'It's A Wonderful Life': Facts About The Christmas Classic

It's a Wonderful Life remains an all-time classic of holiday and drama films. Released in 1946, the movie stars James Stewart as "George Bailey," the businessman who's visited by an angel after contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve. In the moving and ambitious tale, they visit an alternate world where "Bailey" had never been born, showing him the meaning of his life.The film now nears its 77th anniversary, but many fans still watch it annually at Christmas today. In this gallery, we'll look at facts about the film, its cast, accolades, and more. Enjoy!

James Stewart was 38 years old when It's a Wonderful Life was released in 1946. But it was already the fourth movie in which actress Beulah Bondi had played his mother on-screen.

Bondi's role as "Mrs. Bailey" came after portraying the mother of Stewart's characters in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Vivacious Lady, and Of Human Hearts. She'd later fill the role for a fifth time on The Jimmy Stewart Show in the early 1970s.

Actress Donna Reed co-stars in It's a Wonderful Life as "Mary Hatch," the girlfriend and eventual wife of "George Bailey." In one of the best legends about the movie, Reed herself threw the stone that broke the window at the Old Granville house on Sycamore.

Director Frank Capra is said to have hired a marksman to shoot the window out, unaware that Reed was a former baseball player with a strong arm. Her breaking of the window is seen in the film during young "George" and "Mary's" courtship.

Prior to the 1940s, James Stewart had emerged as one of Hollywood's top leading men. But during the Second World War, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was away from acting for five years.

It's a Wonderful Life was Stewart's return to film acting after the war, though he portrayed a character, "George Bailey," who was unable to serve during WWII because he was deaf in one ear.

James Stewart was said to have been unsure of a return to movies so soon after WWII. But it was Lionel Barrymore, who portrayed his on-screen rival "Mr. Potter," who convinced Stewart to take on It's a Wonderful Life, which became one of his career-defining roles.  

James Stewart was especially nervous about acting out the phone-call kiss scene with Donna Reed in the "Hatch" home early in the film—his first on-screen kiss since the war. But it was completed on the first take, and was so successful that censors apparently had to cut down on the overly passionate embrace.

It's a Wonderful Life actually pioneered a new form of fake snow for movies. At the RKO studio, they created a "chemical snow" compound that replaced the earlier method, which involved using cornflakes. This snow is seen blanketing the expansive film set during outdoor scenes.

For the innovation, It's a Wonderful Life won a Technical Achievement Award at the 1947 Oscars, for "the development of a new method of simulating falling snow on motion picture sets."

Though It's a Wonderful Life took home an Oscar for its innovative snow, that was actually the only award it won at the 1947 ceremony. It was nominated in five other categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (for James Stewart), but it lost all the major awards to The Best Years of Our Lives—the 1946 drama about WWII servicemen returning to civilian life in the postwar U.S.

Despite an underwhelming showing at the 1947 Academy Awards, It's a Wonderful Life did take home a Golden Globe win for Best Motion Picture Director, for filmmaker Frank Capra. And in the seven decades since, the film's reputation has only grown.

It's regularly featured on the AFI's Top 100 lists and even earned no. 1 on its "100 Years... 100 Cheers" list of the most inspirational films of all time. It also tops many best holiday film lists too.

It's now been over 70 years since It's a Wonderful Life was released, so, much of the cast has expectedly passed on. But many of the child actors to appear in the film are still alive today.

Of the four "Bailey" children, all are alive except for Larry Simms, who played "Pete." The youngsters who played "Zuzu," "Janie," and "Tommy" are in their 70s and 80s today.