The family’s annual Christmas Eve viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life has commenced

Prayers are up in Bedford Falls for George Bailey

Clarence brought in by Joseph to help George out.

“Is he sick?”

“No, worse — he’s discouraged.”

George saved his brother’s life that day...

Mr. Potter is a biotch. Consider me unimpressed.

Young Mary dragging Young Violet for liking every boy she sees. Young George dragging Young Mary for her bad food takes.

Mr. Potter is already 1,000 years old and the movie has only just started.

The scene with Mr. Gower is tragic & powerful — the druggist is stricken with grief over losing his son to the influenza, and so he makes what could’ve been a deadly mistake with the capsules. And our boy George is there to point it out & save some lives. King.

Jimmy Stewart has entered the film, young & full of hope.

So... Bert suddenly wanting to go home and “see what the wife is doing” after bumping into Violet on the street is a low key great joke that I didn’t understand the first time I saw this as a kid.

The love between George’s father & him is done so easily — established in just a few words over the dinner table. Made sadder by the fact that these appear to be his last words to his dad.

George so full of drive & optimism & a desire to escape — and you know he never will.

“Do me a favor, will ya George? Well, you remember my kid sister Mary? Just dance with her one time and you'll give her the thrill of her life.”

George is skeptical ... til he sees it’s ***Donna Reed***, who is there with some other dude, and George just tells him to GTFO.

“We must be pretty good.”

A bold claim.

“Why don’t you kiss her instead of talking her to death” is excellent advice.

A very, very *problematic* scene with the hydrangea bushes.

A quick pause on the movie viewing here as I try to decide between Great Lakes Christmas Ale and some leftover bourbon slushee.

Okay let’s do this.

Remember this Potter, this rabble you talk about, they do most of the working & paying & living & dying in this community. Ppl were human beings to my father, but to you, a warped frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you'll ever be.

So after George’s father dies, George agrees to skip college to save the Building & Loan from Potter... and then George’s brother basically backs out of the agreement to come back and run the business while George goes to college.

One of the great mysteries of this film is where the gigantic crowd which materializes around George & Violet to laugh at George suddenly comes from. Who are these people?!?!

George’s inability to take a hint from Mary is legendary.

It owns super hard how much Mary’s mother viscerally hates George.

“He’s making violent love to me, mother.”

“You tell him to go right back home.”

This convo that George has with Sam ... so he very casually convinces Sam to open up a giant plastics factory in the mill that was shut down that had thrown half the town out of work. So not only does he swipe Mary from Sam but he also convinces him to send jobs back to the town.

It gives me life to see how mad George’s future mother in law is when he starts making out with her daughter.

After everything he has given up, now giving up a honeymoon to save the town from being taken advantage of by Potter during a bank panic too. It’s actually Mary who pulls the honeymoon money out when she realizes how important this is to George — a true sacrificial partnership.

I always notice the foreshadowing in the bank panic scene inside the Bailey Building & Loan, where George helps calm a panicked crowd with his money, juxtaposed with the scene inside the Bailey home at the end, where the same crowd helps out a panicked George with *their* money.

Mary is relationship goals. Impressive work on the “honeymoon suite.” 10/10 effort

Potter forces a congressman to wait outside as he worries about Bailey Park challenging his grip on the town.

Potter is terrified of George and tries to buy him out, but our king cannot be bought, folks. George keeps the free cigar tho, because, you know, a free cigar is a free cigar.

George says no to Potter’s offer and comes home to something better — Mary tells him he’s going to be a father.

Potter takes over the draft board and you see him just randomly deciding who is sent off to war & who isn’t.

Harry saves a transport at sea full of Americans — but only because George saved him from the ice all those years ago!

And now we’ve finally come to the day that the movie started with — when George decides to end it all.

Potter has to steal $8000 from the Building & Loan to beat George. Also, Uncle Billy is a fairly bad employee.

Seeing the years & years of frustration & longing & anger & disappointment wash over George Bailey is always tough to see, especially when he takes his hopelessness out on the kids.

Mary knowing how to spell frankincense is impressive — I am a garbage speller and let my autocorrect do its thing.

Sad you only get to see George’s parenting at his worst when he is at his absolute lowest, though the scene with Zuzu & her petals is a brief respite from that & a glimpse into what George must usually be like with the kids.

Potter sure is pretty high & mighty in this meeting with George Bailey for a guy who ***just stole $8000***.

George offers up a desperate prayer for help to God, and is almost immediately met with a punch in the face.

Clarence with the genius plan to save George’s life by jumping into the water before George could — and of course it works, and George saves him instead of ending his own life.

“It’s against the law to commit suicide around here.”

“I said I wish I’d never been born.”

“Yeah, that’ll do it. Alright. You’ve got your wish. You’ve never been born.”

Here we go...

Pottersville sucks.

“Hey look, mister, we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast and we don't need any characters around to give the joint atmosphere — is that clear or do I have to slip you my left for a convincer?” Gonna use this line IRL once the bars reopen.

Mr. Gower is now a broken-down panhandler — because, without George to stop him on the day he got the telegram about his son’s death, Mr. Gower poisoned that kid & destroyed his own life too.

Gonna be honest — George is jusssssst a bit slow on the uptake here.

Zulu’s petals being gone — devastating.

Pottersville looks like a cringe place to live.

Awful to not be remembered by his mom.

Bailey Park is a graveyard, and George’s 8-year-old brother is there.

“Every man on that transport died! Harry wasn't there to save them, becuz you weren't there to save Harry. You see, George, you've really had a wonderful life. See what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”

“I need you Mary!” George yells.

But she doesn’t remember him.

This is what truly finally convinces him to live again.