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 One Christmas It Happened One Christmas It Happened One Christmas is a 1977 American made-for-television Christmas fantasy-comedy film starring Marlo Thomas, Wayne Rogers, Orson Welles and Cloris Leachman. It originally premiered as "The ABC Sunday Night Movie" on December 11, 1977. The film, a gender-reversed version of the film "It's a Wonderful Life", centers on Mary Bailey Hatch, a young woman who dreams of seeing the world but is forced by circumstances to remain in her small hometown as head of the family's Building & Loan business. On a Christmas Eve, in a moment of financial crisis, a severely depressed Mary contemplates