is a visual feast with amazing colors, elaborate costuming and steampunk-ish design, but as J.A. Morris says, the Narnia-retread story with a feeling of being written by committee in a bad way is unfortunately not quite as fun as the visuals.

Pretty! 

There is fun use of the musical source material throughout as well.    We get a lovely ballet performance to tell the story of the Four Realms featuring Misty Copeland with a cool life sized Victorian toy theater set design.

This sequence also includes a visual nod to the use of Tchaikovsky's music in Disney's Fantasia as we see a conductor mount a podium in front of an orchestra in silhouette.

So, although the movie is worth seeing on a big screen for the production design and solid performances by its cast,  but the lack of compelling story will keep it from becoming a perennial holiday classic.

RigbyMel's rating: 

.5

2 and a half candy canes.