Overview
- The film premiered on Dec. 20, 1946 at the Globe Theater in New York City.
- Early performance was weak despite five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for James Stewart.
- A reported 1974 lapse into the public domain allowed repeated, no-fee television broadcasts that built its mass audience.
- A 1947 FBI memo labeled the portrayal of a greedy banker as possible “Communist propaganda,” a historical footnote that went nowhere.
- Production and legacy notes include pioneering artificial snow effects, scenes filmed at Beverly Hills High School, and Stewart later donating personal papers to BYU.