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Category: Christmas

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

How “It’s a Wonderful Life” Almost Never Happened

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Elizabeth Brown is a reference librarian in the Researcher and Reference Services Division. This article appears in the Library of Congress Magzine, Nov.-Dec. 2022. Perhaps the most beloved Christmas film of all time got its start during a morning shave. Philip Van Doren Stern, while getting ready for work one day in 1938, had an …