“Never before has there been anyone like you. You are something that never existed before and will never exist again. Isn’t that wonderful?” Thus spoke director Frank Capra on “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which he considered the greatest of his own works. James Stewart also repeatedly called it his favorite among the roughly 80 films
Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” has been around so long that early film versions are now closer to the author’s era than to our own. Yet unlike Scrooge’s grouchy side, this tale won’t be disappearing anytime soon. And the latest local version showed why. Presented by Williamsport’s Community Theatre League over the first two weekends in
After last week’s piece on It’s a Wonderful Life, two readers wrote with additional info on that Christmas classic. My friend Jeff Meadows pointed out that actor Carl Switzer — best known as Alfalfa from the Little Rascals — appears not only in Wonderful Life (annoying dance-partner and swimming-pool opener), but also, quite briefly, in
In his dandy 2023 book on the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Michael Keane puts the stress on serendipity. That’s why the professor and former Hollywood exec has titled his volume Charlie Brown’s Christmas Miracle. As the author puts it in his opening chapter: “This book tells the inspiring, against-all-odds story of how A
The corny pun in our headline was jokingly coined for that special brand of magical sentiment in films by writer-director Frank Capra. Those include Meet John Doe, You Can’t Take It with You, It Happened One Night and of course, It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ll be speaking on the latter at Brown Library — 5:30
