None of the above mentioned Oscar winners are getting any official recognition of their 75th anniversary, but the big loser of that night is seeing Paramount Home Entertainment release a lavish Blu-ray commemorating the occasion with both the restored original version and a, ahem, colorized edition of the black-and-white classic included, plus with them you get a series of collectible cards and detailed recipes for each item on the menu of “Bailey Family Holiday Recipes” (Pastry Snails, “He’s Bats” Minestrone, Home Blessing Salad, Corn Muffins, Glazed Holiday Ham, Classic Holiday Roast Turkey, Clarence’s Angel Food Cake, Vanilla Moonbeam Pies, Homemade Eggnog, Mama and Papa Dollar cocktails).įurther proof of it being the only 1946 Best Picture nominee still generating major merchandising opportunities: there is a new book out for the anniversary, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Official Bailey Family Cookbook. Alas, it was not a “wonderful” evening for It’s A Wonderful Life. But Capra’s masterpiece would have the last laugh. And the fifth Best Pic nominee, Henry V, won an Honorary Oscar for its star, director and producer Laurence Olivier. The Yearling took a child Oscar for Claude Jarman and Color Cinematography. The Razor’s Edge landed Anne Baxter the Supporting Actress win. The Best Years of Our Lives took Best Picture and six other competitive wins plus an honorary award for co-star Harold Russell, who also won for Best Supporting Actor. In fact, it was the only one of the five Best Picture nominees to receive zero wins on that night. However, Oscar night (March 13, 1947) was not kind to the film, the Christmas spirit of giving it any gifts of awards long past. It was only many years later, thanks largely to television, that it found its true audience and now, quite frankly, it has outlived just about every other film released that year, or even most of the movies of that decade.Ĭritics warmed to it at the time, some predicting major Oscar attention indeed, it did wind up with five nominations from the Academy including Best Picture, Actor for Stewart, director for Frank Capra (who considered it his favorite of all his films), Sound and Editing.

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It's a wonderful life