Still Making Discoveries After 800 Views

Source: http://gctnetwork.com/christian-themes-in-its-a-wonderful-life/

People have a hard time believing me when I say I have watched It's a Wonderful Life more than 800 times. I wrote a college paper about the film and watched it two or three times every day my senior year of college to help in that effort.

Since then, I have worked on changing that 40-page paper into a 257-page book. It's finished. I'm looking for a publisher. But in order to do it, I watched the film multiple times every single year. And I graduated from college a long time ago.

During the National Geographic scene in Gower's Drug Store when George and Mary are kids, Mary comments about the magazine, "I never saw it before." To which George replies, "Of course you never."

I felt the same as Mary when I watched It's a Wonderful Life in color for the first time on Feb. 28, 2015. Every time I watch it, I find one or two details that I had never noticed before. But less than 10 minutes into my maiden voyage with the newest colorized version, my mind was ready to explode with 13 new discoveries. And they just kept coming. Those discoveries are listed here:

• There are Christmas lights on the the tree outside of Martini's bar.
• There is a skull and crossbones on George's hat during the sledding scene.
• I have read bout a sign next to the sledding hill, but I had never seen it until I watched the colorized version. The sign says: 

NO TRESPASSING

Violators will be 

prosecuted to the fullest extent 

of the law 

Henry F. Potter

• There are Camel cigarettes on the counter behind the cigar lighter.
• The business names during the street scenes are clearly visible.
• I got a better feeling for the layout of the Gower's Drug Store.
• There is a piece of tape on the counter when Mary leans down to whisper in George's ear. Is that a marker for the actor?
• The carpet pattern on the floor in the back room of Gower's Drug Store is beautiful.
• I think there is a picture of Jimmy Stewart as a child on a trike on Peter's desk. I remember seeing that same photo in one of Stewart's biographies. There also appears to be a picture of the child actor (Bobby Anderson) who plays the young George Bailey, on Peter's desk.
• There is an American soldier outside of the window when George is in the luggage store.
• Most of the transportation in Bedford Falls is by automobile. The only exceptions to that are Potter's carriage and a horse-drawn wagon that passes by when George is in the luggage store.
• There is a traffic cop at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Genesee Street.
• Bert the Cop is reading a newspaper with a banner headline that reads "Smith wins nomination." Not sure if that is referring to something in true American History, or if it is a reference to another Capra/Stewart film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
• Annie carries plates of salad into the Bailey dining room during the last supper scene.
• There is a picture of Annie on the wall beneath the stairs in George and Mary's wedding scene.
• The interior walls of the Building and Loan are dirty and have a lot of water damage.
• Potter has gas-lit chandeliers in his office (seen during the bank run).
• There is a stock certificate on Potter's desk during the bank run scene.
• Potter's office looks even more ornate in color
• George says "this thing isn't as black as it appears." Just then, the sirens go past and you can see George deflate.
• Bert the cop and the travel agency employee take travel posters out of the paddy wagon.
• There is an advertisement poster for Fisk Tires (picture of a toddler carrying a tire and a candle at the bottom of the staircase next to the first floor bedroom at 320 Sycamore on their honeymoon night. I have put a photo of the poster at the bottom of this page.
• The honeymoon suite at 320 Sycamore later becomes the dining room, seen when Tommy follows George around the house saying, "'Scuse me."
• There are TWO huge pictures of Potter. One in the bank lobby and another one - a duplicate of the same painting - in his office at the bank.
• There is a baby crib in Zuzu's bedroom for Tommy. They share a room.
• George's tie looks tattered or like it has fringe on it after he kicks over his work area on Christmas Eve. At minimum, the back of the tie hangs lower than the front of the tie.
• There is a hutch with plates on it in the background at Martini's bar, giving it the feel of a dining room or restaurant instead of a bar.
• George doesn't have his headlights on when he crashes into the tree.
• There is a sign on the bridge's toll booth that says "Avoid delay. Have exact fare ready."
• It's late at night on Christmas Eve and the gates are not pulled across the entrance at the Bailey Building and Loan when George returns from Pottersville.

The Fisk Tire sign at the foot of the stairs of the Granville House during the honeymoon scene. Romantic.

Here is a similar poster I found online.
Source: http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2006/08/01/hmn_feature15.html

Here is another poster that I found on Google.
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/gtrg40/tires-and-wheels/

Living in Color, Dreaming in Black and White

My colorized copy. Also includes a
black and white copy.

I broke my cardinal rule. I watched It's a Wonderful Life in color. I promised myself that I would never do it. Not only did I actually do it, but I also bought a copy of it in color.

The question becomes, after more than 25 years of watching the black and white version, WHY did I do it? The answer is actually pretty simple: Mary Hatch's mailbox.

Wait, what???!!! That's right. A mailbox.

About a month ago, while watching the black and white version, I thought I saw a nautical scene painted on the mailbox. It looked like a ship's bow and mast. The mailbox says, "Mrs. J.W. Hatch." But it's a mystery what happened to Mary's father. He doesn't exist. 

I thought that with a picture of a man hanging on the wall in Mary's parlor, along with a nautical scene on the mailbox, I might be able to explain his non-existence as being due to death at sea. But I couldn't quite make out the design in the black and white version. So I borrowed a copy of the colorized version from the library. 

IAWL in color.

In getting to that scene, I went a little too far, and landed on George and Mary's wedding day. While watching that part, I saw Mr. Gower in the crowd. I had never seen that before. I thought to myself, "If I missed that in the black and white version, what else can the colorized version reveal that I had never seen before?

So I bought a copy. And on Feb. 28, I watched it. What I found was amazing. In the first 10 minutes, I found 13 things I had never noticed before. That list will be the subject of a later post.

The most intriguing thing I noticed, however, was that not everything in every scene is colorized. For example:

• The sign during the war montage is in black and white. Sure, you can say it's black lettering on a white sign, but look at the background. There is a distinct lack of color.
• During the bank run, the people running behind the rear window of the car are in black and white.

IAWL in color.

• During the scene where George walks into Billy's office and finds Billy looking for the money, the outside that can be seen through the window is black and white.

So now the question is "was it worth it?" Unequivocally, YES! I shouldn't really support the colorized version. I have always fought it and spoken out against it. But the newest colorized version is a far cry from the 1980s faded pastel colorized version. It's so much better than it used to be.

Having watched this film more than 800 times, I also needed a fresh look. That's what the colorized version did for me. I found new things. I found answers to some questions that I had (no, it's not a nautical scene).

I will continue watching this film in black and white on a regular basis. But when I have a question about something I see, I will turn to the colorized version just to make sure.

And I only paid $10 for it, so bonus points.

How do you feel about the colorized version?

At What Cost?

After nine months of fighting, we finally got our day in court.

Without getting into the details, here are the basics: I have spent the last 10 years wishing to spend more time with my oldest son with less interference from his mom. I was always afraid to fight her for that time in court until two back-to-back incidents last spring convinced me it was time to stand up for my rights as a father, and for our rights as a family.

And yet, I was still scared to do anything about it. With my wife's loving nudge and encouragement, I finally sued my e-wife for more time with my son.

The process took nine months, five attorneys, one judge and stupid amounts of money to settle. And as of today, it IS settled. But am I? Is my wife? Is my son? Is his mom? Is my youngest son? At this point, I don't know. The case has only been settled for 9 hours as of this writing, so it's still too fresh. I have a general feel for what the papers say, but I need a couple of days of distance to be able to look at it with clear eyes and a clear mind and really comprehend it.

So when friends on social media or in face-to-face conversation ask me how it went, I find myself simply saying "it went well," and leaving it at that. And I'm not lying. It did go well. It also went horribly. It went in a way that is depressing. It also went in a way that is depleting. I'm tired and worn out emotionally. It has been a worm that has consumed my every waking moment for almost a year. This experience has been soul-sucking, not only for me, but also for my wife. 

The stress and pressure continue because there are parts of the agreement that made my wife disappointed with me. And that hurts, because I truly did my best to stand up for our family as best I could, while at the same time knowing that we wouldn't get everything we wanted. That's part of the negotiation process. No matter how right you are, you still don't get everything you want.

So did we win? Yes. We got more time with less interference, which was our goal...even if it wasn't as much time as we wanted to get.

Did we lose? Yes. Right now I am a physical wreck. I want to sleep, but my mind won't shut up long enough to allow that. I have slept for a total of 10 hours in the past two nights. And then there's the question of the money. We spent nine months paying five attorneys to do what we should have been able to sit down and work out together in a matter of days, maybe with just one attorney. But my son's mother and I were both prideful. We were stubborn. We were immature in some ways. And above all, we both HAD to be RIGHT.

Yes, we won. But at what cost? There are no true winners in these situations. 

There are so many ways that It's a Wonderful Life ties into this.

• Yes, it cost money. And yes, the bills will be painful for a while. But like George Bailey, we fought for our family. And for that, the price can never be too high.
• There was a moment in the negotiations where I had to firmly put my foot down and strongly and clearly say that I would not accept one of her requests. But I followed it up with an encouraging word that there were still alternatives to consider. It was very much like George during the bank run when he told the mob "We can get through this, but ... we've got to have faith in each other." The truth is that I have no faith in the ex. But I had to trust that she would be rational enough to help create a solution instead of continuing to be part of the problem.
• At the beginning of It's a Wonderful Life, we hear prayers from Gower, Mary, Ma Bailey, Nick, Janey, and a host of others as they pray for George. These are called prayers of intersession. Having kept this issue mostly private, I took to Facebook on the morning of the trial/negotiations, requesting support from everyone who was willing to give it:

         

Our friends and family came through in huge ways. I even had someone offer to take me up on the Footloose video. THANK YOU ALL for that support. I can honestly tell you that it did have a calming effect on me as I sat in the negotiations.

We all have choices to make. George could have let his brother drown. He could have chosen to go to college and let the Building and Loan close instead of taking his father’s position. He didn't do either of those things, and it cost him. Over and over and over again, it cost him. But he made those decisions - those sacrifices and hard choices - to protect his family. I did the same and I would do it again in a minute. I might do a couple of things a little differently, but I in general, I like the outcome.

Now we have a choice to make. We can be grateful and celebrate what we DID get, knowing that God has this and it's part of His plan, or we can let the sacrifices that we made eat us alive. 

In short, we can be right, or we can be happy. I choose to be happy. After all, it's finally over and we got extra time with my oldest son on a regular basis. We have plans for that time, and we're taking the little brother along with us. Maybe we’ll climb Mt. Bedford.

What have you done lately where counting the cost hurts, but it's still worth the effort? Feel free to comment below. While you are at it, show your support for fathers everywhere by tweeting #fathershaverightstoo and tag me at @iawlfan and @iawb.