The Story No One Wanted
“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”
You and I may not have a lot in common, but I’m guessing you (as well as I) know exactly where that quote comes from.
It’s spoken by Zuzu Bailey at the end of It’s A Wonderful Life, the seminal Christmas classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed that premiered on this day back in 1946. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, it’s hard to imagine the holiday season without George Bailey or Clarence, the Building and Loan or Mr. Potter.
And yet did you know that, for the longest time, it was a story no one wanted to hear?
One morning in 1938, while preparing for work, author and editor Philip Van Doren Stern came up with the idea of a stranger saving a husband and father from a suicide attempt on Christmas Eve. In the story, this mysterious stranger would restore the man’s joy of living by helping him realize his value to others.
He started writing the story in 1939 and, after several drafts, submitted it to his agent with the title “The Greatest Gift.” The agent, in turn, submitted it to publishers.
They all hated it.
Now, as a writer, I know the sting of rejection, how it can make you doubt, not only your story’s worth but your own. When the dismissals roll in, it can be tempting to shelve a manuscript, deciding its publication simply wasn’t meant to be.
That wasn’t the case for Stern, though. Stern believed in his little book, even when no one else did. Refusing to take no for an answer, he decided to print his story as a 21-page Christmas card and send it to 200 of his friends in 1943. Two of those cards ended up at the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress. Another wound up in the hands of an RKO Pictures producer, who convinced the studio to buy the rights to the story, hoping to use it as vehicle for their biggest star, Cary Grant.
It didn’t work out. (Though it’s highly likely Stern was no longer complaining–the story was eventually published as a book in 1944 as well as in Good Housekeeping, which published it in its January 1945 issue under the title “The Man Who Was Never Born”).
Unable to produce a workable script, RKO sold the rights for the story to Frank Capra’s production company, Liberty Films. Under Capra’s direction, Stern’s story received new life–a new script, a new star (Jimmy Stewart), and a new title. The film finished production and was released on December 20, 1946.
Despite earning five Oscar nominations, “It’s A Wonderful Life” was not a commercial success. Liberty Films soon went belly up and, in 1948, Capra sold the production company to Paramount, which now legally owned the rights to the film.
Not that Paramount really wanted it. According to lore, it sat in a box on a dusty shelf, with neither audiences nor Paramount Executives really giving the film much thought.
Until 1974.
That year, National Telefilm Associates failed to renew the movie’s copyright. With no royalty fees required, TV stations aired the film repeatedly, and suddenly the lost gem of “It’s A Wonderful Life” started to gain traction–and viewers. It wasn’t long before it became a Christmas favorite–one of the first “cult classics.”
From a rejected manuscript to a forgotten film to a beloved holiday staple, “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a lesson in perseverance and the power of how a good story–like a good friend–can touch the hearts of many, no matter how many obstacles lay in the way.
