Thursday, December 2, 2021

'It's a Wonderful Life' Returning-- Part 4: There's a Tear in My Eye

Jimmy Hawkins, who played 4-year-old Tommy Bailey, said people have come up to both of them and said that watching the film kept them from killing themselves.  It's message is about how important you are to those around you even if you don't think so.

And, even at the age 79, he said he feels like he's 4 all over again when he thinks about the movie.  "When people ask us questions about being on the set, you clock back into it," Hawkins said.  "It's so vivid.  It seems like a million years ago or just yesterday."

The movie itself is pretty dark on multiple levels, and Karolyn Grimes thinks people coming out of World War II, weren't quite ready for it yet.

Jimmy Stewart himself wasn't sure he wanted to even act again after flying naval planes over Germany but, as Hawkins said, actor Lionel Barrymore, who plays the miserly Mr. Potter, convinced Stewart to do it.

I don't know about you, but I have never been able to watch the movie's conclusion without getting a tear in my eye.

And remember, you can see the movie on NBC on December 4 and 24.

--Cooter


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