Only One New York Theater Is Showing This Holiday Classic

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is coming back to the Rome Capitol Theatre, and this year’s screenings feel extra special.

When and Where to See the 35mm Screening

On December 19th at 7PM, and again on December 20th at 2:30PM and 7PM, the Capitol will fire up a restored 35mm print straight from the Library of Congress. There’s something magical about seeing this film the way it was originally shown: projected on real film, in a historic movie palace, with that warm holiday glow filling the room. The story itself is timeless: a struggling small-town businessman on the brink of giving up, only to be shown how different the world would be if he’d never existed. Even if you’ve seen it a dozen times on TV, watching it unfold on the big screen surrounded by neighbors feels like stepping right into the heart of classic American cinema.

READ MORE: Everything You Need To Know About Dickens Christmas 2025

Why This Screening Is Unique in New York State

What makes this even more of a treat is that the Capitol is the only place in the entire state showing the movie on 35mm this season. Nowhere else in New York can you experience James Stewart, Donna Reed, and the rest of the cast in all their film-print glory. It’s the kind of event that makes a holiday weekend feel a little more nostalgic, a little more communal, and a lot more festive.

Tickets are affordable too: $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, students, and military, $6 for Capitol Friends, and just $4 for kids 12 and under. If you’re looking for a way to kick off the holiday spirit that isn’t another streaming option on the couch, this is the one to circle on your calendar.

This Author's Opinion: The Movie Is NOT A Christmas Movie

Before we dive in on this authors opinion of the movie, let's make something very clear. This author is not arguing the fact that the movie is an all time classic, and truly is a great story. This author is simply arguing the fact whether or not this movie should be considered a "Christmas Classic" that's one of the best. If you also disagree with the opinion of this article, feel free to text us on our station app.

The Case Against Calling It a Christmas Movie

Many debate whether or not "Die Hard" should be considered a Christmas movie. This author highly disagrees calling it that, but this author would argue that "Die Hard" is more of a Christmas movie than "It's A Wonderful Life." At least the entire "Die Hard" movie takes place on Christmas Eve. There is no other date the movie travels to, the plot starts at a Christmas Eve party, has Christmas music throughout, has Christmas decorations and props, and ends on Christmas Eve night.

Comparing It to Other Holiday Films

"It's A Wonderful Life" spends such a small amount of time on Christmas Eve, or setting the film up as a Christmas movie, that if you jumped in at any single point outside of the first several minutes, you wouldn't even realize it was a Christmas movie. Granted, "A Christmas Story" or "Christmas Vacation" don't take place entirely on Christmas, you are led to believe the pay off for the movie is on Christmas. The pay off here, you want to root for George to realize he's an amazing person.

Themes That Make the Movie Hard to Classify

As mentioned above, the movie takes place showing the character George's life. You see his many set backs, some happy moments, but you see a man who has gone through massive issues. You see an evil character or Mr. Potter steal money from George, which pretty much means George will end up going to jail. Forbes honestly mentions the use of Christmas in the movie best:

Christmas exists in the story as a setting for the framing device, starting with a brief four-minute opening credits and setup on Christmas Eve. After that, the story proceeds for an hour and twelve minutes without Christmas, as it shows the background of George's life and how his financial crisis eventually emerged. Then, the last 58 minutes are set on Christmas Eve but largely omit any significant Christmas imagery or storytelling, instead focusing on George glimpsing how a world without him is worse for those who knew him and loved him."

If you literally tune into the movie 6 minutes in, you'd have no concept whether or not it was dealing with the topic of Christmas.

What Part Of This Remotely Seems Christmas-ish To You?

The movie itself has a lot to offer and cover, including some deep themes: attempted suicide, financial fraud, inequality, a man refusing to give a woman her clothes back after she accidentally loses them in public, child death, an adult beating a child as his ear bleeds, war deaths, and the social divide between the poor, working class, and very rich. At one point does any of that feel like Frosty the Snowman or Santa Claus? Oh, that's right, it doesn't.

The good moments and happy times are consistently balanced against downturns and bad outcomes, and here's the thing to remember: most of the bad outcomes are avoidable, either because they are accidents or because they are explicitly intentionally created by unscrupulous people."

Yes, the ending takes place Christmas Eve Night, but the movie was never set up as a Christmas movie. The movie was set up as George Bailey learning what a wonderful life he has, despite the setbacks. For these reasons, "It's A Wonderful Life" is not considered a Christmas movie to this author.

Also, side note, Mr. Potter is one of the worst characters of all time with how evil he was.