A Very Vintage Christmas post #1
It is officially the 1st of December, and therefore A Very Vintage Christmas starts RIGHT NOW!
And for the benefit of your knowledge, it is officially 25 days until Christmas.
It's A Wonderful Life
1946
Starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Henry Travers
George Bailey (Stewart) is an all-around genuinely good man. He is a loving husband, a doting father, an efficient and hardworking business man, and he always loves his neighbor as himself. He lives in a small town--the kind of town where everybody knows everybody else and their mother. Yes, George Bailey is your average, good man. But on Christmas Eve in 1946, prayers are sent to heaven asking God to help George who has found himself in a bit of trouble and is in desperate need of help and encouragement. So, after he is briefed on George, his background, and his situation, an angel by the name of Clarence Odbody (Travers) is sent to help him.
Clarence arrives just in time--as a dispirited, discouraged, and fearful George is just about to jump off of a bridge on the outskirts of town. Clarence comes out of nowhere and jumps into the freezing water instead, knowing that a man with a good heart like George will make it a priority to help someone else in need, despite his own troubles. That's exactly what happens. George pulls Clarence out and the latter informs him that he is George's guardian angel, sent to earth to help him and hopefully earn a set of wings in the process. George naturally doesn't believe it and thinks it much more likely that Clarence is some loony, old man. George is more dispirited than ever and he audibly wishes that he had never been born. Knowing that George does not understand the severity of his wish, Clarence grants it for a time, just to show George how different life would be and how his loved ones would fare if he had never existed at all.
So, Clarence serves as a kind of Ghost of Christmas Past and takes George to view his life without his presence. George is devastated by what he sees. He is forced to open his eyes and see that, no matter what troubles he is facing now, he still has so many blessings that outweigh them, and he has done so much good to so many other people. George sees that it was wrong to have contemplated taking his own life, because he still has a purpose. He becomes desperate to go back to the way things were, and to return to his life and his family, knowing that it will be worth it no matter what consequences he has to face.
His prayer is answered and he is granted his life once again. Overjoyed, he runs home through the snow-covered town. Authorities are at his home to arrest him when he arrives for the financial difficulties he was facing, but he is so happy to be reunited with his family that he does not even care--he just runs around the house, kissing his wife Mary (Reed) and their four children. And then, George fully realizes how wonderful his life really is when all of the townspeople arrive at his home with enough money to help him avoid his arrest.
The whole town, all gathered together in the Bailey house, begins to sing a Christmas carol and a bell is heard ringing, signifying that an angel somewhere has earned his wings.
If you are looking for a feel-good holiday movie to help you really get into the generous and grateful spirit of Christmas, then this is the perfect film for you. It is simple and sweet, with romance and humor, and just like every good Jimmy Stewart movie, it has a lesson to be learned.
If you would like to watch this movie right now, in it's entirety, please click on this link:
And, since Christmas is also the gift-giving season, if you're interested in pricing or buying this film then please click on this link:
Please check back with us again tomorrow afternoon for a post on a classic Christmas tradition.
And be sure to have yourselves A Very Vintage Christmas!
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