Facts > Films > It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Facts
| Director(s) | Frank Capra |
| Producer(s) | Frank Capra |
| Featured Cast | James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell, Henry Travers |
| Total Facts | 55 |
Voted the #1 inspirational film of all time in AFI's "100 Years, 100 Cheers" (June 14th, 2006)
When composer Dimitri Tiomkin's original score for the finale (featuring "Ode To Joy") was eliminated, tracks of Alfred Newman's score from The Hunchback of Notre Dame were used instead, most notably the chorus singing "Hallelujah".
When Officer Bert shoots at George, the "s", the "v" and the "i" in the electric "Pottersville" sign far away in the distance, go out.
While filming the scene where George prays in the bar, James Stewart has said that he was so overcome that he began to sob right then and there. Later, Frank Capra reframed the shot so it looked like a much closer shot than was actually filmed because he wanted to catch that expression on Stewart's face.
Olivia De Havilland was offered the role of Mary Hatch Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life (1946) after Jean Arthur turned it down, but she also turned down the part. Donna Reed was cast instead and it went on to be one of her most famous performances.