Editing It's a Wonderful Life (section)

===Background===
[[File:Capra-signed 1930s.jpg|thumb|upright|Director [[Frank Capra]]]]
The original story, "[[The Greatest Gift]]", was written by [[Philip Van Doren Stern]] in November 1939. After it was rejected by several publishers, he had it printed as a 24-page pamphlet and mailed to 200 family members and friends for Christmas 1943.<ref name="failed">Ervin, Kathleen A. [http://www.failuremag.com/arch_arts_its_a_wonderful_life.html "Some Kind of Wonderful"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207164140/http://www.failuremag.com/arch_arts_its_a_wonderful_life.html |date=February 7, 2009 }}. ''Failure Magazine'' (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2007.</ref>{{#tag:ref|It was not a true "Christmas card", but rather, a 24-page pamphlet.<ref>Cox 2003, pp. 29–31.</ref> |group=N}}<ref name=nj.com>{{cite news| last=Heyboer|first=Kelly| date=December 24, 2017| title=The surprising Jersey roots of 'It's a Wonderful Life'| url=http://www.nj.com/education/2017/12/the_surprising_jersey_roots_of_its_a_wonderful_lif.html| newspaper=[[The Star-Ledger]]| location=Newark| access-date=December 25, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224214748/http://www.nj.com/education/2017/12/the_surprising_jersey_roots_of_its_a_wonderful_lif.html| archive-date=December 24, 2017| url-status=usurped}}</ref> The story came to the attention of either [[Cary Grant]] or RKO producer David Hempstead, who showed it to Grant's agent. In April 1944, [[RKO Pictures]] bought the rights to the story for $10,000, hoping to turn it into a vehicle for Grant.<ref>{{cite news| title=Tempest in Hollywood| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/04/23/archives/tempest-in-hollywood-divergent-political-philosophies-cause.html?searchResultPosition=7| first=Fred| last=Stanley| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=April 23, 1944| page=X3| url-access=subscription}}</ref>

[[Dalton Trumbo]], [[Clifford Odets]], and [[Marc Connelly]] each worked on versions of the screenplay before RKO shelved the project. In Trumbo's draft, George Bailey is an idealistic politician who grows more cynical as the story progresses, then tries to end his life after losing an election. The angel shows him Bedford Falls not as it would be if he had never been born, but if he had gone into business instead of politics.<ref>{{cite journal |first=John A.| last=Noakes |author-link=John A. Noakes |title=Bankers and Common Men in Bedford Falls: How the FBI Determined That "It's a Wonderful Life" Was a Subversive Movie |journal=[[Film History (journal)|Film History]] |year=1998 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |location=[[Bloomington, Indiana]] |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=311–319 |jstor=3815225}} Also in {{cite book |chapter=Bankers and common men in Bedford Falls |title=Film History, Volume 10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXlRAQAAIAAJ |year=1998 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LXlRAQAAIAAJ&q=%22having+lost+an+election+for+governor,+George+finds+himself+on+a+bridge+in+his+hometown+contemplating+suicide+and+wishing+that+he+had+gone+into+business+instead+of+politics+His+guardian+angel+saves+him+and+shows+how+different+the+world%22 315]}}</ref> Grant went on to make another Christmas movie staple, ''[[The Bishop's Wife]]''.{{#tag:ref|The project went through many hands, including Howard Hughes', who reportedly was interested.<ref name="capra">Weems, Eric. [http://www.eeweems.com/capra/_wonderful_life.html "Frank Capra online"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119035038/http://www.eeweems.com/capra/_wonderful_life.html |date=January 19, 2013}}. Retrieved June 2, 2007.</ref>|group=N}}<ref>Cox 2003, p. 26.</ref>

RKO studio chief [[Charles Koerner]] urged Frank Capra to read "The Greatest Gift". Capra's new production company, [[Liberty Films]], had a nine-film distribution agreement with RKO. Capra immediately saw its potential, and wanted it for his first Hollywood film after making documentaries and training films during the war. RKO sold Capra the rights for $10,000 and threw in the three earlier scripts for free. (Capra claimed the rights and the scripts cost him $50,000.)<ref>Capra 1971, p. 376.</ref><ref name="failed"/><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a30117820/its-a-wonderful-life-flop-frank-capra/| title=It's a Wonderful Life has a dark backstory that no-one really mentions| website=[[Digital Spy]]| date=December 19, 2022}}</ref> Capra salvaged a few scenes from Odets' earlier screenplay<ref>{{cite book| last1=Capra| first1=Frank| last2=Pogue| first2=Leland| title=Frank Capra: Interviews| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_-o2HI26KIC&q=%22greatest+gift%22| publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi| year=2004| page=29| isbn=978-1-5780-6617-9}}</ref> and worked with writers [[Frances Goodrich]] and [[Albert Hackett]], [[Jo Swerling]], [[Michael Wilson (writer)|Michael Wilson]], and [[Dorothy Parker]] (brought in to "polish" the script),<ref>Cox 2003, p. 23.</ref> on many drafts of the screenplay.

It was not a harmonious collaboration. Goodrich called Capra "that horrid man" and recalled, "He couldn't wait to get writing it himself." Her husband, Albert Hackett, said, "We told him what we were going to do, and he said 'That sounds fine.' We were trying to move the story along and work it out, and then somebody told us that [Capra] and Jo Swerling were working on it together, and that sort of took the guts out of it. Jo Swerling was a very close friend of ours, and when we heard he was doing this we felt rather bad about it. We were getting near the end and word came that Capra wanted to know how soon we'd be finished. So my wife said, 'We're finished right now.' We quickly wrote out the last scene and we never saw him again after that. He's a very arrogant son of a bitch."<ref name="McBride">{{cite book| last=McBride| first=Joseph| title=Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DMkLpTFBEtUC&q=%22arrogant+son+of+a+bitch%22| publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi| page=513| date=June 2, 2011| isbn=978-1-6047-3839-1| access-date=December 8, 2024}}</ref>

Later, a dispute ensued over the writing credits. The final screenplay, renamed by Capra ''It's a Wonderful Life'',<ref name="failed"/><ref>Goodrich et al. 1986, pp. 135, 200.</ref> was credited to Goodrich, Hackett, and Capra, with "additional scenes" by Jo Swerling. Capra said, "The Screen Writers' Arbitration committee decided that Hackett and Goodrich and I should get the credit for the writing. Jo Swerling hasn't talked to me since. That was five years ago."<ref name="McBride"/>

Some in [[Seneca Falls (village), New York|Seneca Falls, New York]], believe Capra was inspired to model Bedford Falls after the town following a visit in 1945. The town has an annual "It's a Wonderful Life Festival" on the second weekend in December.<ref>McDonald, Joan Barone (November 16, 2008). [http://www.buffalonews.com/lifearts/travel/story/495003.html "Seneca Falls: It's a 'Wonderful' town"]. ''[[The Buffalo News]]''. Retrieved December 29, 2008.</ref> On December 10, 2010, the "It's a Wonderful Life" Museum opened in Seneca Falls, with Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu in the movie, cutting the ribbon.<ref>Pacheco, Manny. [http://www.redroom.com/blog/raideoman1/its-a-wonderful-life-museum-opens "It's a Wonderful Life Museum opens"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122002735/http://www.redroom.com/blog/raideoman1/its-a-wonderful-life-museum-opens |date=January 22, 2011 }}. ''redroom.com'', December 11, 2010. Retrieved December 23, 2010.</ref> However, film historian [[Jeanine Basinger]], curator of the Frank Capra archives at Wesleyan University and author of ''The 'It's A Wonderful Life' Book'', has said no evidence exists for Seneca Falls' claim. "I have been through every piece of paper in Frank Capra's diaries, his archives, everything. There's no evidence of any sort whatsoever to support this. That doesn't mean it isn't true, but no one is ever going to prove it." Basinger said that Capra always described Bedford Falls as an "Everytown".<ref>Gammage, Jeff (September 27, 1998). "For Seneca Falls, It's Hollywood or Bust." ''Philadelphia Inquirer.'' A3.</ref>

Philip Van Doren Stern said in a 1946 interview, "Incidentally, the movie takes place in [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]]. Actually, the town I had in mind was [[Califon, N.J.]]" The [[historic iron bridge]] in Califon is similar to the bridge that George Bailey considered jumping from in the movie.<ref name=nj.com />