16. George Praying In The Bar - It's A Wonderful Life
A brief history lesson: Jimmy Stewart served as a brigadier general in the US Army, making him the second highest ranking actor in history (he was outranked only by Ronald Reagan, who as president served as Commander-in-Chief). But the war took an emotional toll on the actor, and when he returned home he was reluctant to take on the sort of light-hearted roles that had defined both his and Frank Capra's career up to that point. He chose to do It's a Wonderful Life for his first film after the war, and his clearly fragile emotional state helped create one of the most poignant scenes in the holiday classic. There's a scene when George Bailey is depressed at a bar, devastated by the loss of his bank's money and profoundly disappointed in the way his life had turned out, and begins to pray. His emotions get the better of him, and you can see the actor start to cry. Frank Capra was so affected by his performance that he reframed the shot to get a closer look at Stewart's ravaged face. His haunting portrayal of a man feeling so hopeless that he was driven to suicide is one of the reasons why this film is so beloved, and nowhere is his performance more vivid and evocative than in this scene.
Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.
