It’s a Wonderful Life tops too many holiday film lists to count. “It’s one of those ageless movies, like Casablanca, that improves with age ... (and) can be viewed an indefinite number of times,” says the late critic Roger Ebert. George Bailey was Jimmy Stewart’s favorite role. Who could argue with the Indiana, Pa., hometown boy, combat pilot and Air Force Reserves retired Brigadier General? “It’s a Wonderful Life is one of the best films America has ever made about itself, and that’s why I love it so much,” reveals Vox. “(Capra and Stewart) knew how easy it is to destroy our best qualities. They knew that humanity is only as good as it is kind, and they made a film about just that… Years later, it bobs up to us like a message in a bottle from the past. Do not let cruelty win, it says. Reach out. Hold on. Help.”