Ladies and Gentleman I’ve solved one of the greatest mysteries of all time – how could It’s A Wonderful Life not have been a huge hit when released in 1946?
I’ve never understood why this classic needed a decade of constant play on television to become popular thirty years after it was made, but this weekend I stumbled upon the answer in the special features section of the collectors DVD - the original trailer…is terrible. Watching it puts this long debated mystery to rest, case closed, the marketing department is guilty of bad promotion.
The trailer is boring. It opens with a shout out to practically every cast member regardless of their importance as celebrities or characters – you know I love Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen and Ward Bond but, really, are Mrs. Bailey, Burt and Ernie instrumental enough to the plot to justify a trailer appearance? Why not add Mr. Potter’s man servant since we are throwing in the kitchen sink? Would any of them make you go hmmm…looks interesting a movie with a cop, a mother and a taxi driver included…come on. Then, after the cast roll-call, it goes in yet another direction alluding to a love triangle between Mary, George and Violet, but since there was no love triangle between them the footage they string together does not make sense at all.
If I was a moviegoer in 1946 I would have a better way of spending my 25 cents as well, so I am letting the greatest generation off the hook for this slip up and doing some finger pointing at the RKO marketing department. You all are darn lucky copyright expiration saved this film from the purgatory of films badly promoted.
I’ve never understood why this classic needed a decade of constant play on television to become popular thirty years after it was made, but this weekend I stumbled upon the answer in the special features section of the collectors DVD - the original trailer…is terrible. Watching it puts this long debated mystery to rest, case closed, the marketing department is guilty of bad promotion.
The trailer is boring. It opens with a shout out to practically every cast member regardless of their importance as celebrities or characters – you know I love Beulah Bondi, Frank Faylen and Ward Bond but, really, are Mrs. Bailey, Burt and Ernie instrumental enough to the plot to justify a trailer appearance? Why not add Mr. Potter’s man servant since we are throwing in the kitchen sink? Would any of them make you go hmmm…looks interesting a movie with a cop, a mother and a taxi driver included…come on. Then, after the cast roll-call, it goes in yet another direction alluding to a love triangle between Mary, George and Violet, but since there was no love triangle between them the footage they string together does not make sense at all.
If I was a moviegoer in 1946 I would have a better way of spending my 25 cents as well, so I am letting the greatest generation off the hook for this slip up and doing some finger pointing at the RKO marketing department. You all are darn lucky copyright expiration saved this film from the purgatory of films badly promoted.
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