A Very Merry Political Films Meet-Up: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Political Films Meet-Up: It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

Let’s talk about movies! Join movie club member Clay Vaughn for a very special meet-up discussing the joy, and the politics, of Frank Capra's beloved holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life, starring the legendary Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey of Bedford Falls.

Here’s how The Portland Movie Club meet-ups work:
Just like a book club, we watch the movie on our own time before we meet.

We'll meet at Lucky Lab on SE Hawthorne at 4pm on the scheduled date.

We'll typically have a sign at our table(s) but at least we'll try to be obvious and identifiable.

Grab some food and drinks to support our generous hosts and spend some time socializing and discussing this movie with us.

A Few Notes about the film:
It's a Wonderful Life was the first feature directed by Frank Capra after his service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in WWII, for which he made a series of propaganda films shown to soldiers and the general public. Although it's known today as a heart-warming holiday classic, upon its release some suspected the film to be clandestine communist propaganda, which prompted the FBI to investigate the filmmakers.

Viewing Options for the film:
For streaming, the film is available for free on Amazon Prime, Hulu, Plex, YouTube, AppleTV, and others. There are also several copies available to rent from Movie Madness. And as of the moment I'm posting this there are still tickets available to see the film at 3pm on Saturday 12/20 at the Hollywood Theatre.

About the Political Films group:
This series is based on the New Republic article, "The 100 Most Significant Political Films of All Time" ([https://newrepublic.com/article/173376/100-political-films-new-republic-list] published in June 2023 and is a comprehensive list of films that speak to our relationships with government, war, bureaucracy, politics and politicians, crime, propaganda, classism, and more. The list is not intended to be a collection of the 'best' films, but the most significant (although many of them are also very good). Some of these films can be a challenging watch, I'd suggest www.doesthedogdie.com for content warnings.

Tips:
Once again, we do not watch the movie at the meet-up. All members watch the movie on their own time before we meet to discuss it. You don't have to watch the movie to join us, but it'll be more fun if you do.

Some people like to take notes or find books and articles related to the film and its subject matter, feel free to bring those things along if there's something you'd like to share with the group.

At the end of the discussion we'll pass around a ballot where we can vote on a slate of options for the next discussion. Lately we've been alternating documentaries and fiction films. So if you come to a meet-up to discuss a documentary, you'll vote on a ballot of fiction films for next time, and vice versa.

Previous films discussed in the Political Films group have included: Reds, Soundtrack to a Coup D'État, The Conformist, The Fog of War, The Zone of Interest, Harlan County USA, Judas And The Black Messiah, Medium Cool, The President’s Analyst, Marat/Sade, On The Waterfront, The Great McGinty, Seven Days In May, The Candidate, The Act of Killing, The Battle Of Algiers, All The President’s Men, How To Blow Up A Pipeline, Do The Right Thing, Malcolm X, A Face In The Crowd, and Dr. Strangelove.

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