Classic Christmas Movies on Sky Arts - It's a Wonderful Life

 

If I had to watch It's a Wonderful Life one more time it would be too soon. This is not my kind of Christmas film. Indeed as we are told, it never set out to be one. Neil Norman said that director Frank Capra just liked the story and it's only fragments of the film that are set in the holiday. However,  Ian Nathan does start with the words "The most celebrated and beloved Christmas move of them all". This episode has a huge amount of superfluous stuff, lots of documentary footage, stuff about the background of Capra and star James Stewart. All about the cast and the locations. We just do not need to be told about the plot, it is so familiar. Ian Nathan does remind us that "despite five Oscar nominations, it was at first destined for obscurity". If only it had stayed that way. I agreed with Neil Norman when he said the film was "incredibly dark".