
Wonderful world movie movie#
But none approach the roaring popularity of It’s a Wonderful Life, a movie which began the post-War segment of Capra’s career, one where critics and audiences now rejected him more often than not. In addition to the Best Documentary win for Prelude to War, Capra won Best Director three times. In 1934, It Happened One Night became the first movie to sweep the five big awards at the Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The first was one of astonishing success - immigrating from Italy at age five, rising through the ranks of silent movies as a writer, fully embracing the technical revolutions of talkies, and finding unprecedented critical success in the 1930s. World War II would bifurcate Capra’s career into two parts. Maybe it is a wonderful life after all - at least in the movies.Frank Capra at his desk in the War Department AP It is comforting to know the Bailey family is still with us, even during a pandemic and dark times, spreading joys of the season and keeping us from jumping off the bridge. At best, those other 1946 Oscar nominees are seen on TCM occasionally and not given nearly the level of love this film has developed since its modest release. This is an annual tradition for the network, which acquired rights to it in the 1990s and has made it a holiday-season tradition.

On top of all this, NBC is airing the film Saturday night, devoting the entire primetime schedule to the three-quarters-of-a-century-old black-and-white movie, with a promise to do it again later in the month. I mean, how many copies of The Yearling or The Best Years of Our Lives are on Walmart shelves? A look at the title on Amazon sees numerous video versions on the market over the years including a 4K restoration. Of course that Bailey family also includes Donna Reed, Stewart’s co-star, who would later win an Oscar for Supporting Actress in From Here to Eternity.Īnd if you think this is just a one-off repackaging of the movie, actually Paramount mistakenly sent everyone on its press list the 70th anniversary Blu-ray by mistake and had to resend the 75th. All this is designed for you to eat just like the Baileys did (“for anyone who has ever wanted to spend Christmas in Bedford Falls,” as the ad line says).
Wonderful world movie plus#
None of the above mentioned Oscar winners are getting any official recognition of their 75th anniversary, but the big loser of that night is seeing Paramount Home Entertainment release a lavish Blu-ray commemorating the occasion with both the restored original version and a, ahem, colorized edition of the black-and-white classic included, plus with them you get a series of collectible cards and detailed recipes for each item on the menu of “Bailey Family Holiday Recipes” (Pastry Snails, “He’s Bats” Minestrone, Home Blessing Salad, Corn Muffins, Glazed Holiday Ham, Classic Holiday Roast Turkey, Clarence’s Angel Food Cake, Vanilla Moonbeam Pies, Homemade Eggnog, Mama and Papa Dollar cocktails).įurther proof of it being the only 1946 Best Picture nominee still generating major merchandising opportunities: there is a new book out for the anniversary, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Official Bailey Family Cookbook. Alas, it was not a “wonderful” evening for It’s A Wonderful Life. But Capra’s masterpiece would have the last laugh. And the fifth Best Pic nominee, Henry V, won an Honorary Oscar for its star, director and producer Laurence Olivier. The Yearling took a child Oscar for Claude Jarman and Color Cinematography.

The Razor’s Edge landed Anne Baxter the Supporting Actress win. The Best Years of Our Lives took Best Picture and six other competitive wins plus an honorary award for co-star Harold Russell, who also won for Best Supporting Actor. In fact, it was the only one of the five Best Picture nominees to receive zero wins on that night.

However, Oscar night (March 13, 1947) was not kind to the film, the Christmas spirit of giving it any gifts of awards long past. It was only many years later, thanks largely to television, that it found its true audience and now, quite frankly, it has outlived just about every other film released that year, or even most of the movies of that decade.Ĭritics warmed to it at the time, some predicting major Oscar attention indeed, it did wind up with five nominations from the Academy including Best Picture, Actor for Stewart, director for Frank Capra (who considered it his favorite of all his films), Sound and Editing. Pablo Larraín On All Things 'Spencer' And His Cinematic Fascination With Iconic Women - Behind The Lens
