Frank Capra’s first film after WWII was of the utmost importance to him—would audiences still accept what so many critics had labeled “Capra-corn?” In 1946, the answer was “no.” But then, a strange thing happened—television. Slowly, the film began to gain momentum. Then, in the seventies, when it fell into Public Domain, the sudden abundance of viewings, plus the availability on the new home video systems helped turn it into the American equivalent of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
