Cover
Story
By Jay Bobbin
This holiday season is offering its television traditions, and two
of them are marking milestones.
The movie classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” will get its two
traditional NBC airings – the first on Saturday, Dec. 3, and
the other in its long-familiar slot on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24
(both at 8 p.m. ET) – and this year marks the 70th anniversary
of its theatrical release. The animated “How the Grinch Stole
Christmas” falls a few years short of that, but its still-very-
significant 50th “birthday” will continue to be celebrated when
NBC (its current network, though it’s moved around) shows it
again Friday, Dec. 23 (8 p.m. ET).
Two timeless classics:
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
and ‘The Grinch’ mark
merry milestones
Countless people cite director Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful
Life” as their favorite Christmas movie ever, but a major irony is
that Capra reportedly was disappointed by the initial response from
critics and audiences at the end of 1946 into 1947. Many reviewers
seemed to sneer at its sentimentality, and though its box-office
gross was reasonable for the time ($3.3 million), original distributor
RKO ended up taking a loss on it. And though it received six
Oscar nominations, it won only one of the awards, for its technical
simulation of falling snow; however, Capra did receive a Golden
Globe for it as best director.
Television would play a huge role in cementing the legend of
ne’er-do-well George Bailey (played, of course, by James Stewart)
and the assist he gets from novice angel Clarence (Henry Travers)
in seeing how life would have been for his loved ones and neighbors
in Bedford Falls if he’d never existed. The picture fell out of
copyright in the mid-1970s, and for the ensuing 20 years, any TV
outlet could show it without having to pay for the rights to do so.
Thus, virtually every hour on the hour from Christmas Eve into
Christmas Day, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was starting somewhere on
the dial.
That changed in 1993, when Republic Pictures proved it had the
screen rights to “The Greatest Gift,” the Philip Van Doren Stern
short story on which the movie was based. Through that, the studio
got ownership of “It’s a Wonderful Life” and struck a deal with
NBC for yearly airings, which sometimes have involved testimonials
by current network stars about the film, though it often is allowed
to speak for itself by being aired without any embellishment.
OTHER AIRINGS: USA NETWORK ؏ DEC. 10 AT 8 P.M.; DEC. 11 AT 9 A.M.; DEC. 16 AT 8 P.M.
The show must go on
While filming, a crew member dropped a giant piece
of equipment but the cameras kept rolling and the
actors carried on. The resulting scene is where a
drunk Uncle Billy yells, “I’m all right, I’m alllll right!”
after supposedly clambering into some garbage cans
off-screen. Now that’s some great impromptu acting!
Who said that?
As seen on ...
Commercials are constantly flashing in front of
us and are one of the top advertising vehicles used
today but product placement was even popular
in 1946. Vaseline, Coca-Cola, Sweet Caporal,
Bayer Aspirin and various cigarette brands were
all prominently placed in Mr. Gower’s drugstore
to catch the eye of the viewers.
pg 4 GRACENOTE - 2016 HOLIDAY PREVIEW
“Look, Daddy. Teacher says, ‘Every
time a bell rings an angel gets his
wings.’”
– Zuzu Bailey
“What is it you want, Mary? What
do you want? You want the moon?
Just say the word and I’ll throw a
lasso around it and pull it down.
Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll
give you the moon, Mary.”
– George Bailey