It's a Wonderful Life
![](/Images/godic/202501/19/Its_A_Wonderful_Life_Movie_Poster0148.jpg")
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![George with his guardian angel Clarence (Henry Travers)](/Images/godic/202501/19/Guardian_angel_clarence0149.jpg")
![George Bailey (James Stewart), Mary Bailey (Donna Reed), and their youngest daughter Zuzu (Karolyn Grimes)](/Images/godic/202501/19/It's_A_Wonderful_Life0149.jpg")
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story "The Greatest Gift", which Philip Van Doren Stern wrote in 1939 and published privately in 1945. The film is now among the most popular in American cinema and because of numerous television showings in the 1980s has become traditional viewing during the Christmas season.