Films And TV

Its A Wonderful Life DvdProducts Relating to 'Its A Wonderful Life Dvd'

Its a Wonderful Life DVD.

A film first released in 1946 and directed by Frank Capra .

Based on "The Greatest Gift," an original short story first written on a Christmas card by Philip Van Doren Stern.

Although it received 5 Oscar nominations for

Best Picture,

Best Actor (James Stewart in his first film in almost six years),

Best Director (Capra),

Best Sound Recording

Best Film Editing,

it never won any of the categories and was only a modest success at the box office on release.

It wasn't until the copyright for It's a Wonderful Life lapsed that it became the staple film it now is for Christmas viewing , or anytime with the Its a Wonderful life DVD.

American TV channels in the late seventies used It's a Wonderful Life as a cheap ' filler ' for their schedules.

The surprising result was that the film emerged from being a forgotten black and white film to the status, in many peoples eyes, of being a classic.

The film can be portrayed as smaltzy, sentimental rubbish, which on the surface it is.

Beneath that though ,Capra produced a Dickensian tale with a dark, disturbing look at small-town American life between the two world wars.

Class divide,failure,greed and fears of a changing world play on the mind of the lead character , George Bailey ( James Stewart ).

Stewarts portrayal of a middle-aged mans sense of failure and madness seem more appropriate for an American film of the Seventies , which may partly explain it's acceptance when shown on TV in the eighties.

On a lighter note , another lead character in Its a wonderful Life dvd is Clarence Oddbody, Angel 2nd class who has yet to win his wings .

Played by Henry Travers, Clarence is a bumbling, self-effacing Angel who rescues Bailey from his despair,preventing the suicide he was contemplating .

Having decided that this IS a film that should be in any collection , then upgrading from an old VHS tape to an Its a Wonderful Life DVD is well worth it.

The Its a Wonderful Life DVD is well presented and includes a 10 page booklet containing some stills from the film and biographies of its stars .

Although Its a Wonderful Life dvd has been digitally remastered , the sound quality is not perfect yet seems to match the 'time' of the film.

The picture quality on the Its a Wonderful Life DVD is much improved from the previous VHS tape.

As with other DVD releases , this one also comes with 'extras' .

An introduction is done by Frank Capras son and there is also footage of interviews with Capra himself and Jimmy Stewart .

Its a Wonderful Life DVD will also give you a documentary into the making of the original film.

Including how RKO got the rights to the script , alternative actors considered for the lead roles and the difficult times the experienced when first released .

Its a Wonderful Life DVD will make a great addition to your film collection.

its a wonderful life dvd

Article Published: Sunday 21st January 2007