Bankers and Common Men in Bedford Falls: How the FBI Determined That "It's a Wonderful Life" Was a Subversive Movie

Surveys the critical and popular response to the release of director Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" in 1946, noting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) found a "malignant undercurrent" in the film. Lists the FBI's three criteria for determining the subversiveness of a movie, and notes how they were applied to "It's a Wonderful Life," citing economic and class issues and the specific criticism of the banker and his business practices. Considers the FBI's transmission of its findings to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and speculates on the reasons the film and its writers were never publicly branded as Communists. Finds that the FBI's evaluation still is important for its "exposure of domestic tensions" in the postwar era. Includes notes.