What's the Difference between The Greatest Gift the Book and It's a Wonderful Life the Movie?
| In the Book |
In the Movie |
George Pratt
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George Bailey
Portrayed by: James Stewart
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The Stranger
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Clarence
Portrayed by: Henry Travers
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Mary Thatcher
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Mary Hatch
Portrayed by: Donna Reed
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It's a Wonderful Life Book vs Movie
| In the Book |
In the Movie |
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The book starts with George Pratt getting ready to jump into the icy river to kill himself. |
The film starts with an angel sent to Earth to save George Bailey. The film shows George's life from a young boy; friendship with Mary, saving his brother's life, getting married and foregoing his honeymoon to save the Building and Loan and his plea to Mr. Potter for help prior to running away to kill himself. |
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George Pratt is considering jumping into the icy river to kill himself. The Stranger interrupts him and grants George's wish that he was never born. |
George Bailey runs away from his confrontation with Mr. Potter after losing $8000 of the Building and Loan's money. As his life insurance makes him worth more alive than dead, he considers jumping into the icy river. Clarence jumps in which prompts George to save him. Clarence grants George's wish that he was never born.
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After The Stranger grants George's wish to have never been born, he gives George a satchel with brushes to that he can pretend to be a salesman and not get doors slammed in his face. The Stranger disappears as soon as George turns his back. |
Clarence accompanies George back into town when they go to a bar. George sees that everyone has changed. |
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George sees the old tree on Hank Biddle's property that he had damaged with his car a while back. It is no longer damaged. |
George does not see his old Model T car that he had crashed into the tree on his way to kill himself. A man passing by tells him the tree is the oldest one in Pottersvile (the town is no longer Bedford Falls).
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As George passes the bank, he notices that it is dark and for sale. A real estate agent tells George that the bank building is for sale as Marty Jenkins had stolen $50,000 from the bank causing it to fail and nearly ruin the town. Marty got the bank job that George had in the original timeline. |
George sees that the building and loan was closed years ago (when his dad died) and the town has become a cesspool of gambling and prostitution run by Mr. Potter. |
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The real estate agent says that Mary's brother Art became a drunk and made it difficult for Mary. Both Art and George had courted Mary in the past. With George no longer existing, Mary had married Art instead. |
Mary never married. When George sees her walking home from the library, he tries to introduce himself but she screams and he runs away.
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George goes to his father's house. He gives the man and woman a free brush with a bright blue handle; George is invited to sit and talk. He asks about Harry, but this makes them upset as Harry had died as a child by drowning. George had saved Harry in the original timeline. |
George goes to his mother's house. She is a bitter old woman whose only son Harry had died years ago. In the original timeline, Harry was a Navy pilot who was awarded the Medal of Honor after shooting down a Japanese kamakazi about to crash into a Navy transport. When George asks about uncle Billy, his mother gets angry and said he is a useless old drunk. |
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As George is visiting Mary, her husband Art come home. He is a angry drunk whose wife and son are afraid of. George leaves the house and runs off looking for The Stranger to get his life back. The Stranger warns George about rejecting the greatest gift of life. When George says what happened to him was murder, The Stranger says it was more like suicide. He tells George to walk back to town towards the sounds of the bells tolling for Christmas Vespers. |
George runs away with the police chasing him after Mary screams at him. He arrives at the bridge begging for his life back. It starts to snow again and he runs back to town. George sees everything has returned to normal. He wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, even Mr. Potter who says "in jail".
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George runs to his father's house and greets his parents and brother Harry. He goes home to passionately greet his wife and children. George embraces his wife and then notices a blue handled brush on the couch; it is the identical to the one he gave his mother during the timeline when he never existed. |
George rushes home; he sees his children but Mary is not home. Mary comes through the door with a basket full of money. Billy and Mary had gone door to door asking for help for George and the Building and Loan. Everyone gave what they could which more than covered the $8000 shortfall. The police officer who was going to have George arrested rips up the warrant. George's younger brother Harry arrives and proclaims George to be the richest man in town. George sees Clarence's "Adventures of Tom Sawyer" book in the basket of money and knows Clarence has won his wings. |