The Romance of It's A Wonderful Life

The Romantic clip above is from the movie It's A Wonderful Life. This 1946 classic was a regular fixture on American television each Christmas season during the 1980s. At Christmas it was not unusual during that decade for the movie to be playing every evening on several TV channels sometimes at once. The showing of the film was eventually reduced because of copyright laws, and today if the the film is shown at all, only NBC is licenced to present it once a year mainly on Christmas eve.

The idea for me to write this post was actually e-mailed to me by Ardent of Ardent Observations which came at a very timely time since this is the Christmas season and little did she know It's A Wonderful Life is one of my all time favorite films and Jimmy Stewart, who plays the main character, is one of my favorite old actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. During the heyday of its' frequent showings, I actually watched It's Wonderful Life at least 20 times. A few years ago I purchased the the film on VHS, but by that time I had overdosed on so many viewings of it on the tube, I actually have never viewed the video. It lies in storage with some of my other videos and DVDs. However, before New Year's has come and gone I hope to set aside time to watch it. And guess what?! Wonder of wonders, I have actually found the entire full length film online which can be watched here entirely free. But before watching it, get a taste by viewing the clip.

When It's A Wonderful Life was released, it was one of the few Capra films that was a box office flop. It was not until the 1980s that it actually became a Christmas cult favorite. I remember being hardly able to wait for each Christmas season to come so I could watch the movie over and over again. In the 1980s I had passed the age of waiting for Santa to bring me the latest neat toys, so It's Wonderful Life was the treat I anxiously waited to behold. The main character George Bailey stood for everything I believed in and still believe a person should be. He was generous, honest, and selfless. George Bailey grows up and lives his life in the small American town of Bedford Falls. It is a bittersweet tale with a shade of Dickens about a regular goodhearted guy with big dreams, but because of various unforseen circumstances, he cannot live out the life he plans. Nevertheless, his life impacts many people around him in a positive way over the years. It is only when George is about to toss it all alway that an angel from heaven is sent down because of the prayers of family and friends. The angel Clarence who is trying to earn his wings shows George what the world would be like it he had never been born. In the end, George comes to realize that despite the disappointments and setbacks, he is not a failure, but has actually had a "wonderful life."

There are many messages in It's A Wonderful Life which makes it still very relevant even today over 60 years after its' making. The importance of sincerity, family, community, giving, self sacrifice, are all messages that are as timeless as the reason for the season. George Bailey may not be or will ever become a rich man like the vindictive and dishonest Mr. Potter who is the town millionaire and who really cares for no one but himself and his riches, but George has more: a big heart. Today in a world where so many care only for themselves (even when they pretend not to), and when so many lack a word or transparency, It's Wonderful Life's message is one that is more important than ever. The qualities of George Bailey which I cited above is very much a part of the many qualities which I feel define a "Romantic:" uniqueness, uprightness, vision, selflessness, openness, imagination, courage.

Imperial Venus

Film is one source where Romance can be studied and emulated. I will start regularly posting here movies which I feel are the epitome of Romance. The honored first will be Imperial Venus which is a Franco-Italian endeavor produced in 1963. Its' original name is Venere Imperiale, and on this Italian link some photos and short information about the film are presented.

Imperial Venus starred Gina Lollobridgida (the second in the pair of Italian bombshells the other of whom was Sophia Loren) and Stephen Boyd, an Irish actor who is best remembered as Massala in the Academy Award winning Biblical epic Ben Hur. Imperial Venus is the story of Napoleon Bonaparte's younger and favorite sister Pauline. Pauline was one the great beauties of her day. She was also greatly known for her love affairs and extravagant, nonconformist behavior. Napoleon loved her dearly, but he like many men of his generation and culture believed in a double standard. He could conduct affairs, but he was scandalized by his sister's behavior and tried to get her to tone down and stop making so much noise.

Pauline was married twice. Being the rebel, she scandalized her second husband Camillo Borghese , an Italian prince, and society by having two nearly nude statues of herself made by the sculptor Antonio Canova.

Canova's stature of Pauline as Venus Victrix (Venus the Conqueror)

Unlike the other hanger-ons around Napoleon during his glory days which included his other brothers and sisters, Pauline turned out to be one of the few who stood by Napoleon after his downfall. She even stayed with him during his first exile on the island of Elba and helped to run his court there. Pauline died four years after Napoleon at the age of 44 of cancer, the same disease that carried him away. She was a mass of contradictions: beautiful, erotic, rebellious, selfish, generous, unfaithful, child-like, flamboyant, and loyal. She was a true Romantic.

Gina Lollobridgida plays Pauline in Imperial Venus. The movie is not an excellent film, but it has some unique moments and dialogue. The costuming is beautiful and authentic. The film begins in Marseille, France where Pauline and her family are living as poor Corsican exiles. Napoleon Bonaparte and his family were not French, but Corsicans whose first language was Italian. Pauline is already showing her rebellious, adventurous streak as a teenager which a mature Lollobrigida plays and tries hard to pull off. But enter Napoleon who already at 25 is a general in the French army. He has plans for France AND his entire family even though he is not the eldest. He usurps his elder brother Joseph's role as head of the family. A man whom Pauline wants to marry is deemed not good enough by Napoleon for his sister who must rise up along with the rest of the family to create the dynasty which Napoleon already envisions. The film stops just before Napoleon gets ready to go into his first exile on Elba. The final scene of the movie shows Pauline holding and comforting her elder brother, the once great Emperor of the French and master of Europe.

Imperial Venus was created in response to French and Italian audiences who viewed with distaste the New Wave movement in film in France and of the time. These people obviously had a Romantic spirit and did not really care for excessive, stark, and bleak realism. They loved refinement and escape, like myself.

Though not a Romantic masterpiece, Imperial Venus is escapism on a good level. I was able to locate it on Google Video last year and paid $3.99 to download it. I looked for it yesterday, but I could not find it. I loved the movie's score so much that I bought the soundtrack from Amazon. Click on this link to listen to excepts from the soundtrack.

Gina Lollobridgida is lovely as Pauline, and Stephen Boyd is handsome and playful as Jules de Canouville, her lover and an officer whom once again Napoleon does not allow her to marry.

Imperial Venus is well worth watching with someone you love.