It Was ‘Not’ Such A Wonderful Life for Classic Movie Viewers on Amazon Prime

Even the New York Post got in on the commenting.

   Large numbers of viewers were upset over an edited version

The 1946 Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart, is about  a distraught man who wishes he'd never 'existed' but later learns how much less the world--at least his--would be without him; he mattered.  It has inspired hundreds of similar spinoffs, from TV shows to comedies and more.

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However, over the Christmas Holiday, thousands of Amazon Prime viewers flooded social media and Amazon complaining about a heavily edited version the retail giant offered.

Amazon had 3 versions available, black and white, colorized and one called "abridged."  Unfortunately, the abridged version did not clearly clue viewers in that a key sequence of the film was gone. It was the part where George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) realizes without him, his town of Bedford Falls would have been a corrupt, horrible place to live.

Even the New York Post called it a "butchered" version. But, why was it offered or even in existence?  Geekwire reports when the patent or rights to the film expired in 1974 they were not renewed. TV stations and networks began to show it during Christmas because it was royalty-free.  But in the 1990's Republic Pictures gained control of the film.

The networks were then warned about not airing the movie without permission or paying the royalties, and the abridged version was a "workaround" that did allow presentations without having to pay. Few have seen this version, as most networks chose to pay to air it.

But most agree the full version, especially the Bailey 'realization' scenes, are what makes the movie so special.