It’s a Wonderful Life filming location is what makes the fans curious right now. The movie was released back in 1946 and is a Christmas fantasy drama. Frank Capra directed the movie in those days. The plot of the film is inspired by a short story called The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern. The film is set in Bedford Falls New York in the year 1945 on Christmas Eve.
We see that George Bailey is trying to commit suicide. Given the fact that all his friends and family knew about his mental health conditions, they pray to god and these prayers reach heaven. Here, we see that guardian angel Clarence Aodbody is assigned the case in order to save George which will ultimately help him earn his wings.
He is shown the past clips of George’s life as a kid and various moments to understand him better. He finds out that George has always been a kind soul who has helped everyone around him and even saved a lot of lives.
Coming to the present, we see that George was about to commit suicide after he found out that his Uncle Billy who was running his father’s company had lost over 8000 dollars in funds. They were going to use this money in order to save the Bailey Building and Loan from the vicious wrath of a banker named Henry Potter.
As soon as he is about to jump from the bridge to drown in the water, he is visited by his guardian angel. Thus, in order to save him, he shows the world and life of people as if he was never even born. Here are the filming locations that were used to make It’s a Wonderful Life.
It’s a Wonderful Life Filming Locations
1. RKO Encino Ranch
This served as the main backdrop for the filming of this movie. It is a ranch located in Encino in California. The place was used to create a set for the town of Bedford Falls. The crew built up a 4-acre set that had a main street as well as a residential neighborhood and a bank to represent all the storylines that were included in the same. It was used for the scene where
George was about to commit suicide standing on the top of a bridge. It was also used during the alternative reality scenes in a life where he never existed. His father’s company called the Bailey Building and Loan was also made as a set at the ranch.
2. Beverly Hills High School
The gymnasium at Beverly Hills High School was used by the crew. It featured a dance for high school kids in the film. During the time of shooting, the crew converted the area into a swimming pool for the scenes and even the school teachers and students were used as extras for the same.
3. La Cañada Flintridge
This is a town located in California where a variety of scenes in the movie were filmed. The house located at 4587 Viro Road is called the Martini house and was used as the home of George’s neighbor named Mr. Martini. We also saw scenes from the Bailey Park Community which is located a few blocks away and was also used as a spot for the scenes. These were located at the southwest corner of Viro Road and Lamour Drive.
These were the three main locations that were used for the filming of It’s a Wonderful Life. It should be noted by fans that most of the buildings and townhouses that we saw were actually the set buildings that were built specifically for the movie to be filmed and were not real.
Thus, it is kind of sad that we cannot visit these places given the fact that this is a classic Christmas film and every household watches it every year. The real locations which were used during the filming have already been specified. These were The Beverley Hills School and La Cañada Flintridge town in California.
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