As Thanksgiving morphs into Christmas, the December television schedule will be filled with the usual assortment of Christmas classics, not the least of which is Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen his movie and unlike some classics that are tiresome, this one always grabs me. The idea of selfless giving is made manifest when the entire community comes to George Bailey’s aid. I think every small business owner secretly views his business as the Building and Loan and himself as George Bailey! 

But It’s A Wonderful Life was not Capra’s masterpiece. When it was released in 1946, it was not well received. At all. To truly understand It’s A Wonderful Life, Capra’s pre-war films are a must to see his formula, a formula that exalted the humble everyman taking on the various Goliaths of the age. If you like It’s A Wonderful Life, let me suggest a Capra Trilogy to enjoy with your family over Christmas: You Can’t Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Meet John Doe. Each of these movies plants a seed of a theme that culminates in It’s A Wonderful Life. I don’t think you can watch any of these movies without a renewed sense of what it means to be an individual pitted against a soulless property developer, corrupt political leaders, or a manipulative selfish tycoon.