It Happened One Christmas airwaves on an annual basis, the remake slipped into obscurity. The reviews were mixed. After its initial airing a "New York Times" follow-up article revealed that Frank Capra, the director of the 1946 film "It's A Wonderful Life", had denounced the remake as "plagiaristic." The ratings, however, were good enough that it was rebroadcast on ABC twice, in 1978 and 1979. But by that time the original "It's A Wonderful Life" had begun its resurgence on television and eventually eclipsed the remake. "It Happened One Christmas" is rarely shown today, and has not, as of 2017, been issued on DVD.
It Happened Here film was in the making for the next eight years, which the "Guinness Book of World Records" (as of 2003) calls the longest ever production schedule. "It Happened Here" was shot in black and white on 16 mm film, giving it a grainy, newsreel feel (no actual stock footage was used). Most of the equipment used in the production was borrowed. The audio quality (and lighting) on the opening reel is rather poor, which makes the dialogue difficult to follow for the first few minutes. Stanley Kubrick, who was intrigued by the project, donated film stock from "Dr. Strangelove" to