Amazon is under fire for cutting out an important scene in It’s a Wonderful Life, a favorite Christmas story since it opened in 1946. Amazon shortened it to an hour and lost most of the impact.
The hit film follows the life of businessman and banker George Bailey. Amazon dropped the Pottersville scene where George wishes he had never been born. His guardian angel steps in to remind him he needs to earn his “angel wings.” The angel, Clarence, shows George all he has done with his life. His town would have been run down, with people out of work, his wife a spinster, and his children never born. His many good deeds led to wonderful accomplishments.
George realizes he has a wonderful life and no longer thinks he’d be better off dead. It was the point of the film, and they took it out.
Copyright Problem?
Jonathan Turley said they might consider the film too dark, or it could be an ongoing copyright issue. Amazon still offers the full movie as an alternative.
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The film is in the public domain because Republic Film (which purchased the rights after RKO sold it to Liberty Films, which was then taken over by Paramount) failed to renew its copyright in 1974. It was an apparent glitch.
There is a dispute that goes back to the original short story by Philip Van Doren Stern, who penned the short story The Greatest Gift. While the film itself has a lapsed copyright, Stern renewed his copyright in 1971 for an additional 28 years (Congress then extended expiration dates under the Copyright Act of 1976 until 2038).
Turley believes the copyrights shouldn’t go on endlessly, but Congress partners in these extensions.
This is the scene where none of his good deeds are accomplished, and the angel has him live through the results. They cut the fantasy out of the fantasy drama.
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