Product Details

• Actors: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O'Hara, Lionel Barrymore
• Directors: Frank Capra, George Seaton
• Writers: Frank Capra, George Seaton, Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, Jo Swerling
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
• Language: Dutch, English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• DVD Release Date: October 15, 2002
• Run Time: 229 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00006G8JE
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,962 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #19 in	Movies & TV > Classics > Classic Directors > Capra, Frank
  #19 in	Movies & TV > Comedy > Comedy Directors > Frank Capra
  #65 in	Movies & TV > Classics > Classic Stars > Stewart, James

• For more information about "It's a Wonderful Life / Miracle on 34th Street" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
The original 1947 version of this Valentine Davies story follows the misadventures of Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) as he gets a job playing Santa Claus at Macy's department store in New York City. Natalie Wood is the little girl who tells him she doesn't believe in Santa, and Maureen O'Hara and John Payne are the couple who help Kris through a trial in which he must prove he's the jolly fellow from the North Pole. A sweet movie and perennial Christmas favorite, this is one of those movies that gets under your skin and must be revisited every so often. --Tom Keogh

It's a Wonderful Life
Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot (the director's optimistic vision may have darkened during his experiences making military films in World War II). Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming--in the teary-eyed final reel--his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. It's a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good movie but..., April 2, 2004

By A Customer

Miracle on 34th Street is a wonderful movie but on the DVD that I bought the sound isn't in sync with the actors lips but is a little bit ahead of them. However, It's a Wonderful Life gets five stars; there are no problems with that DVD.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alltime favorites, August 25, 2008

By	Ronald Lanham Jr. "Redneck Animator" (Saraland, AL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have always loved Christmas specials and movies. For years I was at the mercy of the program directors of the networks to show these classics (and hope that they didn't show the God-awful colorized versions). These are truly endearing. In this day and age of reality tv and low-grade morons trying to get famous by doing stupid, nasty things, these classics may appear to be sappy and lame. However I think that sometimes we need movies with a happy ending, no foul language and no idiotic people doing stupid things, simply to clean the palette and maybe to remember how far we have fallen as a culture.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a true classic... evey collection needs this one!, December 24, 2002

By	Jeff DiRusso (Portland, OR. USA) - See all my reviews

This the best of the classic holiday films... much like Christmas Vacation... your true holiday spirit will bubble through as you watch this again and again. This a great story of faith & love...its a story for all ages as well. Jimmy Stewart is great.