"It's not just about a movie," Law said of the museum. It's open year-round, and admission is free.
#It's a wonderful life festival movie
Aptly located in a building that once housed a movie theater, the museum is just a few blocks from downtown along Fall Street. "What Capra and his scriptwriters put in was someone going in to save the person who had jumped, and we believe that could likely be inspired by the story of Antonio Varacalli," said Anwei Law, a co-founder of the Seneca Falls It's a Wonderful Life Museum. In the film, which was adapted from a short story called The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, George Bailey jumps from a bridge into frigid waters to save Clarence, who turns out to be a guardian angel sent from heaven to save Bailey from his own self-destruction. The marker honors Antonio Varacalli, who in 1917 jumped from the span into the canal below to save a suicidal woman, losing his own life in the process.
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They say that if Capra came here, he could have walked across the bridge (on appropriately named Bridge Street) and spotted the plaque mounted there.
#It's a wonderful life festival free
(Think movie re-enactors followed by fire trucks.) Vendors hand out free roasted chestnuts as a small brass band plays Christmas carols.Ī couple of blocks away is the bridge that many locals insist inspired Capra to model Bedford Falls after Seneca Falls. On Saturday afternoon, Rohan and the others join in a parade that blends a celebration of the movie with hometown pride. They include actor Brian Rohan, a George Bailey lookalike who also presents a one-man show about the movie's star, Jimmy Stewart. Throughout the weekend, people dressed as various characters from the movie can be spotted on the Fall Street sidewalks. Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started. Another regular is Monica Capra Hodges, who bestows insights about her grandfather, Frank Capra. She travels cross-country from Seattle every December to talk about her role in cinematic history and to recite her now-famous angel line "over and over and over."Įach year, other septuagenarians who were once child actors also share their memories during a wealth of presentations, meet-and-greets and autograph sessions. " It's a Wonderful Life is such a fabulous film it needs to leave a footprint somewhere," said Karolyn Grimes, 78, who, as a 6-year-old, portrayed Zuzu, George and Mary Bailey's youngest child, in the 1946 movie.
The lure is inescapable for the thousands of movie buffs who flock to town for a hefty dose of holiday cheer. But that potential connection aside, the place certainly looks, feels and sounds like Bedford Falls each December, especially when snow is falling and the church bells are ringing. Whether Capra ever set eyes on Fall Street, or walked across the steel truss bridge that's a dead ringer for the one in the movie, remains up for debate. Seventy-two years following the film's premiere 275 miles away in New York City, folks here celebrate Frank Capra's crowning achievement, boasting that the famous director based the movie's fictional Bedford Falls on this Finger Lakes community.