re: Annual reminder that Mary Bailey is the greatest wife in history

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No idea where you are getting that but that’s not correct at all. She’s been in multiple movies before this. This was six years into her career.

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You are correct Sir. I have no idea who I am confusing her with at the moment, but there is no excuse for a mistake like that.

Bump for Christmas

I still think Georgie Porgy might've gone down to Pottersville with Violet Blick.

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- puts up with George's "I want out of this crummy little town" bullshite for years.
- saves George in a pinch during a Great Depression bank run by selflessly using their honeymoon money to bail out the Building & Loan.
- gets George's friends to help her fix up the Sycamore house for their wedding night.
- works on remodeling the Sycamore house by herself while simultaneously raising their children while George grinds away at the office.
- volunteers to help the war effort, running the local branch of the USO and giving coffee and sandwiches to GI's at the train station.
- gives housewarming gifts to new home owners when they move into Bailey Park.
- never once thinks or talks about the life she passed up by not marrying Sam Wainwright.
- when George has his breakdown and leaves the house in anger, SHE is the one who kick-starts and spearhead the fundraising campaign in town that saves the Building & Loan.

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Not to mention she's beautiful.

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Mary was an anchor who only wanted George and the small town life.

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Harry stuck him with the B&L by getting married and taking another job, instead of running the family business so George could go to college.

There's a great story from the set of IAWL where Lionel Barrymore liked Donna Reed but didn't believe her Iowa farm girl shtick given how elegant and beautiful she was. There was a dairy cow on set, so he bet her $50 she couldn't milk it. She walked right over and started milking it, then walked back over to LB and said "easiest $50 I ever made."

The other is that she actually did break the window in the scene where she and George are throwing rocks at the old house.

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In the iconic scene of It’s a Wonderful Life where Mary and George walk home from the dance together, the two throw rocks through the windows of an old house and make wishes. Capra originally hired a marksman to shoot the window out (instead of making Donna Reed hit the window). But no marksman was needed; the cast and crew were amazed when Reed broke the window by throwing the rock herself. The Iowa girl had a trick up her sleeve (and a strong arm in that sleeve): Reed was a baseball player back in high school.

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This thread inspired me to watch IAWL for the first time - I feel like it met the hype.

Mary was a dime piece for sure.

George should have accepted Potter's $20k offer and just hired Mary to run the Building and Loan for him - as the Executive Agent he could hire whoever he wanted on to the payroll.

The real victim in the movie is Mr. Welsh. He was probably justified in punching George for telling off his wife but will be the town villain for being the guy that beat up the drunk, depressed town hero. Plus, he will never be able to grab a martini after work for the rest of his life.

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Mary was a dime piece for sure.

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Walking around in a robe with nothing on underneath in that day and age? She new she had to step it up to get George with Violet Big shaking dat arse on the streets of Bedford Falls. Love that woman!!

All that and hot AF