It's a Wonderful Life compared to Field of Dreams | Eastern North Carolina Now

     Wyatt Sanderman Day (RIP) wrote a movie review of  "It's a Wonderful Life"  (See that review here)  staring Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart.  Stan and I had a good exchange in the comment section. Occassionally the comment section helps to expand an article with additional interaction.  In this case the comments compared the movie Field of Dreams with It's a Wonderful Life. Stan suggested that I turn the exchange into a post which will make it searchable using the BCN search function.  It will also show up as an article under my Profile articles.

   Beautiful analogy Bobby Tony: This would make an outstanding post. Ray sounds a lot like Abraham doesn't he, or: Was it Noah? Maybe, it was Moses. In other words: "Nothing worthwhile was accomplished without a great deal of enthusiasm", and a little prodding.Now, I am prodding you, because your last comment was one of the most inciteful that I have ever read on BCN, and you have written many that were. (Stan)

   Bobby Tony: A must watch every Christmas, along with Christmas Story. There are still places like Bedford Falls and people like George Bailey, but apparently Hollywood does not have any more Frank Capras. 

   Wyatt's unique perspective and delivery will continue to inform and uplift though he has passed to his reward. Thanks for re-posting.

    Stan: God Bless Wyatt's soul and praise the Lord that goodness finds its way into our hearts.

 Bobby Tony:Here is an excerpt from Roger Ebert's belated review in 1999. I particularly like the last line by Frank. 

   "The best and worst things that ever happened to "It's a Wonderful Life" are that it fell out of copyright protection and into the shadowy no-man's-land of the public domain."

   "That was the best thing that happened to "It's a Wonderful Life," bringing cheer into the lives of director Frank Capra and star James Stewart, who both consider it their favorite film. The worst thing--which has inspired Stewart to testify before a congressional committee and Capra to issue a sickbed plea--is that the movie has been colorized. Movies in the public domain are so defenseless that you could cut one up to make ukulele picks, and who could legally prevent you? And so a garish colorized version--destroying the purity of the classic original black-and-white images--has been seen on cable, is available for local syndication and is sold on cassette."

"It's a Wonderful Life" did little for Frank Capra's postwar career...At a seminar with some film students in the 1970s he was asked if there were still a way to make movies about the kinds of values and ideals found in the Capra films.

"Well, if there isn't," he said, "we might as well give up."   www.rogerebert.com

   Stan: Thank-you Bobby Tony for these ongoing nuggets of real information.

   "It's a Wonderful Life" is one of those films that exceeded the cinematic limits of its times, and a great film was made. This happened many times in that era, when film was in its infancy, and not many from that era, spanning decades, just could did not pass the test of time because of those limitations.

   "It's a Wonderful Life" is so wonderful, and it delivers just what Director Capra wanted - goodness expressed as a way of living.

   Having said all of this about the cinematic limits of the times - Beginning with "Gone with the Wind" and "Wizard of Oz", both from 1939, there began some great films that do pass muster as great classics.

   Even in the 1970's, when there were so many really poorly made films, by today's standards, and yet, both "Godfather" classics were made in the 1970's.

   Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart are wise to consider "It's a Wonderful Life" a golden expression of a beautiful story.

Bobby Tony: Another one is Field of Dreams (1989) which is almost 30 years old. If you can just suspend belief for a couple of hours wondrous things can happen.

   I just saw a replay of the 25th anniversary show where Bob Costas interviews Kevin Costner in 2014. Somewhere in the show Kevin relates an encounter between a critic and director Phil Alden Robinson.

   My paraphrase of the exchange is "A critic says somewhat smugly "You do realize that Shoeless Joe Jackson batted left-handed and Ray Liotta bats right-handed in the movie?"

   Phil replied in a way that could only put us congenital fact checkers in our place.

   "If I can convince just a part of the audience that dead baseball players can come back to life, I think they will forgive which side of the plate he batted from!"
   Cha-Ching!!!

   If you can find the whole show it is well worth watching. Here is a clip courtesy of the Video Search on BCN. 
beaufortcountynow.com

    Stan: "Field of Dreams" was such a successful film that it spawned the phrase that I heard far too often from far too many many ridiculous moderates /liberals in nearly all my years as a county commissioner - "If we build it, they will come". This infamous and silly cliche rang hollow so often, and believe me, I did my best to convey my belief, and yet, they kept saying it over and over so much that the phrase for this county commissioner that it became the next: "Can't you just do it for the children" for me.

   Yes, "Field of Dreams" worked as a film, and, therefore, well worked its way into the American lexicon to my continual distraction.

   Bobby Tony:  I may be at the risk of over analyzing the distinction. Ray built the baseball field not know why, and travelled to Boston not knowing why, eventually finding himself in Minnesota not knowing why. He picked up a stranger only to find that the stranger had the same name he thought he heard at Fenway Park. When he returned no one in his hometown thought he was sane. He sounds like a Democrat.

   They did eventually come and everyone came from miles around to see the ghost play. Now here is the distinction. He did all this with his own money. He did not build the park on his neighbor's farm. He did not appropriate the funds from his neighbors. He may sound like a Democrat but he acted like a Republican Capitalist.

   If he followed Terrance Mann's advice, his investment was rewarded:

   "Of course, we won't mind if you look around," you'll say. "It's only twenty dollars per person." They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it. For it is money they have and peace they lack.

   Perhaps there is another distinction. Like Frank Capra illustrated in Mr. Smith and A Wonderful Life, the determination is based on the faith on one person and not the collective imagination of the whole crowd. If I do say so myself, that's not bad for an early morning (thought not as early as the publisher -see 2:41 AM in his comment) two coffee psychoanalysis of a work of fiction. Others can feel free to shoot holes into my explanation of a work of fiction and fantasy. After all most of us are not switch hitters who can bat both from the left and the right.

   This comment is not the first time I have over analyzed this movie:    beaufortcountynow.com

   Does anyone know where we can go to find some peace of mind and maybe watch a game or two?