What happens
Clarence, an apprentice angel, is sent to Earth to stop George Bailey, a discouraged man in Bedford Falls, New York, from ending his life. This Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Frank Capra's film It's a Wonderful Life was broadcast on March 10, 1947, with James Stewart as George, Donna Reed as Mary Hatch and Victor Moore as Clarence. Before the broadcast reaches its present, the story traces George's boyhood, his plans to leave his hometown and see the world, and his father's Building and Loan Association, which he is pressed to keep running. He meets Mary at a dance, and the two later marry as the broadcast moves into the financial pressures of the Depression.
Bedford Falls, New York, and Heaven, before the war and into the 1930s
Characters: George Bailey, Clarence, Mary Hatch, Harry Bailey, Mr. Gower, Mr. Potter, Uncle Billy, Sam Wainwright
Listen for: Clarence's arrival in Heaven and his assignment to save George Bailey
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.