December 20, 1946: "It's a Wonderful Life" Premieres

December 20, 1946: It's a Wonderful Life premieres. Like many of the films directed by Frank Capra, it's homey, and corny, earning those films the nickname "Capra Corn." But it is one of the most beloved films ever made.

It wasn't a success at first. Indeed, it turned out to be the only motion picture that Liberty Films ever made, dragging the studio into bankruptcy. But a legal loophole put it into the public domain in 1974, and allowed anyone who wanted to show it on television to do so, as it was cheap to do so. That made it a Christmas classic.

George Bailey lives in Bedford Falls, somewhere in New York State. In 1919, when they are boys, he saves the life of his brother, Harry, but loses the hearing in one ear in the process. A girl named Mary Hatch has a childhood crush on him that doesn't go away once they grow up (with adult George played by James Stewart -- that's how he was billed in every movie, but everybody tended to call him "Jimmy Stewart" -- and adult Mary by Donna Reed).

George's father Peter (Samuel S. Hinds) and his uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) run the Bailey Brothers Building & Loan. The father dies right after George graduates from high school in 1928, and the Building & Loan's board of directors votes to make George, despite his youth, the new chairman, as Uncle Billy is an alcoholic, and not all that bright when he's sober.

George refuses, and is told by the board that if he refuses, the board will elect Henry Potter (Lionel Barrymore) the new chairman. Potter is the richest and meanest man in town, and if he runs the Building & Loan, he'll close it, meaning that the entire town will be at his mercy. George hates Potter, so he accepts. This means that he has to stay in town, and the money that was going to send him to college instead sends brother Harry to college.

The Great Depression soon follows, and there's a run on the banks on the day in 1932 that George and Mary get married. They use the $2,000 that they were going to spend on their honeymoon to save their customers, as Potter's bank is offering only 50 cents on the dollar. They just barely make it. (In the sequence, $242 then would be $5,169 in 2022; $20 would be $427.23; $17.50 would be $373.83; and the $2.00 the Baileys ended up with would be $42.72.

George and Mary become well-respected in town, and the parents of 4 children. When World War II arrives, Harry enlists in the U.S. Navy, and, as a pilot, shoots down planes attacking a troop ship, saving hundreds of lives. (The movie doesn't say whether the enemy planes were German or Japanese). But because of his bad ear, George is classified 4-F, and "fights the Battle of Bedford Falls," running drives for things the war effort needs, like scrap metal, rubber, and food.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1945, a party is being set up for the returning hero Harry. But, at the bank, Uncle Billy loses $8,000 meant for the firm's accounts -- about $171,000 in today's money. Unable to come up with the money, George runs into one awful occurrence after another (and, let's be honest, behaves very badly in response to them), and wishes he'd never been born.

All this is told by the angel Joseph (voiced by Joseph Granby), who has been hearing the prayers for George by the people of Bedford Falls. Joseph assigns George's case to an angel named Clarence Goodbody (Henry Travers), so that Clarence can finally "earn his wings." Clarence shows George  what the world would have been like if he had never been born. The results are shocking:

* Potter became the director of the Building & Loan, and closed it down. Now, he owned everything in town, and he changed its name to Pottersville.

* The major businesses in town low-class joints: Dive bars, burlesque houses, casinos that the Potter-controlled police looked the other way on.

* Without George, Bailey Park, the housing development he built through the Building & Loan, was never built, so people living in town had no alternative but to live in "Potter's slums."

* Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner), the pharmacist, spent time in prison, because George wasn't there to stop him from making a mistake with pills in 1919, which led to a local boy's death. He's now a homeless alcoholic.

* Giuseppe Martini (Bill Edmunds), operator of Martini's bar, a nice establishment, and a resident of Bailey Park, is neither. He isn't even in the alternate sequence: There is no Bailey Park, and Nick (Sheldon Leonard), who had been the head bartender at Martini's, now owns the place, naming it Nick's, and isn't nearly as friendly without Martini's influence.

* Mary is "an old maid," never married (at age 38, that was a big deal at the time), and works in the local library -- which, surprisingly, Potter didn't have shut down. Still, she's better off than most people in town.

* Worst of all, while Billy was born on time in 1911, none of the other kids who were with George that day in 1919 was able to save him from falling into the ice, and he died. So he wasn't there to save that troop transport during The War, and every American serviceman on that ship died. Clarence never says whether this affects the outcome of the war: For all we know, at Christmas '45, the war could still be going on, and the Allies could even be losing.

George changes his mind, and wants to live again. He gets his wish, goes home to face the music, and finds that all the people he'd selflessly helped over the years have come to pay him back. There's a big basket of cash, which ends up being more than the $8,000 he needs. They show him that, in the way that matters, he's "the richest man in town."

As of December 20, 2022, there are 4 surviving castmembers from It's a Wonderful Life: Ronnie Ralph, who played George's friend Sam Wainwright as a child; Carol Coombs, George & Mary's daughter Janie Bailey; Karolyn Grimes, George & Mary's daughter Zuzu Bailey; and Jimmy Hawkins, George & Mary's son Tommy Bailey.

*

December 20, 1946 was a Friday. Several celebrities were born on this day: Illusionist Uri Geller, TV producer Dick Wolf, actor John Spencer, and Sonny Perdue, who was elected Governor of Georgia as a Republican, and then served as Secretary of Agriculture under Donald Trump.

Baseball was out of season. The NFL Championship Game had been played 5 days earlier, with the Chicago Bears beating the New York Giants, 24-14 at the Polo Grounds in New York. And no games were scheduled in the NHL.

There was one score on this historic day. The NBA was in its 1st season, under the name of the Basketball Association of America. One game was played that night: The Toronto Huskies beat the New York Knicks, 74-70 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. On the preceding November 1, the league's 1st-ever game was played between the same teams in the same arena, but the Knicks won it.

April 22, 1962: "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" premieres

April 22, 1962: The Western film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance premieres, directed by John Ford. It stars Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne (their only appearance together), Vera Miles, and Lee Marvin as the eponymous desperado. Despite the title containing the most obvious spoiler since Death of a Salesman, it does not give the identity of the titular shooter away.

The song of the same title, sung by Gene Pitney, was composed after the fact by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and was not a part of the film. Nevertheless, for the most part, the song tells the story:

When Liberty Valance rode to town.
the womenfolk would hide, they'd hide.
When Liberty Valance walked around
the men would step aside.

'Cause the point of a gun was the only law
that Liberty understood
When it came to shooting straight and fast
he was mighty good.

Stewart plays Ransom Stoddard, a young lawyer from the East, who arrives in a Western Territory, not named but definitely not yet a State, only to be immediately robbed and beaten by Valance and his gang. Wayne plays Tom Doniphon, who takes "Ranse" to the home of his girlfriend, Hallie (Miles), who treats his injuries.

From out of the East, a stranger came
a law book in his hand, a man
the kind of a man the West would need
to tame a troubled land.

'Cause the point of a gun was the only law
that Liberty understood.
When it came to shooting straight and fast
He was mighty good.

Many a man would face his gun
And many a man would fall.
The man who shot Liberty Valance
He shot Liberty Valance
He was the bravest of them all.

He would have to be. Ranse learns Valance frequently terrorizes the town of Shinbone and the surrounding country, since the local Marshal, Link Appleyard (Andy Devine), is too cowardly to stop him. Tom says Valance only understands force, but Ranse is determined to bring Valance to justice through the law.

Ranse establishes his law practice, and begins to romance Hallie. Tom makes it clear that Hallie is his bride-to-be. Valance bullies Ranse again, and Ranse begins practicing with a gun loaned to him by Dutton Peabody (Edmond O'Brien), the publisher of the town's newspaper.

Ranse and Peabody are elected the town's delegates to a convention to decide whether the Territory should apply for Statehood. Statehood would mean a federal government presence in town, enforcing federal law. That would be bad news for the cattle barons, who are used to getting their own way. So they hire Valance to try to stop Ranse and Peabody from voting for Statehood. Valance challenges Ranse to a gunfight. Tom offers to assist Ranse in leaving town, but Ranse stubbornly declines.

The love of a girl can make a man stay on
when he should go, stay on
just trying to build a peaceful life
where love is free to grow.

But the point of a gun was the only law
that Liberty understood.
When the final showdown came at last
a law book was no good

Alone and afraid, she prayed that he'd
return that fateful night, oh that night
when nothing she said could keep her man
from going out to fight.

From the moment a girl gets to be full grown
the very first thing she learns:
When two men go out to face each other
only one returns!

This is where the song differs from the film: Ranse didn't stay for the love of Hallie, but out of stubbornness. And although Hallie now wanted Ranse, not Tom, and was worried about the gunfight, the film did not depict her praying for Ranse, or discouraging him from dueling.

That night, Valance and his gang vandalize the newspaper office, and severely injure Peabody for reporting Valance's murder of a local farmer. Ranse arms himself and goes after Valance. But, even drunk, Valance easily shoots Ranse in the arm, causing him to drop his gun, then prepares to kill him. Ranse picks up his gun and shoots, and Valance falls dead.

Everyone heard two shots ring out!
One shot made Liberty fall!
The man who shot Liberty Valance
he shot Liberty Valance
he was the bravest of them all!

The man who shot Liberty Valance
he shot Liberty Valance
he was the bravest of them all!

Everyone who was watching and listening during the gunfight did hear two shots: The shot from Valance that wounded Ranse, and the shot that made Valance fall dead. Tom sees Hallie treat Ranse's wound, and knows that he's lost her.

At the Territorial Convention, Ranse is nominated for delegate to Congress, but withdraws after a representative of the cattle barons, still opposing Statehood, accuses him of building a career from murdering a man.

Tom arrives, and explains to Ranse that it was he who killed Valance: Knowing that Ranse could not win, Tom shot him with a rifle at the same time Ranse fired -- two shots at the same time, hence, "Everyone heard two shots ring out, one shot made Liberty fall," but, in fact, there were three shots, and only Tom knew, until he told Ranse. Tom encourages Ranse to accept the nomination for Hallie's sake, before quietly walking out of the Convention.

Time passes -- 25 years. Ransom and Hallie Stoddard return to Shinbone by train, for Tom Doniphon's funeral. Ransom had been elected Governor, and then U.S. Senator. A President had appointed him U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. It is a Presidential election year, and the rumor is that Ranse will be nominated for Vice President.

He tells the newspaper's current editor, who had been preparing an anniversary story on the shooting, the truth. Not wanting to ruin Ranse's legacy, he burns his notes, and says, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And yet, when the Stoddards board the train to begin their journey back to Washington, Ranse thanks the train conductor for the railroad's courtesies, and the conductor, none the wiser, answers, "Nothing's too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance!"

TL;DR: Jimmy Stewart got the girl, but John Wayne got the bad guy.

*

April 22, 1962 was a Sunday. Football was out of season. The NBA Championship had been won 4 days earlier, by the Boston Celtics, over the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games.

On this day, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 2-1, to take Game 6 of the Finals and win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 11 years. This started a string of 3 straight and 4 in 6 years under head coach-general manager George "Punch" Imlach, with future Hall-of-Famers like Frank Mahovlich, Tim Horton, George Armstrong and Johnny Bower.

When the string ends on May 2, 1967, the Leafs will have won 13 of the 49 Stanley Cups awarded in the NHL era -- 26 percent. At the time, they were only 1 behind their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens, for the most. In the 60 years since, they have never even been to the Finals again, while the Canadiens have added 10 more.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Cleveland Indians, 7-5 and 9-3 at Yankee Stadium. In the opener, Yogi Berra and Tom Tresh hit home runs, but Bill Stafford didn't get out of the 3rd inning.

In the nightcap, the game was tied 3-3 after 6, but the Tribe scored 2 runs in the 7th and 4 in the 9th to pull away. Jim Coates started, and Luis Arroyo, injured during the recent Spring Training, ended up as the losing pitcher, a mark of his decline from being the game's best relief pitcher the previous season. Over the 2 games, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-5 with 3 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Mets were now 0-9 in their history, and the Pirates were 10-0, so the Mets were 9 1/2 games out of 1st place even though they'd played only 9 games. In this game, Jim Hickman got 3 hits, and Gil Hodges 2, the rest of the team combined, only 2. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-4. The next day, the Mets got their 1st regular-season win, beating the Pirates, 9-1.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Norm Cash hit 2 home runs. Al Kaline went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Jim Pagliaroni and Gary Geiger hit home runs for the Red Sox, and both would end up on the 1969 Seattle Pilots, written about by pitcher Jim Bouton in what became his book Ball Four. (And they both homered in the same game? Pagliaroni, who hit only 90 runs in his career? Ang Geiger, who hit 77? Yeah, surrre! Maybe their greenies kicked in.)

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 8-3 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Brooks Robinson, Jim Gentile, Gus Triandos and Jackie Brandt all homered for the O's.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, but the Reds got home runs from Vada Pinson, Johnny Edwards and Wally Post. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Kansas City Athletics swept the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 and 7-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron was injured in the 1st inning, and was replaced by his brother, Tommie Aaron. Eddie Mathews went 0-for-1, but drew 4 walks. Duke Snider went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Hank played again the next day. The main reason he was able to go to hit a record 755 home runs was his remarkable durability and availability: Whatever aches and pains he may have had, from 1955 to 1970, he never played in fewer than 145 games, and only twice in fewer than 150.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-5 and 5-1 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. In the 1st game, Ernie Banks went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs, while Stan Musial went 1-for-4. Banks went 0-for-4 in the 2nd game, while Musial appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Colt .45s, 4-3 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Los Angeles Angels, 5-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their stadium could be built in nearby Anaheim. Jim Kaat pitched a 4-hit shutout, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run.