# I'm watching "It's a Wonderful Life" for the first time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 25, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120 "2013-12-25T02:40:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/21 "2013-12-25T05:19:10Z")
“This is an interesting situation!” Here’s a looooong previous thread about the movie. My post is #90: [It's a Wonderful Life - Do you like it or not? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=544279) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/22 "2013-12-25T05:38:30Z")
Now that you’ve seen the movie, you can appreciate the [alternate ending](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoKp0Pn-kKI) from SNL. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/23 "2013-12-25T05:46:32Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Now that you’ve seen the movie, you can appreciate the [alternate ending](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoKp0Pn-kKI) from SNL. Oh, that was laugh-worthy. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/24 "2013-12-25T07:07:06Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > …Something I don’t understand – if the movie is in the public domain, why can’t we see it without commercials? Or without so many?.. What does the one thing have to do with the other? Even if it was in the public domain, that just means the broadcaster doesn’t have to pay the owners of the copyright to show it. Doesn’t mean they \*can’t \*show commercials. They still have other costs, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/25 "2013-12-25T07:12:54Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > “Okay, you two pixies! Out the door or through the window!” > > ETA: “and that’s another thing: where do you get off calling me Nick?” According to Wiki, that’s none other than the great Meade Lux Lewis, in an uncredited appearance, at the piano in this scene. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/26 "2013-12-25T07:17:10Z")
I’m pretty sure “Nick” had a single appearance on _Cheers_ as the owner of the Hungry Heifer restaurant. Checking… yep. Light the match! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/27 "2013-12-25T13:17:54Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Hey, I haven’t seen it either, just bits and pieces. We did watch “Back to the Future II” today…isn’t that kind of the same? Um, no. I haven’t seen BTTF-II. No cable on Alpha Centauri. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/28 "2013-12-25T13:30:00Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Jimmy Stewart is actually a pretty good actor. It’s a fantastic performance. I don’t know of any other role where the actor goes through practically every emotion. And Jimmy Stewart nails them all. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/29 "2013-12-25T14:14:42Z")
Were there ever really swimming pools covered with motorized floors? That’d be an accident looking for a place to happen. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/30 "2013-12-25T14:42:48Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Something I don’t understand – if the movie is in the public domain, why can’t we see it without commercials? Or without so many? It’s not in the public domain, that’s why you’ll find only NBC airing it, they’re the only ones licensed to do so. The movie was in the public domain (effectively) for years and that is how it became famous as every local TV station in the country could show it without having to pay anybody. But in the '90s there was a lot of legal wrangling and ultimately it was taken back out of the public domain (as a derivative work of something still under copyright) and that is when every TV station stopped showing it and it became an annual NBC tradition. A horrible tradition to me as I’m of the opinion that America got it right the first time by mostly ignoring this movie. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/31 "2013-12-25T14:45:19Z")
every Christmas, my Aunt Laura used to complain about this movie. (she still would, if she were alive) it’s the most depressing movie ever! she says. she’s wrong. It’s a Wonderful Movie. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/32 "2013-12-25T15:10:22Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I love Bert and Ernie singing outside in the rain at the honeymoon. Perfect. And the muppets Bert & Ernie were named for the Wonderful Life characters. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/33 "2013-12-25T15:11:16Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Were there ever really swimming pools covered with motorized floors? That’d be an accident looking for a place to happen. Apparently, there was and is a high school in California with this apparatus. It’s what inspired this scene. I’ve got a couple of books on the background of the movie. (Actually, I don’t have one anymore–it literally got read to pieces. It had the shooting script, original short story, interviews, and info on the background and the various script drafts.) That scene was originally supposed to end with the principal getting _pushed_ into the pool, but Capra (wisely) decided that it would be a much better cap on the scene to have the principal give into the spirit of the occasion and _jump_ in. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/34 "2013-12-25T15:14:04Z")
I’m running out of time to watch it myself since I’m 57 years old now. I’ve never seen A Christmas Story either. I’m off work for 5 whole days, maybe I’ll get the chance. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/35 "2013-12-25T15:23:18Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Were there ever really swimming pools covered with motorized floors? That’d be an accident looking for a place to happen. > [@Hermione](#): > > Apparently, there was and is a high school in California with this apparatus. It’s what inspired this scene. > > I’ve got a couple of books on the background of the movie. (Actually, I don’t have one anymore–it literally got read to pieces. It had the shooting script, original short story, interviews, and info on the background and the various script drafts.) > > That scene was originally supposed to end with the principal getting _pushed_ into the pool, but Capra (wisely) decided that it would be a much better cap on the scene to have the principal give into the spirit of the occasion and _jump_ in. Right you are, **Hermione.** It’s called [the Swim Gym](http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=6251), it’s located at Beverly Hills High School and it’s still in use today. [Here’s another look](http://www.gymnasiumfloorrefinishing.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/gym-floor-pics/beverly_hills_h.s_swim-gym_006.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/36 "2013-12-25T15:30:06Z")
I still assert that “Welcome home Mr. Bailey” is the hottest scene in the history of cinema. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/37 "2013-12-25T15:30:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’ve seen snippets previously, but I’ve never watched the whole movie before. > > I’m about half way through. George Bailey is being offered a job by the old coot Potter for $20K a year. Stop typing and watch the damn movie! :mad: But I am envious. I have watched _It’s a Wonderful Life_ so many times, but I can never again watch it for the first time. Oh, to have that experience again. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/38 "2013-12-25T16:03:17Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > I still assert that “Welcome home Mr. Bailey” is the hottest scene in the history of cinema. Compared to the scene where they’re both on the same phone? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/39 "2013-12-25T16:22:56Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > And the muppets Bert & Ernie were named for the Wonderful Life characters. [That’s urban legend, according to some.](http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Are_Bert_and_Ernie_named_after_characters_from_It's_a_Wonderful_Life%3F) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120/40 "2013-12-25T17:20:29Z")
That gym with the floor that opens up to show a pool is real. It’s at Beverly Hills High. I know. I was there, in Fall 1966, with the water polo team from Redondo High. We watched them open the floor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-its-a-wonderful-life-for-the-first-time/677120.md?page=3)