Creative Stories: The Innovation in 'It's a Wonderful Life'

In 1946, director Frank Capra had a problem.

He was filming a new movie, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, in the middle of a scorching California summer.

But the film took place during a snowy Christmas, and a pivotal scene involved star Jimmy Stewart running through the snow-covered streets of fictional town Bedford Falls.

Capra had built one of the longest sets in the history of American cinema in creating Bedford Falls. And now he needed to turn his sunny four-acre set into a winter wonderland.

He needed realistic looking snow — lots of it.

But movie snow at that time was made from painting cornflakes white. That worked for silent movies, but Capra wanted to record the dialogue live, and the microphones would pick up the sound of crunching cornflakes.

Working with his head of special effects, Russell Shearman, they devised a new ‘snow’ made of foamite (the material used in fire extinguishers), sugar, water, and soap flakes. They then sprayed the material in front of a low-noise fan to simulate freshly fallen snow on trees and streets and buildings in Bedford Falls.

Fans spray the special ‘snow’ on the set of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

They used 6,000 gallons of their ‘snow’ to cover the set, including 75 buildings and the 300-yard main street. And in case the foamite ran out, Capra and his team had a backup plan, as notes from the set revealed dolomite (a translucent mineral) and asbestos were on standby.

So, while you may not think of special effects when you think of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, the snow we see in the film was an innovation.

It was safe, silent, and part of the magic that helped make ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ a Christmas classic.