The enduring message of "It's a Wonderful Life"

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There's a little town in Central New York that our old colleague, Bill Geist visited 14 years ago, when he said, "On Christmas morning, what better place to be than Seneca Falls, N.Y.? The town loudly and proudly proclaims that it was the inspiration for the Christmas film classic 'It's a Wonderful Life.'"

And every year they have this festival celebrating the occasion. One visitor told us, "Been waiting my whole life to come up here and see this. I believed in Santa Claus when I was a kid. And I believed in the movie."

The movie's been around for almost 80 years now, but just in case you don't know the plot: Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, this sweetheart of a guy who runs a building and loan association in the town of Bedford Falls, just the soul of decency and kindness and selflessness. And then there's Lionel Barrymore. He's Mr. Potter, who runs the big bank in town, and he is none of those things.

MR. POTTER: "Are you running a business or a charity ward? Not with my money!"

In a nutshell, we get to see what the town would have been like if George Bailey hadn't ever existed – instead of Bedford Falls, we had Pottersville.

It might have been just a little like this: A few weeks back at a Seneca Falls Town Board meeting, a local resident kept talking after debate had been shut down, and a board member, Frank Sinicropi, seemed to offer a drastic solution: "Shoot him!"

He was just kidding, but he did tell the police chief to shoot one of the townspeople. Bad timing! After all, this was just a few weeks before all those tourists come pouring into town searching for the annual festival celebrating "It's a Wonderful Life."

Kevin McDonald wasn't born when the movie was made, but he lives and breathes the film's message: "Especially this time of year," he said. "The spirit. You can't be here and not smile."

It's on a bridge just like this one that director Frank Capra brings his hero, George Bailey, to the brink of suicide, until he witnesses someone fall into the water – an angel who, by keeping George from suicide and getting him to perform a heroic rescue, will earn his wings.

Locals believe it's based on a real rescue in 1917 in Seneca Falls. "Somebody tried to end their life here," said McDonald.

Enter Antonio Varacalli, who was on the shoreline when he saw the woman go into the water, and jumped in to save her. "Got her to shore, and then he succumbed," McDonald said. "He was an immigrant from Italy. We have a hero's celebration in April to honor him."

"It's kind of ironic, isn't it, in these times with what's happening to immigrants?" I said.

"It sure is."

But when this reporter visited the local cafe and talked about immigrants today being rounded up and sent overseas, not necessarily back to their own countries, one woman replied, "You poor thing. You're gonna have a hard time this weekend, because everyone I've met today is gonna focus on the positive."

"Well, that's fine," I said. "I've got no problem with you focusing on the positive; I'm just not gonna make it that easy for you. You're focusing on the positive, and I'm seeing a country that is getting caught up in the negative. You can't ignore that."

Another woman, wearing angel wings, said, "When you come to Seneca Falls, you get it. It's healing, and it's hope. I think that's one of the reasons we're so drawn to this movie, just to give ourselves back to kindness again."

It's an inescapable message, even for Jimmy Hawkins and Karolyn Grimes, who played two of the Bailey children, Tommy and Zuzu, in the movie.

Grimes admitted she didn't have many lines in the movie, but people hold onto her most famous one at the end: "Daddy, Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."

"Everywhere she goes, right?" Hawkins said.

What's more, Grimes said, "I believe it."

"Oh, do you?"

"Oh, I do!"

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Are you a cynic?" Grimes asked.

"A cynic?" I replied. "I don't think you can be in my line of work for as many years as I have been without becoming a bit of a cynic!"

Well, for example, amid all that joyful spirit of kindness and civility hanging over Seneca Falls at this time of year, there is also THAT just looming over the edge of town: Seneca Meadows, the largest landfill in the Northeastern United States.

Bill Lutz has a plant that packages bottles and containers for wineries and breweries in the shadow of Seneca Meadows: "That hill is filled with all kinds of garbage and toxic chemicals and vapors that come off it on a daily basis," he said. "We have a hard time not only retaining employees, but attracting new employees. It's definitely a challenge to try to get people that want to move here. And it certainly affects our business."

Not surprisingly, Seneca Meadows told us they are a good neighbor who consistently meets or exceeds safety standards and regulations. In fact, that's part of their argument for why they should be allowed to expand.

Lutz said, "It was flat land not too many years ago, and now they're moving to an expansion that would take it another 15 years, and another 70 feet higher."

Now, isn't that just the kind of thing that would've driven Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, nuts?

GEORGE BAILEY: "You spin your little web and think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Potter!

Lutz said, "They've got plenty of money, lawyers to keep it going. It's a big Texas company, and they want to continue to grow it, because they can do it here, in a small town."

In fact, that's what we have downtown: A small town, with a museum about a movie. Well, part of a movie – maybe not the part about what could happen to the town of Bedford Falls.

"People want to go back to simpler times," said Anwei Law, who created the "It's a Wonderful Life" Museum. "This reminds them of that, and gives them the opportunity to do that for a short period of time."

I asked Karolyn Grimes, "What are we seeing today? Are we seeing a reflection of George Bailey's world? Or Mr. Potter's world?"

"Oh, that's awfully touchy!" she laughed. "It's trying to be Mr. Potter's world, I think. But I think there's enough George Baileys out there that it's gonna balance their direction."

Mr. Potter, a villain in the movie, seems to go unpunished, although Harold Buccholz, a student of the film, sees a greater message: "We're a little bit surprised when George Bailey has his life back, and he's so excited to be alive again. And as he's running home he stops by the bank, he bangs on the window and says 'Merry Christmas, Mr. Potter!' His arch enemy! And I think if we choose to accept that that's ultimately Capra's challenge to us, is love your enemies, you will be richer, and the community will be richer if you can find a way to do that."

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It's a picture-perfect Hollywood ending that endures as a message to our better angels, even if reality doesn't always go that way.

"It depends if you believe," said the angel-winged fan of the film. "We all have a calling."

Anwei Law said, "There's this need for people to come together. And there's this need for people to care about each other and help each other. And this movie prompts that in people because that's within them."

"It's a spotlight on what we could be, on what we can be?" I said.

"Exactly. And we all really want to be."

"And want to be. Not necessarily what we are."

"What we are? Yep, yep," said Law.

I'll settle for that!

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bill Geist's 2011 visit to Seneca Falls (Video)

From the archives: A visit to Seneca Falls 04:45

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