It's a Wonderful Life

Factual error: In the drugstore scene where Mary whispers in George's bad ear, there are several shots showing a Coca-Cola thermometer on the wall where George hangs his jacket. This particular scene was to have taken place in 1919, but this particular thermometer wasn't produced until 1939.

Factual error: In the closing scene Ernie the cab driver is wearing a military shirt with an Air Force insignia on the sleeve, but we were told earlier that Ernie parachuted into France. His shirt should have had a different patch.

Factual error: Since it's cold and snowing throughout most of the movie, how come you never see the people's breath? This is because when they filmed these parts, it was very hot outside, but it's still a mistake.

sdgirl98

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Seeing a person's breath is not entirely dependent on how cold it is, but rather how much or how little humidity there is in the air.

Seeing your breath is based on how cold it is, however, with high enough relative humidity, you're able to see your breath in warmer temperatures. If it's cold enough to snow, it's cold enough to see your breath, regardless of what the humidity is.

Bishop73

Factual error: When Clarence picks up his copy of "Tom Sawyer" to see if it is dry, the book is in perfect condition, despite their clothes being soaked. The pages of book that had been soaked in water would been swollen and wrinkled, and many pages would very likely have stuck together as the book dried.

Other mistake: Clarence tells George that his brother died at the age of 9 because he wasn't there to save him from falling through the ice, but when you see the tomb stone, it shows Harry Bailey was born in 1911 and died in 1919. That would make Harry only 7 or 8 years old.

More mistakes in It's a Wonderful Life

Mary: Bread, that this house may never know hunger. Salt, that life may always have flavor. And wine, that joy and prosperity may reign forever.

More quotes from It's a Wonderful Life

Trivia: During the scene where a drunken Uncle Billy walks home, a loud crashing sound is heard. The crashing sound was due to a crew member dropping a large tray of props. Thomas Mitchell quickly ad-libbed the line that he was all right. The crew member who dropped the tray was afraid he would be fired but instead director Frank Capra gave the crewman a ten dollar bonus for "improving the sound."

More trivia for It's a Wonderful Life

Question: Does anyone know if the film has ever been released in colour and if it has was it ever as successful as the black and white version?

Answer: There is a DVD with colour and black and white.

Answer: There have been three colorized versions of the film. Determining whether the colorized version or the original black and white film is more successful is difficult. The original B&W film, released in theaters in 1946, flopped at the box office and the studio lost money. It was only after it started being shown on TV (in B&W) decades later that it became popular. The first colorized version came out in the early 1980s and was released on VHS. Most sales would have been the colorized version, so in that respect, it could be considered more successful. The B&W version is available on DVD.

raywest

Answer: There are two colourised versions. See for more information.

jle

More questions & answers from It's a Wonderful Life

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