On Christmas Eve 1945, in Bedford Falls, New York, 38-year-old George Bailey contemplates suicide. The prayers of his family and friends reach heaven, where Angel 2nd class Clarence Odbody is assigned to save George to earn his wings. Clarence is shown flashbacks of George’s life. He watches 12-year-old George save his brother, Harry, from drowning; as a result, George loses his hearing in his left ear. Later, George prevents the town druggist, Mr. Gower, who is distraught from his son’s death, from accidentally poisoning a child’s prescription.It’s a Wonderful Life 1946.
In 1928, George plans a world tour before college and is reintroduced to Mary Hatch, who has always had a crush on him. The attraction becomes mutual at her high school dance. When his father suffers a stroke and dies, George postpones his travel to sort out the family business, Bailey Brothers Building and Loan, which avaricious board member Henry F. Potter, who controls most of the town’s businesses, seeks to dissolve. The other board members vote to keep the Building and Loan open if George will run it. George acquiesces and works alongside his absentminded uncle, Billy, and gives his tuition to Harry, with the understanding that Harry will run the business when he graduates.
Harry returns from college married and with an excellent job offer from his father-in-law. George is dejected but doesn’t stand in Harry’s way and continues running the Building and Loan. Immediately following their wedding, George and Mary witness a run on the bank, and use their $2,000 honeymoon savings to keep the Building and Loan solvent.
Under George’s leadership, the company eventually establishes Bailey Park, a modern housing development to rival Potter’s overpriced slums. Potter offers George $20,000 a year to be his assistant, but, realizing that Potter’s true intention is to shut down the Building and Loan, George rebuffs and rebukes him.