20 Things You Didn't Know About It's A Wonderful Life

Being a film which is over seventy years old and is now regarded as one of the greatest movies ever, it’s alien to think that It’s A Wonderful Life was a significant box office failure upon its initial release.

The expenses of production cost $3.7 million, mostly funded by director Frank Capra himself, and after its first theatrical release, it only earned £3.3 million, causing Capra to be in severe debt. He would eventually make up for the cost in his next project State of the Union (1948).

Critics didn’t like the film, claiming the sentimentality was weak. Furthermore, although it was nominated for five Academy Awards at the Oscars, it didn’t go on to win any of them. And even the FBI gave it a mark of disapproval, who deemed it communist propaganda for its populist themes and bad portrayal of city bankers.

It’s A Wonderful Life wouldn’t gain its iconic status until decades later in the 1970s. Because of a clerical error at the National Telefilm Associates (NTA) office, the copyright was not renewed when it expired in 1974. It became public domain, meaning anyone who could obtain a print could broadcast it without paying any royalties. Local stations aired it frequently between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. In the 1990s, after a series of court battles, the NTA's successor, Republic Pictures, re-acquired the rights to the film because they owned the original source material and the film's score, which were still copyrighted.

The lapse in copyright was a blessing in disguise as the 'lost' film shortly became a beloved classic.