It's a Wonderful Life 80th Anniversary Screening

The Electric Palace Cinema is bringing back It's a Wonderful Life this December, and this time it's for the film's 80th anniversary. Frank Capra's 1946 classic stars James Stewart as George Bailey, the owner of a building and loan company in the town of Bedford Falls. He spends his days helping his neighbours get on their feet and chase their dreams, but one Christmas, calamity after calamity strikes, and he reaches a breaking point, convinced that everyone would have been better off if he'd never been born. A heavenly messenger then arrives to show him exactly what the world would have looked like without him.

The BFI calls it a modern parable that plumbs the depths so vividly that its vision of redemption proves persuasive. It's a film that doesn't shy away from the dark stuff before it finds its way back to the light, and that's a good part of why it still works. The Electric Palace screens it every year because they love it, and they describe it as sentimental, a little dark, but enormously heartwarming. It runs 131 minutes and is rated PG.

There are three screenings to choose from, so you can pick the one that fits your Christmas plans: Monday 21 December at 19:30, Wednesday 23 December at 11:00, and Thursday 24 Christmas Eve at 19:30. It's a ticketed event, so you'll need to book your seat in advance.