It's a wonderful laugh! It's a wonderful love!
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is a drama, family and fantasy film directed by Frank Capra, released on December 20, 1946 with a runtime of 2h 11m. It stars James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Thomas Mitchell. Viewers rate it 8.3 out of 10 across 5,047 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for It's a Wonderful Life before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for It's a Wonderful Life.
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James Stewart
as George Bailey
Donna Reed
as Mary Hatch
Lionel Barrymore
as Mr. Potter
Thomas Mitchell
as Uncle Billy
Henry Travers
as Clarence
Beulah Bondi
as Mrs. Bailey
Frank Faylen
as Ernie
Ward Bond
as Bert
Gloria Grahame
as Violet
H.B. Warner
as Mr. Gower
Frank Albertson
as Sam Wainwright
Todd Karns
as Harry Bailey
Directed by Frank Capra, written by Philip Van Doren Stern, Frank Capra and Albert Hackett, produced by Frank Capra.
Average viewer score of 8.3/10 from 5,047 ratings.
It's practically an American tradition to watch this film with family at Christmas time each year. I just saw it for the first time myself a couple weeks before last Christmas, and I loved it. It's an uplifting, inspiring, dramatic, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story, with a cast that probably couldn't be improved upon if you tried. And, of course, it's directed by the superb Frank Capra, whose work I greatly…
Reviewed on August 18, 2019
Oh my goodness, I am not going to spend much time describing this gold standard of Christmas movies. If you have seen it, you know what it is. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and watch it now. It is funny, tense, sentimental, romantic and downright Capra-esque. I have liked Jimmy Stewart in everything I have seen him in. Was he that good, or did the camera just plain love him, like I heard said once about…
Reviewed on December 24, 2020
Lovely film. <em>'It’s a Wonderful Life'</em> is enjoyable, hearty and well crafted. It takes longer than I would've predicted to get to 'the event', but it's very much worth seeing the journey that comes before - as we see the arc of James Stewart's George. It all crescendos with an ending that you can't help but smile at. Stewart is excellent in the lead role, you really do see every single emotion that his…
Reviewed on December 26, 2020
Every now and again you come across a film that just makes you think.... This is one of those. Recently upconverted to 4K and back on a big screen, it's quite simply a joy to watch. Jimmy Stewart is "George" - a man who has spent his adult life tirelessly trying to help those less fortunate to make their own way in life - and his savings and loan enterprise is the lifeline for many of them. When that all goes…
Reviewed on July 7, 2022
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It's a Wonderful Life (1946) is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Video with Ads, and to rent or buy from JustWatch TV, Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) includes James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell and Henry Travers. The film was directed by Frank Capra. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
It's a Wonderful Life was released on December 20, 1946 and runs for 2h 11m.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) holds an average rating of 8.3 out of 10 from 5,047 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy drama, family and fantasy films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official It's a Wonderful Life trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
