AFI 100 Movies #11 It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Frank Capra's 1946 opus has divided opinion in our household.

I love it, but Amy can't bear to watch it.

So I took the opportunity of a day at home to sit back and enjoy.

Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, a thoroughly good man, whose early days are covered at the start of the film. As a youngster he rescues his younger brother from drowning after he falls through the ice while sledging near a pond, and as a consequence of his brave act he is left deaf in one ear.

Moving the story on a little, George forgoes his own life goals in order to allow his younger sibling to pursue his ambitions.

As George's life progresses, his dreams of moving away from the little town of Bedford Falls and exploring the great wide world gradually diminish as he is forced to stay on in order to do the right thing by his co-workers and family.

Although he is happily married to the lovely Mary (played by Donna Reed) and has four children whom he loves dearly, the viewer is left with the distinct impression that George feels that the life he had planned has passed him by.

Things take a turn for the worse as George's nemesis, Henry F. Potter, who has sought to close down the Bailey family business for years, takes advantage of a very costly mistake made by George's absent minded uncle Billy, who manages to lose $8,000 from the company funds just as the tax inspector makes his visit to look over the company books.

Unable to cope anymore with the mounting pressure, George considers ending it all by jumping off a bridge, at which point Clarence, his guardian angel steps in tasked with trying to convince George that the world would be a poorer place without him in it.

It's described as a feel good movie, and I would go along with that, but I think that Amy has a valid point when she says that one of the reasons that she can't watch it is that George has to go through a lot of torment before there is any chance of a happy ending.

That's not to say that the film lacks humour, far from it, the scene at the school reunion with the swimming pool is tremendous fun, as is the scene following it when George and Mary walk home in clothes borrowed from the mens locker room.

I am a big fan of Jimmy Stewart, I think he personifies the everyman, and his portrayal of George is superb, you care for his character and when he reaches that lowest point of desperation you feel his pain.

One of the better films from the AFI list so far for me.

AFI 100 Movies #35 It Happened One Night (1934)

It Happened One Night was directed by Frank Capra and released by Columbia Pictures in 1934, it was the first movie to pick up the five main awards at the Oscars.

Claudette Colbert plays Ellen, a spoiled brat, who marries a gold digger "King" Westley against her wealthy father's wishes. Her father takes her away from her new beau before the wedding can be consummated, but she escapes, determined to get back to him.

Ellen gets on a greyhound bus bound for New York, where she meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable), an out of work newspaper journalist who recognises who she is and offers her an ultimatum: she can accept his offer of help in exchange for the exclusive rights to her story, or he will go to her father and tell him where she is and claim a $10,000 reward. She decides to accept his offer of help.

They end up hitch hiking and get into numerous scrapes along the way, and somewhat predictably she declares that she loves Peter. They check in at a motel, while Ellie is asleep, Peter decides that he loves her too and leaves there and then to make arrangements.

The motel owners assume that Peter has done a runner and throw Ellie out, she thinks that he doesn't have feelings for her and decides to go back to her father, who agrees reluctantly to let her marry Westley.

Will Ellie end up with Westley or Peter?

Gable is a charming rogue, a character type he seems suited to, and Colbert plays her part well.

The filming of this movie was, by all accounts, a stressful one. Claudette Colbert was so convinced that she would not win the best actress oscar that she decided to book herself a holiday! When the head of Columbia Pictures found out that she had won, an employee was despatched to go and catch her before she got on her train and drag her to the ceremony!