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Best movie of this year hands down!

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

From my favorite movies..

Absolutely Fantastic

"It's a Wonderful World" fits nicely in the group of comedy-crime films that The Thin Man series helped establish. As a comedy, though, it's very slow getting started. And, the crime aspects are much heavier and foreboding than in most films of this genre. The plot is interesting and a good one; but it seems to be a bit choppy in places. That may be due to the editing more than the direction. The story and screenplay by Ben Hecht are very good. Jimmy Stewart and Claudette Colbert give wonderful performances as Guy Johnson and Edwina Corday. The supporting cast adds a lot to this film. As some other reviewers have noted, Guy Kibbee has a fine role as Cap Streeter; and Nat Pendleton and Edgar Kennedy are excellent as police Sgt Koretz and Lt. Miller. The humor may be slow getting started, but the film makes up for it in some very funny scenarios. Colbert comes up with various schemes that help Stewart's character out of one jam after another. The funny scenes are peppered with occasional witty lines. In other scenes, the humor often comes from a single line here or there. I think Jimmy Stewart showed some of his acting skill in different scenes. Early on, he is foreboding and even has a frightening or menacing look when talking to Corday. This is an entertaining film that most should enjoy. Here are some funny lines I particularly enjoyed.Guy Johnson, "They're tame apples. You don't have to shoot 'em."Guy, "Now listen, stupid. I've committed a few crimes here and there, but I'm no criminal." Edwina, "It's all in the point of view, isn't it?"Guy, "Did you ever see anybody with a bullet hole through the head and his brains all leaking out?" Edwina, "Oh, you know, you're so sweet to worry about me like that."

. . . (and Humphrey Bogart would have gotten this role if Bogie worked for MGM), but at least Stewart is a more straight-forward Evil Doer in IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD than the devious types he played for director Alfred Hitchcock in ROPE, REAR WINDOW, & VERTIGO. Though his private eye character here is dumber and greedier than his later P.I. portrayal for VERTIGO, at least Guy in WORLD doesn't make love to his client's wife. And Guy is only half as bad as Stewart's misanthrope professor in ROPE, since Guy's merely a misogynist. The same can be said for Stewart's characters' treatment of their volunteer female sleuths, as Princess Grace must do ALL the dirty work in REAR WINDOW, whereas Guy allows his WORLD co-star Claudette Colbert (as poetess Edwina) to do only HALF the fighting in this film. Still, the chemistry between Stewart and Colbert seems a catalyst short, and the overall tone of this flick is uneven at best. Made by MGM around the same time as the WIZARD OF OZ, Colbert's line to Stewart, "From one wizard to another," is a double reference to the greater film, echoing Wizard Frank Morgan's "from one dog to another" comment as Toto steals his hot dog in the black & white prologue of that movie.

Was IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD hurt by the fact that it is difficult for me to imagine Jimmy Stewart as a hardball character, even a chauvinist, or was it helped by the fact that this movie would have been nothing without him? Granted, Claudette Colbert plays the poet, the hopelessly romantic dreamer, well, and that plays off Stewart's greed-driven detective splendidly.The detective, crime-solving part of the film is well done within its confines, Edgar Kennedy and Nat Pendleton are cast well as the rather slow-witted police. If this 1939 film had been made two and a half decades earlier, they would have fallen over each other, broken things, and caused ultraviolence in a Mack Sennett sort of way.) Guy Kibbee is, of course, perfect as the Stewart's partner. I will not spoil the ending, but I can say that as with all well-written screwball comedies, the film has a delightful way of meandering through situations and reaching a conclusion which satisfies.I don't know if this will help, but before viewing, I had to promise my wife that it was not that Christmas movie.

James Stewart and Claudette Colbert are both in the Top 10 as actors. As a rule I do not miss re-plays of films they are in. I did not miss this one as I came back for a second viewing. I was disappointed again although because of the cast it passes as a contrived comedy. So, the low ranking in my mind comes as a result of the less than adequate script for first class actors. Also, below average were the cheap sets. Summer stock pinches pennies, but never to the extent shown here. I, definitely will pass my third chance to view it. I love Guy Kibbee in any role. He would have taken less of a physical beating from Laurel and Hardy. Possibly that great comedy team was not available for casting.