It’s a wonderful Communist life
QUESTION Was the classic Christmas film It’s A Wonderful Life subject to an FBI investigation? Frank CaPra’S 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart and Donna reed, is a classic shown on TV every year over Christmas.
However, amid the fevered atmosphere of the McCarthy witch hunts against Communists, the FBI took a different view. In a 1947 memo, the following was written about the film: ‘ There is submitted herewith the running memorandum concerning Communist infiltration of the motion picture industry, which has been brought up to date as of May 26, 1947.
‘ With regard to the picture It’s a Wonderful Life, stated in substance that the film represented rather obvious attempts to discredit bankers by casting Lionel Barrymore (playing Mr Henry F. Potter) as a “Scrooge-type” so he would be the most hated man in the picture. This, according to these sources, is a common trick used by Communists.’
The hero of the film, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), and his father Peter (Samuel S. Hinds) were also bankers, but they were beloved by the people of Bedford Falls, new York.
George’s actions ultimately save the Bailey Bros Building & Loan from ruin. But these details escaped the FBI’s analysis, which concluded that the film ‘deliberately maligned the upper class’.
Keith Gower, Malvern, Worcs. QUESTION After a death in the family, it was once the practice to stop the clocks, close the curtains and cover mirrors. What was the significance of such customs? THere are long- held customs and superstitions dealing with the connection between mirrors and death.
Sir James Frazer, writing in The Golden Bough, his wide-ranging study of mythology and religion first published in 1890, wrote: ‘The Sunni Mohammedans of Bombay cover with a cloth the mirror in the room of a dying man and do not remove it until the corpse is carried out for burial.’
Frazer said the covering of mirrors or turning them to face the wall were practices also found in england, Scotland, Madagascar and the Crimea. Similar Propaganda? Donna Reed and James Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life traditions have been observed in Belgium and Germany.
according to William Coggeshall’s 1865 account, The Journeys Of Lincoln, when abraham Lincoln’s body lay in state in the east room of the White House on april 18, 1865, mourners found: ‘The windows at either end of the room were draped with black barege [a silky fabric], the frames of the mirrors between the windows, as well as those over the marble mantles, being heavily draped with the same material.
‘The heavy gildings of the frames were entirely enshrouded, while the mirrors were covered with white crepe.’
There are various reasons why such practices came about. One superstition holds that if a person sees his or her image in a mirror after there has been a death, he or she will soon die, too.
It was also believed that if the soul of the newly departed saw their reflection in the mirror, they would become trapped and not be able to leave to begin their afterlife. This might cause the spirit to remain in this world as a ghost.
In documenting the custom of covering mirrors in China in 1910, reginald Fleming Johnston wrote: ‘If the dead man happens to notice a reflection of himself in the glass he will be much horrified to find that he has become a ghost, and much disappointed with his own appearance as such.’
Closing the curtains affords mourners privacy and is also an indication to the outside world that there has been a death in the family.
The custom of stopping the clocks is to allow people time to mourn the deceased without having to consider worldly affairs. It also records the time of death, which is seen as a mark of respect.
Liam Connell, Belfast. QUESTION Which are the most sought-after ‘lost’ TV episodes? FurTHer to the earlier answer, the lost programme I would most like to see is The Dark Island, a six-part British miniseries, set on the island of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides.
a fisherman discovers what appears to be a torpedo washed up on a deserted beach. On closer examination, the container is found to contain materials for a spy. a naval team, including a young robert Hardy, descends on the area and uncovers an international plot.
I never saw the programme, but remember enjoying a 1969 radio adaptation of the drama.
Incidentally, The Daleks’ Master Plan (1965) is not totally missing as nine out of 12 episodes exist. nor was it the first appearance of the monsters; that was The Daleks in 1963/4 starring the first Doctor, William Hartnell.
Jon Marsh, Leicester.
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