Disillusioned with everything in his life and overburdened with problems, including a missing $8000 loan, George Bailey decides to commit suicide on Christmas Eve in his home town of Bedford Falls. As he is about to jump from a bridge he is saved by his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence takes him around the town, showing him what people really think of him and how their lives would be changed if George was no longer around and how the town would be if George hadn't contributed so much care and attention over the years. Can he persuade George that life is really worth living and that he should return to his family. A shamelessly manipulative piece of schmaltz, and wonderful with it, the very definition of the term 'Capraesque'. Unashamedly sentimental the casting is perfect with America's Everyman, James Stewart, as George Bailey, a genuinely good man going through a spell of bad luck, losing a vital load and suffering at the hands of the local mogul, Mr. Potter. There's a serious message here about appreciating people and telling them they are loved and needed, and the Christmas setting only makes the lump in the throat get bigger and bigger. This pulls out your heartstrings and makes a macrame basket out of them!