Director Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life is a slightly religious/spiritual parable about a man (played by Jimmy Stewart) who is forced by an angel, at the moment of his Christmas Eve suicide attempt, to reflect upon what he sees as a failed and relatively inconsequential life. The angel (Clarence, played by Henry Travers) convinces him, through flashbacks, that the effect he's had on the people around him, including his wife (played by Donna Reed), his brother (played by Todd Karns) and the entire town, is in fact huge, and that the world would be a much worse place without him.
Although the film didn't take home any Oscars in 1946, it was nominated for five, and eventually went on to be recognized as one of the 100 Best American Films Ever Made by the American Film Institute, also garnering the number one spot on the list of most inspirational American films.
Dec. 24, 7:30 p.m., Mocha Maya's Coffee House, 47 Bridge St., Shelburne Falls, (413) 625-6592.
