For the six women profiled in the documentary It Was A Wonderful Life, the emphasis is on the word was. They all went from a comfortable middle-class existence to dire poverty and homelessness when the support of their husbands was withdrawn by divorce or abandonment. Nonetheless, as a group, they have used tremendous ingenuity and perseverance in making a life for themselves and their children, despite the absence of decently paid jobs, health-insurance, or child care. Each of these women is too proud to apply for welfare, and they manage somehow to stay off the streets. The documentary has an ideological slant, promoting stronger legal protections for divorced women, especially in the area of child support. Jodie Foster narrates.