It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

You know It’s a Wonderful Life as a holiday classic. It’s been airing during the Christmas season for decades. The movie is cultural wallpaper.

But would you believe it basically derailed Frank Capra’s career? It’s true. One of the most successful directors of all time bet his reputation on It’s a Wonderful Life, and he lost that bet.

Capra had started his own production company, Liberty Films, but it ended up only producing two films, in part because It’s a Wonderful Life was so unsuccessful. The movie made $3.3 million, which was only a couple hundred thousand over the budget. Capra’s dream of being a studio magnate died on the vine. He never made another notable movie, in our opinion.

We will also note there is a misnomer that It’s a Wonderful Life became so popular because its copyright lapsed and networks didn’t have to pay to air it. It’s true that in 1974 National Telefilm Associates lost the copyright to the movie due to a clerical error.

But because it was based on a pre-existing work, networks still had to pay royalties to air it, and since 1993 one company or another has enforced copyright on the movie thanks to a 1990 Supreme Court ruling.

It’s also on our list of Black and White Films That Feel Strikingly Modern.