This great film’s message still resonates today
‘We have major problems but they can be resolved through determination’
IT HAS become one of the cherished rituals of Christmas, almost as much a part of the festive period as the tree and turkey. Families across the world regularly gather to watch It’s A Wonderful Life, the classic Hollywood movie that retains the emotive capacity to provoke warm-hearted floods of tears.
Made in 1946 by the ItalianAmerican director Frank Capra, the film tells the story of George Bailey, superbly played by James Stewart, who contemplates suicide on Christmas Eve when his family-run loan business in the town of Bedford Falls is faced with bankruptcy. His plight is greeted with relish by Henry Potter, the mean, rich local banker plotting to dominate all commerce in the town.
But, amidst his anguish, Bailey finds salvation from two sources. The first comes in the form of his guardian angel Clarence, who points out the many lives Bailey’s kindness has touched. The second occurs when the citizens of Bedford Falls, in a heroic act of civic unity, rally round and make good his company’s losses.
The power of the film lies in its uplifting, almost spiritual, narrative of redemption. Capra’s work is a hymn not only to the human spirit of compassion but also to the triumph of moral decency over entrenched greed.
FOR ALL its qualities, It’s A Wonderful Life was not a box office success on first release. Reviewers criticised Capra’s sentimental idealisation of small-town America.
Only in later decades was its greatness recognised as it became a staple of Christmas schedules and frequently topped the lists of history’s most inspirational movies.
Despite its setting in 1940s America, the film is profoundly relevant to Britain today. Its messages about the importance of generosity and social duty still have a potent resonance for our society. Some pessimists might argue that compassion and social responsibility are precisely the ingredients missing from modern Britain.
According to the fashionable propaganda peddled by parts of the media and Left-wing politicians, ours is a country scarred by division, bigotry and selfishness, all failings reinforced by the Conservatives’ recent landslide victory.
In this bleak portrayal, the cruel ethos of our nation mirrors that of the grasping Bedford Falls banker Henry Potter, where concern for others is crushed beneath the juggernaut of shallow avarice, and where tolerance has given way to aggressive nationalism.
But this is far too jaundiced a picture. Britain is not a tinpot country wracked by social dislocation, mass poverty or political upheaval. On the contrary, we are an advanced, stable democracy and beacon of civilisation, which is exactly why so many want to settle here. Despite all the talk about polarisation, the general election passed off calmly without any serious incidents or dispute about the result.
Moreover, the wounds caused by Brexit will soon heal now that our withdrawal is settled.
The social fabric of Britain, like that of Bedford Falls, is far stronger than critics suggest. Many of our key institutions, like the NHS and the BBC, are still loved by the public, just as the monarchy, embodied in our dutiful, revered Queen, acts as a unifying force. The widespread patriotic impulse is reflected in the delight at national sporting triumphs, like the England cricket team’s World Cup summer victory.
Doom-mongers might claim that the slide towards Potterstyle viciousness is demonstrated in welfare austerity but this is more nonsense. There is nothing compassionate about a benefits system that actually promotes poverty by encouraging dependency, unemployment and family breakdown. In contrast, welfare reforms have led to record job creation. Frank Capra would have understood that. A conservative Republican and believer in capitalism, he had a deep suspicion of the destructive influence of an overmighty state.
THE surest indicator of a society’s goodwill is not the size of its Government’s social security budget but, like in Bedford Falls, the generosity of its citizens. Here, once again, modern Britain excels. We are one of the most charitable people on earth, as shown in our fondness for coffee mornings and fun runs. There are 170,000 charities in Britain, with individuals giving over £14 billion a year to them. In addition, around 40 per cent of Britons do regular voluntary work.
Those statistics are not the indicators of a country in crisis. Yes, we have major problems, such as crime and social care, but they can be resolved through determination.
Towards the end of his life Capra said his films’ central themes were “love of people” and “freedom of the individual”. This Christmas, our society has not lost sight of either.