It's a Wonderful Life greatest movie list, number 20 on its revised 2007 greatest movie list, and placing number one on its list of the most inspirational American films of all time. Capra revealed that this was his personal favorite among the films he directed, and that he screened it for his family every Christmas season. On Christmas Eve 1945, in Bedford Falls, New York, George Bailey contemplates suicide. Prayers for him reach Heaven, where Clarence Odbody, Angel 2nd Class, is assigned to save George, in return for which he will earn his angel wings. To prepare him for his mission, Clarence is shown
It's a Wonderful Life turned the story and what was worth using from the three scripts into a screenplay that Capra would rename "It's a Wonderful Life". The script underwent many revisions throughout pre-production and during filming. Final screenplay credit went to Goodrich, Hackett, and Capra, with "additional scenes" by Jo Swerling. Capra produced the film with his independent motion picture production company Liberty Films. Dalton Trumbo had written a draft that was different from the final film. In Trumbo's draft, George Bailey is an idealistic politician that slowly grows more cynical as the story progresses, then tries to commit suicide after losing an