It used to be a holiday tradition. There was a time when you simply couldn’t avoid it.
Then it disappeared.
What happened to It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) being shown 800 times during the holidays?
Unfortunately, it all boils down to money, and a bizarre legal ruling that favored the film’s original production company, Republic Pictures. How did Republic snag the rights to a film it no longer owned? How do NBC and Comedy Central figure into the controversy?
Read on: It gets stranger.
Copyrighting Capra
As with any film, the copyright for director Frank Capra‘s It’s A Wonderful Life expired after 28 years. It was up to Republic to renew this copyright and retain ownership of the property.
Republic Pictures forgot.
The result: The film legally became part of the public domain, meaning every TV station in America could play it virtually nonstop. And they did. This relentless broadcasting of the film actually helped to endear the story of George Bailey to the hearts of audiences nationwide, rejuvenating a movie that received an indifferent reception when it premiered back in 1946.
The Sound of Music
Republic apparently lost its Christmas cheer when it saw its film skyrocket in popularity–while it reaped no benefit. Action had to be taken, and miraculously, in 1993, the studio found a way to do it.
Back in 1946, composer Dimitri Tiomkin wrote a sweeping score for the film, a score that Republic owned. This would become Republic’s secret weapon: it owned the music.
“Although Republic cannot renew its copyright of the film, it owns the music licensing,” says Susan Karlin of Daily Variety. “Republic execs realized they could enforce ownership based on a [similar] 1990 ruling on the rights to Rear Window.”
And, through legal means, enforce ownership they did.
The property was now Republic’s once again. Suddenly, the fate of Capra‘s classic was called into question.
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The Aftermath
The legal loophole brought the rights to the film back into Republic’s hands. As expected, Republic soon warned TV stations that authorization needed to be obtained before airing the film again. Though disappointed, the stations knew that they had to comply, which made them pull Life from their schedules.
“The settlement, which makes Republic the movie’s exclusive distributor, put to rest the fears of some station execs who were concerned about their ability to air Life,” says Jim Benson of Daily Variety.
Indeed, most networks did respect the ruling, except for one: Comedy Central.
The execs at Comedy Central believe that they, too, could create a loophole. The premise: Air the film without the music and dialogue, replacing the audio with an original, satirical script.
This solution sounded almost too good to be true. And was. Comedy Central’s parent company, Viacom, informed the producers of the spoof of one small problem. Viacom also owned Republic.
“Suddenly, the issue was political, not legal,” says Weekly Variety‘s Ray Richmond. “Comedy Central had apparently neglected to consider that Republic was a corporate relative, making it seem like the cable network was trying to pick a fight with its cousin.”
Proper etiquette won out, and Comedy Central pulled the plug.
The NBC Deal
What would be the solution to all of this? How would audiences be able to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” on the small screen again?
The answer: Good old-fashioned capitalism.
Republic soon inked a deal with NBC giving the Peacock Network exclusive rights to air the film.
What did NBC shell out?
Rebecca Marks, NBC‘s vice president of entertainment publicity, declined to comment to Hollywood.com about the network’s deal with Republic, but said that the network did promise to limit the number of annual showings.
“Generally we broadcast shows once a year (with possibly one rebroadcast) in the most appropriate time slot,” Marks says. “We show theatricals no more than once a year to keep the programming fresh.”
In case you haven’t been keeping track, NBC has shown It’s a Wonderful Life only twice in 2001: two days after Thanksgiving and on Christmas Eve.
