It is fashionable to smile when reminded of the author Clifford
Odets. His Waiting For Lefty and the associated body of
his works reflected that old 1930s view of capitalism and
capitalists. Naivete, they came to call it, when being
kind. Capitalists were not really like those characterized in the
old movies, now were they? Skinflints, grouches, and crooks for the
most part, but with power over those poor, but kind downtrodden
folk who, in most of the social commentary movies, wound up
victorious near the closing credits. Yes, the poor but honest folk
nearly always won out, and sometimes even won over the grouchy
capitalist in the process.
Decades ago there was a feeling abroad in the land; the captains
of industry were enemies of the people, out to do them in when they
could. No need to examine how much of this feeling was imported
from other soils. It found ready sustenance once here, and the hard
times of the '30s watered it with a fierce reality.
But we have outgrown those silly attitudes, have we not? Wait a
minute. The most popular movie of all time, the one you see
annually at Christmas time, is a prime vehicle for that socialist
belief, and is unconsciously beloved by all. It is It’s a
Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra and, most have been
led to believe, written by several screenwriters. Hardly anyone
knows the original title, “Greatest Gift,” and that it was written
by Clifford Odets in 1944. Odets was then employed by RKO Radio
Pictures. January 24, 1945, Odets signed over his rights of
authorship to material “tentatively entitled ‘Greatest Gift,’”
giving RKO the right to make what changes it saw fit. It became the
movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, with writing credits to
Philip Van Doren Stern and Francis Goodrich.
But who doubts the Odets touch as the innocent George Bailey
grovels before the capitalist Henry Potter? Mr. Henry Potter, that
is. James Stewart is everyman here. Lionel Barrymore as Potter is
the American capitalist, ruthless, avaricious, contemptuous of all
that appears courteous or kind. As we discover, George Bailey
foregoes his opportunity to escape smalltown life, wins the lovely
Donna Reed, and finally beats the system with the aid of an angel
working through George to get his wings. Kindness and
simplemindedness wins. Well, heck, you know the story. You see it
every year.
The problem with looking at Odets as a merely talented leftist
with an old-world view of the American system is this: modern
American capitalists are fulfilling his prophecy! It is as if the
SEC, the New York State Attorney-General, and a host of other
enforcement agencies are writing Odets sequels, finding villains to
match Henry Potter in a dozen and more boardrooms. From Enron on,
we are being subjected to a dirty movie without a musical score and
without a George Bailey: titans of industry proving as feckless as
Potter and, in many cases, more greedy. What happened? Didn’t these
guys see the movie?
Or did they? And is there something in the DNA of empire
builders that cottons more to Potters than to Baileys? If so, then
Clifford Odets is owed an apology.
