Stewart had just returned home from flying leadership in World War II, and this 1946 film was his first film since witnessing the horrors of war. With this post-war mentality, Stewart and director Frank Capra lead a film called “It’s a Wonderful Life” and, antithetically, crescendo into a failed suicide attempt.
Throughout the film, George Bailey’s life often looks more than wonderful. The audience watches as a young man with worldly dreams faces recoil after recoil, each like a nail in his coffin. Caught in his hometown, running his father’s business late, the story culminates when George Bailey thinks he deserves more dead than alive.
“It’s a wonderful life” is real and resonant problems of self-worth and failure. Fresh out of the war, Stewart struggles with these trials himself, while modeling George Bailey’s deeply relatable character. Without Stewart’s real acquaintance with the dark, the prospect of redefining the holiday classic of life could not shine so unforgettable.
Becoming a classic
This meant that in the 1970s, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was broadcast free of charge by broadcasters repeatedly. Audiences began to notice this less cheerful film that flooded the airways during Christmas and thus a holiday tradition was born.
The film captures a period in American life full of some of the most important historical events of the twentieth century, including the Great Depression and World War II.
After serving in the Army Air Corps, Stewart was absent from Hollywood for five years when he was offered the role in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Initially, he was reluctant to make the film, according to biographer Robert Matzen, but it was his only offer, except for a film with his war service.
This is seen in one of the film’s most iconic, unscripted scenes, when George Bailey is at the end of his rope: “I’m not a man who prays, but if you’re up there and you can hear me, show me about. “
George Bailey didn’t get scripts to cry, but Jimmy Stewart did.
“Jimmy Stewart was following his own experience and using it in his character. This is a very difficult thing to do. The audience feels the intensity of this, because it was clearly authentic,” Mankiewicz told CNN.
“It’s a wonderful life” has become a classic because it connects emotionally with the viewer, said Mankiewicz and is able to resonate with our daily lives.
“It’s a movie we watch at Christmas, but the power and excitement that the film conveys is no less strong in June,” Mankiewicz said.
Military service
When Stewart enlisted in the military in 1941, he had just won an Academy Award for “The Philadelphia Story.”
Entering the air force of the army as a soldier, he was assigned to the film unit to make films for the war department. Stewart, who comes from a family full of military service, fought against orders and asked for a chance to serve abroad.
After gaining wings as a pilot, Stewart was finally sent to England as a flight leader in 1943. Matzen described Stewart as an “air defender” responsible for real-time calls to pilots.
Stewart flew 20 physically and mentally challenging combat missions, which he rarely talked about after the war.
Through mission reports on Stewart’s struggle, Matzen was able to provide an insight into the worst mission Stewart led in 1944 over the German city of Gotha. Stewart lost people at his command during this bombing campaign, a devastating cost to a leader who believed he was responsible for every life.
In addition, Stewart’s personal experience in Gotha was something that came out of a nightmare. The floor of Stewart’s plane was hit, blowing a hole right under his feet, Matzen explained. His damaged bomber had to return to England, while Stewart watched the enemy through the hole in his cabin. Matzen estimated that Stewart recorded temperatures of at least 20 degrees below zero.
This mission was “one too many” for Stewart, Matzen said. Ten years over the recommended age for a pilot flying heavy bombers, such experiences had an extraordinary impact on Stewart in the mid-1930s.
“No one recognized Jimmy Stewart who came home from the fight. He changed so much. Some were ten years old, others say 20. He had many of the attributes of PTSD,” Matzen said.
These symptoms include shakes, short temper and nightmares, according to Matzen. The short temper would lead to mood swings, not unlike the explosive crisis in which George Bailey destroys part of the family living room, Matzen said.
When asked what the horrors of war meant to Stewart, Matzen said Stewart’s perfectionism tormented him: every life he lost under his command was a job he could have done better.
The challenge of overcoming the perceived failure and rediscovering one’s self-worth as a civilian is where the public meets Stewart after the 1946 screen war.
Looking during a pandemic
With a new perspective, he now enjoys every little thing that George Bailey upset about his life.
Valderrama says “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of the greatest movies ever made because it can change the way someone looks at the world. What this film says to the viewer is that success is not measured in materialism, but how much one gives back.
“I’m so grateful to the grocery clerks, the person who shows up to bring my food – how essential. I’m so grateful to these front-line workers – these people are heroes right now,” Valderrama said.
The courage of these everyday heroes has been a light through the darkness of 2020, but questions about strength and purpose are still on the minds of many this year. “It’s a wonderful life” reminds us that every life is essential and, with a new perspective, wonderful.
CNN’s Amy Wray and Fernando Alfonso contributed to the report.