- [Robert] Bedford Falls is a representation of a certain American ideal, and Seneca Falls looks an awful lot like that same ideal.

- [Greg] The spirit, the community, the canal, the waterways.

- [Doug] We look a lot like it, we're the same size.

We have a lot of the same architecture.

We have a lot of the same history.

- [Menzo] I think there's definitely a very strong connection.

- [Lou] I can't picture it anymore picture perfect in my mind or the people's minds that watch that movie and then come to my town and look around and say, "This is Bedford Falls."

("Auld Lang Syne") - [Clarence] You sent for me, sir?

- [Angel] Yes, Clarence.

A man down on earth needs our help.

- [Clarence] Splendid, is he sick?

- [Angel] No, worse, he's discouraged.

At exactly 10:45 PM earth time that man will be thinking seriously of throwing away God's greatest gift.

- [Clarence] Oh dear, dear, his life.

Then I've only an hour to dress.

What are they wearing now?

- [Angel] See the town?

- [Clarence] Where?

I don't see a thing.

- [Angel] Oh, I forgot, you haven't got your wings yet.

Now look, I'll help you out, concentrate.

Begin to see something?

- [Clarence] Why yes, this is amazing!

- [Angel] If you ever get your wings, you'll see all by yourself.

- [Clarence] Oh, wonderful!

♪ Holy infant, so tender and mild ♪ ♪ Sleep in heavenly peace ♪ Sleep in heavenly peace - Being a trial lawyer is my trade.

So sometimes you've got to make your case.

You got to do it with circumstantial evidence.

You explain the pieces to a jury, and then the jury decides, hey, does that make sense or not?

And so maybe America's the jury and they can decide whether Seneca Falls makes sense as the inspiration of Bedford Falls.

(bell rings) - This is, along with "The Wizard of Oz," one of the most famous American films.

One of a few handful of films that virtually everybody in this country has seen.

- I think everyone is amazed at the popularity of this film and how it has become literally an American tradition.

- For me, "It's A Wonderful Life" was not only the definitive Christmas movie, it was like the definition of Christmas.

You got a tree, you hung up a stocking, you watched "It's A Wonderful Life."

- "It's A Wonderful Life" is a movie that can stand the test of time.

- I've watched it every year.

And sometimes not even during Christmas time.

It still moves the heart.

- The values of the film, I feel, are universal.

So people want to get close to that and experience that.

- I started seeing how much this movie meant to people, and as we got to meet people associated with the film, particularly the three Bailey kids.

- Janie, Tommy!

- It's just become something that families do.

And it's just not Christmas without watching this film.

- And I think that's one of the reasons why we love this film, is that Bedford Falls resembled a certain idea of an American Eden.

- It's the kind of town that typified a small American town.

("Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree") - And one of the reasons I think we're so tempted and it's so seductive to see Bedford Falls in Seneca Falls, that Seneca Falls is the real Bedford Falls is that Seneca Falls is still here.

And it looks like it and it promises that maybe that pre-war idea of community and neighbors and this American Eden that we think of as the small town still exists, because here it is in physical space.

- Merry Christmas!

- I think we're all connected to our home towns by rubber bands, that no matter how far we go away, it eventually snaps us back again.

But George Bailey is a martyr, he never gets to leave.

When you look at his face, when the bell rings and he looks out and he's holding his kid, part of it is, isn't this the most perfect place to be?

But part of that gaze is, but I'd sure like to see the Coliseum.

(jingling bells) - [Narrator] Seneca Falls is the kind of town that makes us homesick for a place we've never lived.

- You'll always meet somebody who will help you if you need money.

There's always a clock around someplace.

And everybody knows you.

- [Narrator] - You'll find it in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York.

- We have many, many different nationalities, religions, and we all get along very well.

- [Narrator] This town of less than 10,000 sits at the crossroads of history.

- What it's known for is women's rights, the right to vote.

- [Narrator] Elizabeth Cady Stanton proposed something revolutionary.

- The first convention was held here in 1848.

- [Narrator] That females be allowed to vote.

It became part of our geography of hope.

- I was born in Seneca Falls.

I was grown up in Seneca Falls, And I'm gonna die in Seneca Falls.

They gave me the key, when everybody goes, I'll lock the joint up.

(bright Christmas music) - [Narrator] Frank Capra never said Seneca Falls inspired the fictional Bedford Falls.

(pleasant orchestra music) - [Fran] Architecturally, Seneca Falls is very similar to Bedford Falls.

We have a lot of the same residential architecture as well as commercial architecture.

- [Narrator] Why do so many people who live here believe it did??

- It feels like Bedford Falls here.

We drove in last night and got here around midnight.

There was a soft snow, no one was on the streets, just Christmas lights, and it was beautiful.

We drove over the bridge a couple of times and it was magic.

- [Narrator] Well, there's no denying a geographical link.

The film refers to cities near Seneca Falls, placing the movie's locations squarely in Upstate New York.

- What about this job?

- Oh, well, my father owns a glass factory in Buffalo.

He wants to get Harry started in the research business.

- I want to spend Christmas in Elmira with my family.

- Oh, I don't blame you at all, Mr. Carter.

Just step right in here, we'll fix you up.

Rochester, well, why Rochester?

- [Sam] Well, why not, can you think of anything better?

- I've only been to Seneca Falls once, and it was many years ago, but I remember it fondly.

I saw a movie there at the movie theater.

- [George] Merry Christmas, movie house!

- And I think it can lay claim as close to anybody could to being a mirror of Bedford Falls in "It's A Wonderful Life."

- [Fran] Coincidentally, the main street in Bedford Falls is Genesee Street.

Fall Street, our main street here in Seneca Falls, follows the path of the old Genesee Turnpike, historically the main road that cut across New York State.

- It could be that Capra would give little clues, and maybe putting Genesee as the main street indicates that it's definitely in Upstate New York.

And then you start to narrow it down and it kind of keeps coming back to Seneca Falls, even though parts of Bedford Falls may be a compilation of Capra's imagination.

(train whistle blows) - [Narrator] There are other similarities.

- There she blows.

- [Narrator] Seneca Falls' old railroad station looks like the depot in "It's A Wonderful Life."

- Boy, am I glad to see you!

- [Narrator] A portion of Fall Street near Trinity Church had a grassy median running down the middle, just like the one in Bedford Falls.

Both the movie and the town had a large Italian population.

- Ya, Merry Christmas!

- [Narrator] Some lived in a new affordable housing development at the time the movie was made.

In the film, George and his Uncle Billy build low-income homes for families in Bailey Park.

In Seneca Falls, a factory owner named John Rumsey developed a section of town for his workers.

They called it Rumseyville.

- He thought very strongly that his employees would be more productive if they have affordable, decent housing.

And so he bought up a track of land and offered it to his workers.

- Mr. and Mrs. Martini, welcome home.

- And we don't know whether Frank Capra ever got this connection or not, but it's an interesting coincidence that Mr. Rumsey's development of Rumseyville is a pretty good parallel to the Bailey Building and Loan's development of Bailey Park offering affordable, decent housing to the poor workers of Bedford Falls.

- There have been some comparisons between me and George Bailey.

I'm a nonprofit champion, especially related to housing.

We've got about 26 units that we've done through Habitat for Humanity.

Each year, we do a presentation of the home to the family just as they did in the "Wonderful Life" movie.

And we have the Bailey kids that do their part.

So that's starting to become a tradition that we really appreciate and it adds some value and it helps people understand that we're out there trying to help them, help the families that really need homes.

(bright music) - [Narrator] Seneca Falls also had a rich and powerful man who some compared to- - Mr. Potter!

- Norman J. Gould, who I always think might have been the prototype for Mr. Potter, he ran the town, and when the Department of Highways wanted to widen the streets, Norman J. Gould said, "No, you will not."

- Get a job, would you?

Goodness gracious.

- [Narrator] Several of the homes lining Cayuga Street are similar in design to the old battered house George and Mary Bailey renovated in the movie.

(bright music) - 20 years ago, you had looked across the street at what we think is the Bailey's home, you would have seen it as George and Mary saw at first.

It had broken windows.

- Oh, look at this wonderful, old, drafty house, Mary!

- The Averys purchased it and turned it into the beautiful house it is.

- My wife and I have been told that our house is the model for the Granville mansion that George Bailey raised his family in.

The architecture is the same.

The house itself was built in 1872.

And over the course of its lifetime, it's had some real ups and downs.

And there were periods when it was very much like it was when Mary threw the rock through the window.

(glass shatters) - Hey, that's pretty good.

- [Doug] It was abandoned for quite a long time.

So we kind of rescued the house, and it's been fun to bring it back.

So we watched the movie and see how George and Mary brought their house back.

And we see there's the parallel of what we've done.

(soft music) - There's no hundred percent evidence that this is the town that Bedford Falls was created after, but the spirit, the community, the canal, the waterways, the industry here, I feel fairly sure that this is the town that Frank Capra wanted to depict.

- There are very, very many relates here.

There's just too many coincidences where we have a barber, we have a steel bridge, we have a person that gave his life to save another individual.

The buildings, the historic houses, the ones we're sitting in now.

I mean, I can't picture it anymore picture perfect in my mind or the people's minds that watch that movie and then come to my town and look around and say, "This is Bedford Falls."

- And I think what's really important is that the involvement of people associated with the film.

- All right, there we go, it's a wonderful life.

- They have solidified that connection.

The connection wasn't just in the past, it's in the present, and through their presence, the presence of the actors who were in the film, the presence of the children of Donna Reed, the granddaughter of Frank Capra, this continues the connection today.

- Hi, daddy!

- [Narrator] One of the key figures in the film, Karolyn Grimes, played George Bailey's daughter Zuzu.

She instantly saw the similarities between Bedford Falls- - Look, daddy.

- [Narrator] And Seneca Falls on her first visit.

- Well, it was night when I arrived and the bridge was all lit up and there were angels on the side of the street and there were wreaths across the center.

And just as I got out of the car, it started snowing.

And it was quiet, it was silent.

I got out of the car and I walked down the middle of Main Street, 'cause there wasn't any traffic.

It was probably the most magical time I've ever had in Seneca Falls, Bedford Falls.

And it really remained in my heart after that night.

I just, I said, "I'm in Bedford Falls!"

- Bedford Falls is a town where the story's protagonist, George Bailey, is known by one and all.

The bartender- - Are you alright, George?

- [Leonard] The cop on the beat, the taxi driver.

- [George] Hi, Artie.

- Hiya, George.

- [George] Hi, Bert.

- George.

- And if Seneca Falls has that same quality, which I think it has had in the past, and I hope still has today, then that's a mirror of Bedford Falls.

- What Seneca Falls is is a real town in the area that the film is set in that's a wonderful place, that represents a typical American small town of the sort that the movie is about and where the value system of America can be endorsed.

(spectators cheer) - [Narrator] People come to both the town and the movie seeking an America where folks still find ways to work together for the common good.

Capra did, too.

He stopped in Seneca Falls while writing the script for "It's A Wonderful Life."

Tommy Bellissima gave him a haircut.

- One of the stories that comes around in our family, because we're a family of barbers, and one of my uncles was teasing my father, who said to him, "How come your cousin Tommy Bellissima cut Mr. Capra's hair?

You always told me that you were the best barber in Seneca Falls."

I am, but I was just too busy.

- At the time, Tom was 23-year-old Sicilian immigrant, and this stranger sat in his barber chair.

And Tom was from Sicily.

His stranger recognized the accent, apparently, because it turns out the stranger was also a Sicilian immigrant.

He introduced himself as Frank Capra.

- Tommy Bellissima's name in Italian means the beautiful one.

Frank Capra's name means the goat.

So they kidded each other in the barber chair about Frank Capra was a goat and Tommy was the beautiful one.

- At the time, Tom never knowing whose hair he was cutting, but he did remember the stranger asking questions about Seneca Falls.

It was much later that he was walking down the street with his wife one day and went by local movie theater and saw a movie poster with Frank Capra on it.

And he froze and said, "Oh my, I cut his hair."

- He cast all the players.

Jimmy Stewart was perfect for George Bailey, Mary Bailey.

He had all these people worked out in his mind.

But he also had to cast the town.

- And so the town of Bedford Falls almost becomes a character itself.

I've heard people say, "God, I wish my town were like Bedford Falls.

I'd want to live in a town like Bedford Falls."

- He must have loved the feeling he got, and his job was to bring the feeling he had in Seneca Falls to Bedford Falls.

It was a cast, he was casting the town.

- One interview that Tom granted after he kind of came out with this part of his history was that one of the questions that his new customer, Mr. Capra, asked him was, "What's the story with that bridge?"

- [Narrator] On April 12, 1917, Antonio Varacalli watched as a young woman, jumped off the Bridge Street bridge.

He dove into the frigid waters of the Cayuga Seneca canal and saved her from suicide.

But lost his life.

This bronze plaque honors the heroism of that young Italian immigrant.

- And the community was really touched by his act of heroism, his selflessness.

The whole community turned out for his funeral.

It was a very powerful moment.

- [Narrator] People have pondered the possibility that the Varacalli story may have motivated Frank Capra to include the tale in his script.

The movie is based on a book called "The Greatest Gift" by Philip Van Doren Stern.

In the novel, George Bailey thinks about suicide, but never jumps off the bridge.

Capra alters the scene, using George's guardian angel, Clarence, to heighten the drama.

(tinkling harp music) (water splashes) - Help!

Help, help!

Help, help!

- So that's part of what's going on here is looking at what inspired Capra to make that very dramatic change where George Bailey forgets about his troubles, forgets about trying to kill himself and just automatically reacts as a decent human being to save another.

- [Narrator] In 2010, the Seneca Falls Town Board passed a proclamation naming April 12th Antonio Varacalli Day, remembering forever his historic rescue.

- I think the connection with that is the soul of the relationship between Seneca Falls and Bedford Falls.

Something very important to look at on the plaque is at the bottom, it says, "He honored the community.

The community honors him."

- [Narrator] Like Varacalli, George Bailey is important for what he did.

- I knew if I were drowning, you'd try to save me.

You see, you did.

- [Narrator] That's why thousands pack Seneca Falls every December to cherish the memory of a person who made a deal with his heart.

- The people that travel here into Seneca Falls, we like to always say Bedford Falls during this festival, they're coming from other states, other parts of the country, and they're coming every year.

- You walk away with a really good feeling about Seneca Falls, about yourself and about everybody around you.

And that's priceless.

- Yay, merry Christmas, Seneca Falls!

- [Narrator] For three days, people are met with smiles lit from inside.

♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ Glory to the newborn King (crowd cheers and applauds) The fictional town- - Yay, hello, Bedford Falls!

- [Narrator] And the actual town become one.

- Hi, I'm Violet Bick.

- And I'm Mary Hatch, and we're from Bedford Falls.

- [Maria] It's great to see so many people descend upon our little town this weekend for the festival.

- You see the bridge, you see the people here and just how they all interact.

It reminds me of the movie a lot.

- I love this festival.

I've been doing this festival for 16 years and I intend to do it a few more years.

It's a Christmas tradition with me, and I've seen so many people across the United States and even across the water come and enjoy the spirit of Christmas, the spirit of family, the spirit of small town.

It's all about the spirit that Frank Capra and Jimmy Stewart put out there.

- Hey, merry Christmas, Mr. Potter!

- I think the spirit of the whole movie is here, especially this weekend.

People just wanting to celebrate the message of hope and that the individual is important in everybody's life and the impact we all have.

- Beyond that weekend, we have the Seneca Falls It's A Wonderful Life Museum.

(bright music) - When we started this museum, we talked with Karolyn about how the foundation had to be the words of Frank Capra, the words that are also the message of the movie, about the value of each person, about his philosophy of filmmaking, which is to promote the inherent dignity and value of each person.

And that had to be the cornerstone of this museum.

- You know, this is one of the most beloved cultural expressions of the 20th century, and It's A Wonderful Life Museum and festival and everything is one of the ways of continuing to resurrect this idea that was already nostalgic in 1946.

When this movie was made, they were already looking back at a time that was changing really, really rapidly.

But there are ways one can continue to kind of memorialize that.

- [Narrator] "It's A Wonderful Life" premiered in New York City more than 70 years ago.

Three generations have grown up watching Frank Capra's masterpiece.

The film still has the power to inspire.

- [Mary] Come in, Uncle Billy, everybody.

- [Narrator] Perpetuating an enduring message.

Each life holds something of value.

Whether our dreams soar or shatter.

- Help me, Clarence, please, please!

- [Greg] When a community comes together, when the community understands- - [Bert] Hey, George!

- [Greg] That if community doesn't help a person in need- - George, you alright?

- Then it's not worth being a community.

- I think there are certain things in our culture that are universal.

In my view, it's Shakespeare, some Beatles.

It's the values of "It's A Wonderful Life."

- The movie is more critical today than I think ever before.

Just shows us how we should interact with each other.

And it shows us how things can go wrong.

And it shows us also how the smallest contribution that one person can make to another can have tremendous impact and tremendous ramifications somewhere down the line.

- Did you hear what he said, Mr. Bailey?

- What's that?

- Well, I think the universal appeal of this film is the fact that everyone identifies with George Bailey.

He's the little guy, and everybody feels like they can maybe have so many problems and their world gets so small that maybe they want to check out or maybe things aren't going well and they see how wonderful life really is.

- We don't even know what we are capable of doing.

So we really can touch lives for the better if we want to.

One man can make a difference.

- George Bailey is everyone.

Everyone's felt that way at some point.

Everyone's felt like they're alone and they're the only one out there that's feeling all the pressures of the world.

And then the message at the end is that, no matter what, you have friends, that you have people who care about you and that your life and what you do in the world is important and makes a difference.

- [Jeanine] It's about the things we care about and need.

And it gives us role models for life that are positive, about people who care about each other, who care about their communities and who try to do the right thing.

- Oh George, George, George.

- [Leonard] I don't think "It's A Wonderful Life" will ever go away.

I don't think it will ever be forgotten.

It's cherished now by several generations.

- [Fran] What do people get from this movie?

Why do people come to Seneca Falls each year during the festival, beyond the festival?

- Movies matter, they really do.

They speak to us, they teach us, they inspire us at their very best.

And this is one of the very best.

- I think the connection with "It's A Wonderful Life" is important because it's another dimension of the message of this town.

- I think it's the message of the movie, and I think people like to be reminded of that message.

Everybody's important.

- This world today needs the message of "It's A Wonderful Life."

It needs the message of women's rights and human rights, about the value of everybody and how we should respect everybody.

- Every so often people fear that they're losing that small town connection.

Even if you live in a big city, you kind of want that small town connection.

And I think the movie helps re-establish that each year.

- It's a story about sacrifice, that if we really want to preserve the utopian of small town America, it requires a price.

And I think that makes this film relevant to this very day, because we all kind of have that in the back of our head.

You could walk out into the streets of Seneca Falls right now and find a bunch of 16, 17, and 18 year olds.

My guess is that they feel pretty much the way George Bailey does.

They don't want to stay here, they want to go elsewhere.

And this movie acknowledges that, that the small town is both a place to love and come back to and return to and be buried in.

It's also a place that you really want to escape.

(bright music) - Frank was very, very proud of "It's A Wonderful Life."

He knew that his work mattered, and he knew that it was going to continue to matter.

And that's why something like the Seneca Falls event is a great thing, because it carries on something that he cared about and it reflects what he had learned, that this film has a life, it touches people and makes them want to bring it down off the screen and into their own world.

And that's something Seneca Falls has done.

And I think that's great.

(jingling bells) - [Narrator] Some say Bedford Falls represents an American Eden that's long gone, but Seneca Falls exists here and now right before our eyes.

Its shops, banks and tree-lined streets hold out the promise of "It's A Wonderful Life," that neighbors still care for one another and communities can find solutions to problems that plague us.

For many, that's what really matters.

- [Laura] I really like the ending when George Bailey returns home to his family.

- Merry Christmas, daddy!

- It's nice that in "It's A Wonderful Life" we can have this whole and complete ending and everything wraps up nicely.

We don't always get that in our real lives, and so it's nice to be able to see that.

(bell rings) And another angel just got its wings.

- Daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.

- That's right, that's right.

Atta boy, Clarence.

♪ Auld Lang Syne ♪ For auld lang syne, my dear ♪ For auld lang syne ♪ We'll drink a cup of kindness yet ♪ ♪ For auld lang syne ♪ We'll drink a cup of kindness yet ♪ ♪ For auld lang syne - I'm in Bedford Falls, and it really felt that way.