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Thoughts on It's a Wonderful Life
Dec. 23rd, 2004 12:54 pmChris and I watched It's a Wonderful Life the other night. This is the third of my triad of Must See movies for Christmas (along with Holiday Inn and White Christmas). Some fantastic lines in it (that Doug and I were trading last night) like:
Every man on that transport died...Harry wasn't there to save them, because you weren't there to save Harry. You see George, you've really had a wonderful life.
and
Little Violet: [commenting on George] I like him.
Little Mary: You like every boy.
Little Violet: What's wrong with that?
and my personal favorite:
Hey look, mister--we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere."
As Doug said, my kind of bar! I'm ashamed to say it, but Pottersville looks like fun. Kind of like Vegas--wouldn't want to live there but it's an amusing diversion, with all its dime-a-dance joints, dive bars and signs saying "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS!!!"
I gotta say, Clarence really trips my gaydar. The scene where he fussy-fusses over what to order, and finally happily settles on a flaming rum punch--oh yeah. Gay as a three dollar bill.
Mr. Gower makes me cry, especially the scene in Pottersville where Nick humiliates him.
The child actors are all quite good, especially Little Mary and Young George. The shot where Little Mary flinches as she can hear Mr. Gower smacking George is well done.
I'm a little disturbed at how apparently bureaucratic Heaven is, with its tiered system of angel rankings.
Lionel Barrymore is the shit in this movie. So good in that role. I was reading how his character's evil is unmotivated, but I think there's an implied motivation. Potter says to George "You once called me, 'a warped, frustrated, old man!' Who are you but a warped, frustrated young man?" Perhaps that's Potter's motivation--he used to be someone like George, or maybe whatever accident it was that crippled him. Anyway, he's just so damn good in that role. The malice in his voice when he says "Why, you're worth more dead than alive..."
A very dark movie at times. It's difficult for me to watch in some places.
Every man on that transport died...Harry wasn't there to save them, because you weren't there to save Harry. You see George, you've really had a wonderful life.
and
Little Violet: [commenting on George] I like him.
Little Mary: You like every boy.
Little Violet: What's wrong with that?
and my personal favorite:
Hey look, mister--we serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere."
As Doug said, my kind of bar! I'm ashamed to say it, but Pottersville looks like fun. Kind of like Vegas--wouldn't want to live there but it's an amusing diversion, with all its dime-a-dance joints, dive bars and signs saying "GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS!!!"
I gotta say, Clarence really trips my gaydar. The scene where he fussy-fusses over what to order, and finally happily settles on a flaming rum punch--oh yeah. Gay as a three dollar bill.
Mr. Gower makes me cry, especially the scene in Pottersville where Nick humiliates him.
The child actors are all quite good, especially Little Mary and Young George. The shot where Little Mary flinches as she can hear Mr. Gower smacking George is well done.
I'm a little disturbed at how apparently bureaucratic Heaven is, with its tiered system of angel rankings.
Lionel Barrymore is the shit in this movie. So good in that role. I was reading how his character's evil is unmotivated, but I think there's an implied motivation. Potter says to George "You once called me, 'a warped, frustrated, old man!' Who are you but a warped, frustrated young man?" Perhaps that's Potter's motivation--he used to be someone like George, or maybe whatever accident it was that crippled him. Anyway, he's just so damn good in that role. The malice in his voice when he says "Why, you're worth more dead than alive..."
A very dark movie at times. It's difficult for me to watch in some places.
