'It's a Wonderful Life' Characters Quiz

Answer:

This is the heartwarming (some might think almost sickeningly so) tale of a man who is contemplating suicide, only to be made aware (by an apprentice angel) of how important he has been to those around him, despite his overwhelming sense of failure and despair. Released in 1946, it was based on a 1943 short story by Philip Van Doren Stern, 'The Greatest Gift'. Both are at least indirectly influenced by Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', in that the central character is visited by an angel, and finds a new direction in life. Our hero here, however, is the good guy, while the Scrooge-like character is foiled, not redeemed.

The film starts with guardian angel second class Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) being assigned to save George Bailey (James Stewart), who is contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve, and earn his wings. We then see George's life in a series of flashbacks leading up to the moment he is on the bridge and Clarence intervenes.

George Bailey (James Stewart) grew up in the small town of Bedford Falls, located vaguely somewhere in upstate New York. All his life, he has deferred the fulfillment of his personal dreams because someone else seemed to have a greater call on him. When he was 12 he saved his brother Harry (Todd Karns) from drowning; as a result he became deaf in one ear. In high school he worked for pharmacist Emil Gower (HB Warner) as a delivery boy, and saves him from accidentally poisoning a client (then promises the grateful pharmacist that he will never tell anyone about it, and ruin his reputation). Around this time he misses hearing Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) whisper that she loves him when, inspired by his description of his dream to travel the world, she whispers it in the deaf ear. When he graduates from high school, his plans to see the world get put on hold when his father dies, and he is forced to take over running the family business, a building & loan society. The money he had saved for college is transferred to be used by Harry instead. George and Mary get married, but give up their planned honeymoon so the funds can be used to halt a run on the family business. And life goes on.

On Christmas Eve, Harry is coming home as a decorated war hero, which Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) brags about to Harry Potter (Lionel Barrymore) as he is making a deposit with Potter's bank. Bad move - he accidentally manages to leave the funds wrapped up in the newspaper whose headline he had been so proud of, and the crucial funds are lost when Potter keeps the newspaper. George tries to find the money, he appeals to Potter for a loan to tide them over, all to no avail. After a few drinks, he finds himself on a bridge thinking about ending it all.

At this point, Clarence steps in, throwing himself into the water so that George will rescue him instead of jumping himself. He then shows George an alternative timeline of events to show what would have happened if his desire to never have been born were realised. Of course, it's dreadful, with the town controlled by Potter, Mary a lonely spinster, Mr Gower in jail for manslaughter, Harry having drowned as a child (and all the troops he would have saved to earn his medal died), and Uncle Bill institutionalised following a breakdown when the business failed after George's father's death. George realises that no life is useless, and Clarence gets his wings.

There were quite a few other minor characters in the film, three of whom have been included here, all of whom were George's contemporaries. Sam Wainwright (Frank Albertson) was a rival for Mary's affections; Ernie Bishop (Frank Faylen) was a paratrooper in the war and drove a taxi in town (much more successfully in reality than in the alternative world) and Bert (Ward Bond) became a policeman who tried to shoot George in the alternative world when Mary called for help because she was being accosted by a strange man, but who then arrived on the bridge happy to have finally found the missing man, whose family and friends were worried about him.

The other six names are characters from some of Jimmy Stewart's other well-known movies. L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies and Lisa Fremont are from 'Rear Window', Jefferson Smith and Senator Joseph Paine from 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington', and Elwood P Dowd and Veta Louise Simmons are from 'Harvey'.