It's a Wonderful Life

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It's a Wonderful Life Was a Winter Wonderland – in July

Originally posted 12/23/2012 01:30PM

It's the sentimental family favorite that easily induces tears for its heartfelt final scenes, but when it came to creating a winter wonderland for his 1946 It's a Wonderful Life, producer-director Frank Capra was one tough taskmaster.

He wanted real snow – not the painted corn flakes Hollywood was accustomed to passing off as the white stuff – to blanket his setting, the town of Bedford Falls, reports Life.com in its special feature with never-before-seen on-set photos from the holiday classic.

To achieve his goal, Capra – who trained as an engineer as a student at Cal Tech before becoming the talkies' first true stylist, as an Oscar-winning director for Columbia Pictures – collaborated with RKO studio's special effects expert Russell Sherman.

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Filed Under: Life, It's a Wonderful Life, Christmas, Frank Capra, Jimmy Stewart

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It's a Wonderful Life? Not for Zuzu, Who Lived a Life of Heartbreak

Originally posted 12/05/2011 08:25AM

Her flower petals in It's a Wonderful Life were the ultimate symbol of the healing power of love in an otherwise cruel world. But Karolyn Grimes, who played Zuzu in the iconic 1946 Christmas movie, needed more faith than most in a real life that was a long way from wonderful.

"My mother died when I was 12, and right after, my dad died in a car crash. I was 15 and had no family," Grimes, now 71, says in a new interview in the Washington Post.

She was sent to live with an aunt and uncle, but felt little connection to them.