It's a Wonderful Life: Fun Facts About The Holiday Classic

It's A Wonderful Life: 75 years old

Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life was released in theaters in 1946 to a poor reception. The movie became popular once it was in the public domain and began airing on network television. There was a period when you could watch this Christmas classic 4 or 5 times on different networks each holiday season. The film is 131 minutes long which is 2 hours and 11 minutes. Due to television commercials, it would be broadcast for 3 hours.

This year of 2021 the beloved holiday classic turns 75 and can be viewed free on the Tubi streaming service in a special "legend edition" which is somewhat shorter and may disappoint some viewers. At the part of the film where George meets Clarence the angel and they are drying off after jumping in the river the film skips to the scene where George returns home.

This version does not show any of the scenes where Georges sees what life in Bedford Falls is like without him which for some is the main message. The good news is NBC will be airing It's A Wonderful Life in its entirety on Saturday, December 4th, and again on Christmas eve from 8-11 PM each night. On Tubi you can view the film as many times as you like as long as it is available. There are also other streaming services where you may have to pay to watch it.

It's A Wonderful Life: The beat goes on

The story of how this popular Christmas story began airing multiple times over the decades is quite interesting. It's A Wonderful Life was the first release from Liberty Films an independent production company. They were not able to recoup their production cost of $2.3 million, and in 1947 Liberty Films was purchased by Paramount Pictures. After a number of subsequent sales, Republic Pictures ended up owning the rights to the film.

At the time the movie was filmed and released, it was under the Copyright Act of 1909, which stated that U.S. copyright protection lasted 28 years from the publication with proper notice or registration. By filing a proper renewal registration with the Copyright Office a movie could have an additional 28 years of protection. The 28 year period was up for It's A Wonderful Life in 1974, but, Republic Pictures failed to file a renewal so the film went into the public domain.

This meant that anyone could show the holiday movie without having to obtain permission or pay royalties. This is why the popular Christmas film began repeatedly being shown throughout the holidays on network television and was also made widely available on tape. Over the next 20 years, of airings is when the movie finally gained its “holiday classic” status.

Although Republic Pictures failed to renew copyright over the film in 1974, they are still able to make money from It's A Wonderful Life due to a technicality. Republic still retained rights to the original story, which was titled “The Greatest Gift,” and they also had purchased rights to the film’s music. Thanks to a Supreme Court case Stewart v. Abend, 495 U.S. 207 (1990), Republic Pictures notified all television networks to stop playing It’s a Wonderful Life without paying them royalties.

It was at this time that Republic Pictures entered into an exclusive licensing arrangement with NBC, where the network could air It’s a Wonderful Life twice a year. This is why it will be shown on December 4 and 24 this year. If you are a fan please don't miss an opportunity to enjoy this movie.