the red hook
JOE FERRIS WAY - PAGE 7
STAR REVUE
DECEMBER 2021
FREE INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM
Seventy-Five Years Later, How Wonderful is "It’s a Wonderful Life"
A
by Dante A. Ciampaglia
rt that endures is art that evolves, that speaks to us across time and experience, that fully reveals itself only when we mature into its sensibilities. As Anthony Lane wrote in 2012, “The Portrait of a Lady that I read in my late teens bears the scantest relation to The Portrait of a Lady that I read today.” A book that was at first “a serene, rather aristocratic affair” became, in his middle age, “funnier, still sharp with the Jane Austen-like tartness of its predecessor, Washington Square, but it’s more than that. It’s a horror story.” This seeing with different eyes is something many of us can relate to. New doorways to secret rooms open each time I read The Great Gatsby. New revelations manifest each time I visit Giovanni di Paolo’s 1445 painting “The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise” at the Met. New
screwball absurdity bubbles to the surface each time I watch My Man Godfrey.
I expect, when revisiting my favorite books, paintings, and films, that they’ll reveal some new facet. Major, minor, doesn’t matter. A far rarer experience is returning to a work I don’t feel particularly attached to and finding it has aged into something radically different — which is what happened when I watched It’s a Wonderful Life, which turns 75 this year, for the first time in years.
By now the particulars of this wellworn story. directed by Frank Capra, should be well known. But as a refresher: Hard-luck George Bailey ( James Stewart) can’t seem to break out of sleepy little Bedford Falls. He dreams
James Stewart, Donna Reed, Carol Coombs, Karolyn Grimes, and Jimmy Hawkins.
of going to college and doing great things, but one disaster after another keeps him homebound: His father dies, leaving him in charge of the Bailey Building and Loan. His brother goes to college and returns with a wife and job, keeping George in town. He marries Mary (Donna Reed), who loves him unreservedly despite his often harsh attitude, but can’t go on a honeymoon because of the Depression. They have four kids and George helps build
A talk with District 38 Council Member-Elect Alexa Aviles by Brian Abate
BA: Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Is it all right if I jump right in? AA: Yes, of course, I’m happy to. Go for it! BA: You went to Somos, the annual political conference that takes place in Puerto Rico. Did you make some good connections? AA: It’s a good question. Somos is a very interesting gathering. You know, when I was there, I did not meet with lobbyists and
or other special interests... I really saw it as more of an opportunity to connect with my colleagues who will be will be either in government soon enough like me or were working in government already. I viewed it as an opportunity to spend time with the people I will be working with. So one of the things I could think of that was distinctive was I organized, in collaboration with a few others, our own panel highlighting front-line organiza-
tions in Puerto Rico that were doing really critical work for the people on the island, given their very difficult conditions. BA: A question that has come up with others was how did it end up getting paid for? AA: No no, it’s a good question. I paid for my trip personally. BA: A big issue is land use. Gowanus, our neighbor has just approved a rezoning al-
(continued on page 5)
starter homes for many of his neighbors, incurring the ire of local wealthy banking caricature Potter (Lionel Barrymore), who tries to break the Building and Loan, then George.
He gets his chance when hapless Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell), George’s business partner, misplaces $8,000 on Christmas Eve, leading to possible professional ruin and likely prison
(continued on page 10)
Build a Gingerbread house from scratch! introducing our new Arts & Crafts column with PS 676's Marie Heuston page 15