IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946 - directed by Frank Capra; starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore) A man wishes that he had never been born, and his wish is granted by an angel.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is one of the most intriguingly structed movies I have ever seen. The first two thirds of the film show us the life of George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), a small town man with big town dreams. He struggles to break out of Bedford Falls, but at each critical moment in his life, something comes up that forces him to stay. When he reaches a crisis he doesn’t think he can handle, he wishes he had never been born. Clarence, his guardian angel, grants his wish and shows him what life in Bedford Falls would have been like without him. The film points out how much each one of our lives can touch others in so many way, and, as most Capra films do, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE reaffirms faith in the common man. Not a big hit on release, but it became a treasured film through years of television showings.
MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS aka BABES IN TOYLAND ( 1934 - directed by Gus Meins and Charley Rogers; starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy) A pair of misfit toymakers defeat an attack on Toyland by the evil Bogeymen.
Producer Hal Roach has made better films, and Laurel and Hardy have made funnier ones, but these men never combined to create a more charming film than BABES IN TOYLAND. Laurel and Hardy were the greatest comedy team in film history, projecting a warmth and humanity that escaped other teams like The Marx Brothers and The Three Stooges, and with their childlike screen personalities, they never had a more fitting session than Toyland. A funny adaptation of Victor Herbert’s hit operetta, BABES features great comedy by Stan and Ollie, outstanding villains in Silas Barnaby (Henry Brandon) and his army of evil Bogeymen, marvelous sets in Toyland and Bogeyland, and a good deal of Herbert’s beautiful songs. Although the film was originally filmed in black and white, it is now most often shown in a colorized version - and a very good one at that.
MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1947 - directed by George Seaton; starring Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood) A man who believes he is Santa Claus is put on trial.
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