Frank Capra’s 1946 film A Wonderful Life is definitely one of the best holiday movies ever made. And it’s one of the best movies ever made, period. A large part of that is due to the third act, when the main character, George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), realizes what life would be like if he had never been born. It makes him realize how beautiful and special his life was, leading to a touching final scene of the town’s appreciation and worship.
But what would happen A Wonderful Life be apart of that incident? What if George Bailey didn’t see what his life would be like without his birth? Those are the questions that honestly no one has ever asked because it’s like, “What Home alone without a hitch?” It’s kind of the point. However, there is a version floating around that removes that important scene, and we still can’t believe it.
Last year, I sat down to watch A Wonderful Life on Prime Video and I noticed that there are many versions. There is the original black and white version, which is clearly the only one anyone should look at. Then there’s the colored version (offensive but understandable) and the “abbreviated” version. When I saw that last one, I was filled with curiosity. A Wonderful Lifehe is perfect. What can you shorten, really? I was even more curious when I saw that the version was 12 minutes shorter than the original. How do you cut 12 minutes from that movie?
The answer, inexplicably, is that it completely removes the best, most important scene in the movie. George’s angel, Clarence, arrives, throws himself into the river, and George saves him. Everything is exactly like the original movie, except when George asks Clarence how he’s going to help, the movie cuts to George yelling, “Mary!” back in the present, full of joy that he is back in reality. He doesn’t see Pottersville or meet any of his friends or anything. It just goes away. The ending then plays out normally. The editing makes no sense and completely ruins the film.
Now, when I first saw this, I posted about it on social media, and it went viral. In the following comments, several people gave what I believe to be the best and most reasonable explanation. Obviously, it’s a legitimate thing. Another big atmospheric scene in Pottersville is based on a short story called “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern. That story has a different copyright than that A Wonderful Life in its entirety, which entered the public domain in 1975. So this version exists as a rights-free version that anyone can use or access without worry. Not that you would like to.
Thankfully, there’s plenty of warning to get you out of this version. It is clearly marked as “abridged” in its title, and there is a card at the beginning stating that it is shortened and the ending has been changed. But either way, the fact that it exists and is easily accessible feels strangely evil. As Old Man Potter would have done, he tried to deny us the Baileys’ happiness.
The original, black and white version of the A Wonderful Life it’s on Prime at this link. You can search for any others if you like.
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