The Evolution of "It's a Wonderful Life" (Updated)
Sort by:
Showing 17 items
Rating:
List Type:
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
December 1943
Philip Van Doren Stern sends Christmas cards to friends and encloses a 21-page, 4,000-word short story, "The Greatest Gift."
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
April 1944
RKO buys the film rights for $10,000, after pressure from George Bailey wannabe Cary Grant. Later, Frank Capra snags the rights from RKO.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
December 21, 1946
The studio rushes the film to the box office because it lacks enough copies of planned holiday release, "Sinbad The Sailor."
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
December, 1946
Critical reception is lukewarm. The New York Times: "The weakness of this picture ... is the sentimentality of it-its illusory concept of life."
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
January 7, 1947
The studio earns a mere $3.3 million from the release (production and distribution cost was $3.8 million), and nabs five Oscar nominations but zero wins.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
Late 1940s
Capra becomes informant for House Un-American Activities Committee; seven of the film's other eight writers end up blacklisted.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
Late 1960s
More than 20 years after its release, the film gains modest followings in collegiate film societies.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
1970
CBS begins to air the film about once a year in the days before Christmas.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
1971
Capra memoir and museum retrospective set off craze. John Cassavetes says, "Maybe there really wasn't an America, maybe it was only Frank Capra."
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
1974
Copyright owner Republic Pictures fails to renew rights; local TV stations use it as low-cost holiday fare throughout the next half decade.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
December 11, 1977
Time for a gender-bender TV remake: Marlo Thomas stars as Mary Bailey Hatch in "It Happened One Christmas."
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
1980s
Now a TV mainstay in the weeks before Christmas, the movie is sold on tape by more than 100 distributors during the VHS revolution.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
December 1986
James Wolcott asserts, "It's the perfect film for the Reagan era, celebrating the old-fashioned values of home and hearth that everyone knows ... have eroded."
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
1989
Seneca Falls, NY - the town that claims it's the "real-life" Bedford Falls - hosts the first annual "It's a Wonderful Life" weekend.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
1993
Republic Pictures wrestles the copyright back and inks deal with NBC for exclusive broadcast rights.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
June 14, 2006
The American Film Institute puts the film at No.1 on its list of the 100 most inspiring films of all time.
![](https://i.listal.com/images/marseilles/import_16.gif)
2010
Seneca Falls opens the "It's a Wonderful Life" museum with a walking tour that includes 13 stops based on scenes from the movie.
![](https://list.lisimg.com/image/3263380/500full.jpg)
![](https://list.lisimg.com/image/3263378/500full.jpg)
Bonus Feature - TV Variations/Adaptations -
Its a Miserable Life - Golden Girls - 1986
Its a Wonderful Job - Moonlighting - 1986
Its a Blunderful life - Charles In Charge - 1989
Its a Bundyful Life - Married With Children - 1989
Its a Wonderful Life - Designing Women - 1990
Its a Wonderful Zorro - Zorro - 1990
Hey Harry, F'Crying Out Loud - It is a Wonderful Life ... Sorta - Night Court - 1991
Its a Wonderful Wife - Cheers - 1991
Its a Wonderful Afterlife - Beetlejuice - 1991
Its a Wondeful Laugh - Doogie Howser - 1991
Its a Wonderful Leap - Quantum Leap - 1992
Chuckie's Wonderful Life - Rugrats - 1994
Its a Wonderful Lie - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - 1995
Its a Miserable Life - Beavis and Butthead - Dec 19 1995
Its a Wonderful Life (Without You) - Weird Science -1996
Its a Wonderful Cake - Good Eats - 1999
Its a Wonderful Life - That 70's Show - 2001
Its a Wonderful Wife - Bernie Mac - 2004
As the film turns 65, here is a timeline that illustrates how a box office bomb became a beloved classic.
Added to
People who voted for this also voted for
Magnum Opus: Film Directors
Ranked: 20 Most Bad-Ass Movie Quotes!
Directed By: Woody Allen
RIP Sidney Lumet
Pixar (Best to Wor...Still Pretty Damn Good)
Favorite Prog Bands
2009 In Film - Best to Worst.
Favourite Lists: Originality
Os 10 melhores filmes de 2008
100 Best Albums Of 2000's (With Favourite Tracks)
Parth's personal favourites
Documentaries 2010-2019
Pelรญculas argentinas en los Oscars
My 1996 Favorites
DVDecember 2021
More lists from blankend
5 Best Books About John Lennon
Top 10 Classic Country Music Stars
Favorite Pictures from Lists I Have Submitted
Famous Second Bananas of TV
Top 10 Songs that Aren't Sung
Cartoon Verzions of Classic Hollywood Stars
Peter Sellers - Comedic Genius