It's a Wonderful Life (U)

The quintessential Christmas film, Oscar-winning director Frank Capra’s masterful drama features Jimmy Stewart as frustrated, compassionate everyman George Bailey; on the brink of suicide when a guardian angel (Henry Travers) arrives to show him how his community and loved ones would have fared without him. Together, they travel back through George’s life as he saves his brother from drowning, falls in love with Mary (Donna Reed) and learns to put others before himself.

Set in snowy small-town America on Christmas Eve, this very touching, very romantic Christmas Carol-esque fable is a life-affirming seasonal classic with shades of both light and dark.