Whose wonderful life is it?

"Aww, Mom, not again!" my family wailed, whenever I announced it was time for our annual viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life." No one else appreciated the layers of meaning I found so intriguing in this popular Christmas film classic.

The movie, released in 1946, is based on Philip Van Doren Stern's short story "The Greatest Gift." Unable to get it published, he printed 200 copies to send out as Christmas cards in 1943. RKO Productions bought the rights for $10,000, and, in turn, sold them to Frank Capra's company, Liberty Films. It was Jimmy Stewart's first movie after he returned to civilian life after World War II, and at the time it was released, it received mixed reviews and was only moderately successful.

A New York Times review disparaged the sentimentality of the film: "Mr. Capra's nice people are charming, his small town is a quite beguiling place and his pattern for solving problems is most optimistic and facile." James Agee, a writer for The Nation, admired its portrayal of two kinds of capitalists: "Capra's villainous capitalist—excellently played, in harsh black and white, by Lionel Barrymore—is a hundred per cent Charles Dickens. His New Capitalist—equally well played by Frank Albertson, in fashionable grays—makes his fortune, appropriately, in plastics, is a blithe, tough, harmless fellow." Interestingly, the FBI labeled the movie as "subversive," and charged that its use of a nasty, Scrooge-like businessman "was a common trick used by communists."

The film continues to inspire varying interpretations. Wendell Jamieson, in a 2008 New York Times article called it "a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams," while a recent screening at a Catholic university discussed "how Frank Capra’s tale of the creation and salvation of Bedford Falls echoes God's deliverance of the Hebrews to a promised land flowing with milk, honey and justice."

Which brings me back to why I love "It’s a Wonderful Life." Do you ever wonder, "What if I had not gone to that party and met so-and-so?" "What if I hadn’t stepped on the brakes in time?" "What if…?" I enjoy the alternative history, or science fiction aspect of the story. If George Bailey had not been born, what would life in Bedford Falls be like? The beginning of the movie, narrated by angels, introduces us to George, and shows us critical moments of his life where he made a significant difference. We later witness what would have happened if he had not been born.

I have many favorite scenes from the movie. I love the romantic dialogue when George promises to lasso the moon for Mary. I always laugh when he frantically searches for Mary in Pottersville, only to learn—gasp—she never married and became the town librarian! And I get goose-bumps every time George reaches into his coat pocket and finds Zuzu’s petals.

This year I won't inflict "It’s a Wonderful Life" on my family, but it will be the featured film for December's Literary Flick. Come watch it with me, and tell me what you think!