Summary: Hot dog! Merry Christmas! On today’s special holiday podcast adventure, Adolfo and Mark discuss the 1946 holiday classic: IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE! On today’s discussion: Mall shopping on the last weekend before Christmas The NES Classic The movie that defines all Christmas movies How the film touches even Adolfo’s cold heart The miracle that is Mr. Pibb How the sentimentality is earned At which point we get teary eyed “The Greatest Gift” Christmas card How Cary Grant was all wrong for the role A mini history of Liberty Films Capra and Stewart’s favorite film The secret origin of Jimmy Stewart The Christmas Tree capital of the world Why Lionel Barrymore was a perfect choice for Mr. Potter Mr. Potter = Ebeneezer Scrooge without the redemption The framing device of the film Why does Mr. Gower even have a bottle of poison? Apparently adults are allowed to slap children around in 1946 How many It’s a Wonderful Life references are there in The Simpsons? A deleted scene where George meets Potter much earlier in life Jimmy Stewart playing a teenager Donna Reed’s beautiful introductory shot “Aw pop, just a little.” George’s constant sacrifices Thomas Mitchell’s great adlib “We’ll wait for ya, baby…” The one-shot take of Reed and Stewart’s first kiss Bert and Ernie! Eyes swimming with tears How many kids does Martini have? How James Stewart didn’t want to glorify war on screen When you finally see George break A terrifying Santa mask The innovative new “chemical snow” created for the film The bridge guy! The one flaw of the movie! Not finding your true love means your vision fails “Merry Christmas you old Building and Loan!” “To my big brother George, the richest man in town!” ONIONS. The film’s failure at the box office, with awards and with critics The ridiculous copyright history Why Paramount owns the rights even though the film itself is technically in the public domain The Colorized version The kick to the gut that was 2016 PLUS REFERENCES TO: THE BISHOP’S WIFE (1947) YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938) FORREST GUMP (1994) BRUCE ALMIGHTY (2003) HOME ALONE (1990) HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK (1992) BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (1989) THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946) JINGLE ALL THE WAY (1996) THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992) SCROOGED (1988) SCROOGE (1951) A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1984) A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1999) DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2009) MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1947) SANTA CLAUS (1959) SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964) A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993) BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) DIE HARD (1988) BATMAN RETURNS (1992) GREMLINS (1984) LINKS: Can You Survive Home Alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NhijmGTwwo The Essential Films: essentialfilmspodcast.com SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER: @EssentialFilms, @FPMoviePodcast, @Adolfo_Acosta, @Sportsguy515 FACEBOOK: The Essential Films: https://www.facebook.com/The-Essential-Films-130585803634489/?fref=ts
