|  | Director: Frank Capra
Actors: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers
Studio: Paramount
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $11.07
as of 11/24/2009 11:02 CST details
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New (52) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $11.07
Seller: digitaleyes_dvdplanet
Rating:  534 reviews
Sales Rank: 156
Format: Black & White, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 130 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: D960014D
UPC: 097369600149
EAN: 0097369600149
ASIN: B000HEWEJO
Theatrical Release Date: January 7, 1947
Release Date: October 31, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 21-25 of 534
A Classic January 25, 2009
Lawrence Earnshaw (Waterbury, CT)
Had to have it for my collection. It's not on TV as often as it used to be.
Hey dad! take time to review your life January 19, 2009
Dad of 4 great kids
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hey dads, sit back with your family and enjoy one of the best inspirational movies ever made.
I know what you're thinking. I've heard some say that this old movie is too much fantasy for the "mature" man.
But take a moment and look at the father in this movie. He struggles with his desire to fulfill a dream, always being frustrated to move in that direction, only to find that he has done more to help the people he loves than he will ever realize.
I talk to so many dads who see only their failures. Who work toward perfection in their life and the lives of their kids, only to realize that the point was not perfection, but only to give their kids a dad who loves them.
What about your desires for fame and fortune? Maybe you need an angel to come along and help you see what is really important in life.
After all, you possibly do have "a wonderful life".
Classic Movie; always a favorite January 19, 2009
M. T. (NJ USA)
I like the idea of having the Black & White or Color version option. The younger generation may be more willing to watch if they can see it in color. But the B & W version is the one I prefer, because it's the one I remember from my childhood.
All around great movie, and a great presentation of a great movie.
 Enjoy old movies! January 19, 2009
Miss Jane (Normal, IL)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This DVD was delivered to my door extremely fast and watching it really put me in the Christmas spirit!
It's A Good Life January 18, 2009
'amerye' (City of the Angels, California)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Continued ...
Mary and George have enough, but also have simplicity, and are not in a materialistic, consumer culture. Accepting his position in the community, he becomes involved with helping some immigrant and low-income families who are being exploited by the slumlord, Mr.Potter. George starts a reasonably priced housing development- again, more responsibility.
But the good life that they've made for themselves, and eventually, their children, is threatened by a mischance, a piece of bad luck, caused by his uncle and bookkeeper. Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) accidentally loses $8,000 of Bailey's Bank money. An honest, loyal old man, Billy breaks down under the strain and once again George assumes the moral responsibility. But finally, this is too much for him to bear. The thought of losing all he holds dear- honor, bank business, family, house- pushes him over the edge to despair.
On a dark, snowy, night, Christmas Eve, George prepares to jump into a river- his life insurance is enough to cover the missing deposit.But now the magical in this morality tale takes over. Naturalistic so far, the story suddenly echoes Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and the Spirit of Christmas Future appears in Bedford Falls.
A stranger, really an apprentice angel who like pilots must earn his wings, makes George rescue HIM from the frigid waters, and as they dry out afterward the two have a chance to talk. Clarence (Henry Travers) gets George to open up about his troubles, something he hasn't been able to do. Angel Clarence 2nd Class grants George's despairing wish that he had never been born and shows him what people's lives and the town would be like without him. As George and Clarence race from each hypothetical situation, George's panic grows; he never realized how much good he had done in his life - how his existence had made a difference. This sequence builds from his little brother dying in the ice, his mother an embittered, poor widow, his eccentric uncle locked up in the insane asylum, his old employer sent to prison for manslaughter, the town flirt, Violet, turned prostitute and pickpocket. This all culminates in a harrowing scene, in which Stewart is simply extraordinary,
when he attempts to speak to his wife Mary, she screams in fear at his grabbing her and wanting her to recognize him. The look on his face when he realizes that his innermost affective life, his very being as a man, and of course the existence of his children, shows what he's lost!
Maddened by this unbearable realization, George struggles back to the river bridge to beg the angel to reverse his wish of annihilation. Suddenly, the bad dream is over. George's wish is granted again. He rushes home, to what he cherishes - his wife, his children, his home - his life. Prison and "disgrace with fortune and mens' eyes" now hold no threat for him. He will stay and face the music.
His quiet Mary has meanwhile asked the townspeople for help. For one who has always helped others, it is George's turn to receive. As small donations come in, enough to cover the deficit, George knows what he has had all along - a wonderful life.
All the actors do a fine job; this was Stewart's favorite of his films. The sets were the most elaborate for for their time - I write this not far from them.
Around Christmastime, I chanced to walk around my town, quiet when it was late. Summing up the year to myself and having this movie in my mind,I wondered - had I made a difference or a mark in even such a small place? I passed the charity bookshop I created single-handed, because no one else wanted to, and named after a great American essayist. Ten years later it is still in business with the same title and organization I gave it. The profits have sent 20,000 free books a year into U.S. prisons. I looked up to the foothills. A piece of land, the last wild tract in the valley and a Native American site, was threatened with development by a greedy new institution. I worked a whole summer, helping to organize and getting signatures to save it. That land is still untouched.
Down the boulevard is the 'peace corner'- people have stood and protested on that site against the Korean War, Vietnam War, first Gulf War, invasion of Afghanistan, the present Iraqi War - and I have stood and marched once a week for six years, only one among many, but angry at the necessity.Then I saw several places I used to live and remembered I did have friends there. Nearby is the college radio station where I have my weekly classical broadcast. The town library - how many times did I take my young students there! Respected as a teacher, and kept safe, I've been known and I have helped. It seemed to me as I walked that although I never meant to stay in this town so long, still I can say - it's been a good life.
And now, difficult times are ahead for our country, and the world. For many, dark times have already arrived. Might we be better to live closer to what we once had, of stronger ties - friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor? Created it in any locale, we all should live as if we were in a small town.
[A post-dedication to the memory of my landlord and friend who helped build the town I live in. A real life George Bailey -- we shall not see his like again. Look, O Passerby, at this record of a great man's life. http://www.claremont-courier.com/pages/obit011709.1.html -- Obituary of Bob Stafford]
Showing reviews 21-25 of 534
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