A family scene with a decorated Christmas tree indoors during the holiday season. 2:41
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The bell at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life"

George Bailey, played by James Stewart, came close to giving up on his life. The last scene of "It's a Wonderful Life" is everything he would have missed. more

Help arrives in the 1946 classic in an odd way. Clarence, who has been sent to Earth to earn his wings, falls into a freezing lake, and George pulls him out. Clarence's whole job is to change George's mind.

By the final scene, a Christmas carol is playing and the room is full. Then Ernie calls out a name. Harry Bailey has arrived. He walked out of a banquet in New York the moment he got Mary's telegram, then flew up through a blizzard to get here.

Harry lifts his glass. "A toast to my big brother, George, the richest man in town!" Everybody cheers, and then everybody sings "Auld Lang Syne." For a lot of fans, this is the line that gets them every time.

A man in a uniform drinks from a glass, surrounded by smiling people at a crowded gathering. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Harry raises his glass to his big brother while the whole room cheers.

George has his little girl in his arms, close to the Christmas tree. One gift turns out to be "a Christmas present from a very dear friend."

A man looks down while holding a child, with a woman partly visible beside him near a decorated Christmas tree. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
George holds his daughter close as one gift turns out to be from a dear friend.

Then a small bell on the tree rings. "Look, daddy," his daughter says, and she repeats what her teacher told her about bells and wings.

A small bell hangs from a pine branch among other ornaments. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
A small bell on the Christmas tree rings, and George's daughter knows what that means.

"That's right," George says. Then once more, "That's right." A smile spreads across his face. "Attaboy, Clarence."

A family scene with a decorated Christmas tree indoors during the holiday season. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
George Bailey, played by James Stewart, came close to giving up on his life.

Around him, the room keeps singing. They reach the part about a cup of kindness, and the scene closes on one last "auld lang syne."

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