The photo above is, arguably, one of the most famous outtakes from Frank Capra's 1946 big-screen classic, "It's A Wonderful Life!" That's Jimmy Stewart running around the fictitious town of Bedford Falls, New York, approximately eight minutes before the end of the movie. (The YouTube clip is down below, at the bottom of the article. As you'll see, Capra decided to light and shoot the scene differently; and that resulted in the sign being silhouetted in the background.) Film historians, diehard fans of the flick–there are millions of them–and many others have written about this scene pretty extensively over the past few decades. "Tabletop collectibles" manufacturer Enesco even made porcelain reproductions of this scenery, complete with the signage referencing our neighborhood, a few years ago; and they're still being sold on eBay as you read this. There's more to the story behind this image than meets the eye, and you may now read all about it, down below.
Lake Kitchawan, "It's A Wonderful Life!"
November 1st, 2017
Director Frank Capra’s 1946 big-screen classic, “It’s A Wonderful Life!” starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, is on virtually every movie critic’s and media historian’s top-10 list of 20th century U.S. films. But, did you know that there’s a reference to Lake Kitchawan (a/k/a “Kitchawan Lake”) in the original footage of it?
Well, don’t take our word for it. See for yourself, up above.
The movie is set in the fictitious town of Bedford Falls, New York. Media historians pretty much unanimously agree that it was a combination of the names of two New York towns: Bedford Hills and Seneca Falls. Approximately seven years ago, however, much to the chagrin of the folks in Bedford Hills, the town of Seneca Falls “decided” they were "the town" (they were "half-right") where the movie was supposedly based. So, they created the "It's A Wonderful Life!" Museum. They also host an annual festival celebrating the movie each December.
Over in Katonah, for the past few years, the village promotes an annual screening of "It's A Wonderful Life!" with a poster of the film's outtake photograph, published at the top of this page.
We’ll let the Danbury News-Times pick up this story about three years after the town of Seneca Falls opened their museum...
Well, don’t take our word for it. See for yourself, up above.
The movie is set in the fictitious town of Bedford Falls, New York. Media historians pretty much unanimously agree that it was a combination of the names of two New York towns: Bedford Hills and Seneca Falls. Approximately seven years ago, however, much to the chagrin of the folks in Bedford Hills, the town of Seneca Falls “decided” they were "the town" (they were "half-right") where the movie was supposedly based. So, they created the "It's A Wonderful Life!" Museum. They also host an annual festival celebrating the movie each December.
Over in Katonah, for the past few years, the village promotes an annual screening of "It's A Wonderful Life!" with a poster of the film's outtake photograph, published at the top of this page.
We’ll let the Danbury News-Times pick up this story about three years after the town of Seneca Falls opened their museum...
Bedford Hills could be movie’s model
Tom Dwyer
Danbury News-Times
4:15 pm, Monday, December 23, 2013
Regarding the question of whether Frank Capra used Seneca Falls, N.Y., or Bedford Hills, N.Y., as a model for Bedford Falls, the locus of the film "It's a Wonderful Life," which he directed, the question is not so much which one he emulated but rather, what was the genesis of "Bedford?"
It seems clear that he wanted to depict a typical small town in the United States, but this had already been done in many films, so why the use of "Bedford" in the name?
The movie was based on a story by Philip Van Doren Stern titled "The Greatest Gift," but the town where the action took place was not mentioned in it. As Capra was raised in California, and lived most of his life there, others with a hand in the film may have had roots in or near Bedford Hills because in addition to the use of "Bedford" in naming George Bailey's hometown, road signs appear for the communities of Katonah, N.Y., and Chappaqua, N.Y., both of which are quite near Bedford Hills.
There's also a road sign for Aspetuck, which is a small village about 14 miles east of Bedford Hills in the town of Easton, Conn.
But, wait a second! Even the nearby Danbury News-Times ignored the "Kitchawan" reference. (Lake Kitchawan, as most that are reading this already know, is just a few miles east of Bedford Hills, in-between that town and Aspetuck, CT.)
So, let's take a quick peek at the comments and references from what a couple of folks in academia and the literary world that study this topic have to say about the matter.
In his book, SuburbiaNation (Reading Suburban Landscape in Twentieth Century American Fiction and Film), (Palgrave Macmillan; 1st ed. 2004), Bronx Community College Professor Robert Beuka gets it almost correct, albeit with a “geographically-confused” footnote from his work†…
So, let's take a quick peek at the comments and references from what a couple of folks in academia and the literary world that study this topic have to say about the matter.
In his book, SuburbiaNation (Reading Suburban Landscape in Twentieth Century American Fiction and Film), (Palgrave Macmillan; 1st ed. 2004), Bronx Community College Professor Robert Beuka gets it almost correct, albeit with a “geographically-confused” footnote from his work†…
45. A general proximity to the New York metropolitan area is suggested by Sam’s relocation there and his ability to just “drop by” before heading off on a trip to Florida; also, Violet’s proposed move to the city suggests its nearness. But a shot that was cut from the film but reprinted in Jeanine Basinger’s The It’s A Wonderful Life Book, (New York: Knopf, 1986) clearly demonstrates the northern Westchester setting. It is a still of George during his triumphant run through the streets of Bedford Falls near the end of the film, passing a street sign with directional cues pointing toward “Aspetuck” and “Kitchawan” in one direction and “Katonah” and “Chappaqua” on the other. While the geography is a bit skewed on the whole, the positioning between the neighboring towns of Katonah, Chappaqua and Kitchawan, New York, on the one hand and Aspetuck. Connecticut on the other, would indisputably situate Bedford Falls in northeastern Westchester County, around the location of Bedford Hills.†
Last but not least, we'll end on some common sense commentary about the "Kitchawan"† sign reference from the person (people) that runs bedfordfallssentinel.com/blogspot :
† = There is a neighborhood known as "Kitchawan" in the southern portion of Yorktown Heights, in Westchester County; but that's approximately 15-20 miles northwest (in the completely opposite direction of the Bedford Hills-Lake Kitchawan area) of the area referenced by the signage in It's A Wonderful Life!
