It’s A Wonderful Life at HOME

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor

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It’s A Wonderful Life

HOME Manchester, Manchester
17-23 December 2023

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Image courtesy of HOME
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“Every time you hear a bell ring, it means that some angel’s just got his wings.”

The ultimate festive favourite, from Oscar-winning director Frank Capra, It’s a Wonderful Life stars James Stewart as despairing businessmen George Bailey. One fateful Christmas Eve, George receives a visit from Clarence, a celestial messenger, who prevents him from jumping into a freezing river. The pair travel together through moments in George’s life to show him what the world would be like if he had never existed.

It’s a Wonderful Life is a bleaker film than its reputation suggests, and James Stewart is pricklier than you might remember, as he displays hints of the darkness he would deploy in later films for Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann. However, this tender yuletide classic has endured for a reason: it’s very very good.

The screening on Tue 19 Dec at 15:10 will be a Relaxed screening (designed for people with autism spectrum conditions and their families), with a short introduction from a member of the HOME team, and no adverts or trailers.

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Where to go near It’s A Wonderful Life at HOME

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Indian Tiffin Room is a restaurant specialising in Indian street food, with branches in Cheadle and Manchester. This is the information for the Manchester venue.

The Ritz Manchester live music venue
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The Ritz was originally a dance hall, built in 1928, has hosted The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and The Smiths and is still going strong as a gig venue now.

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Homeground is HOME’s brand new outdoor venue, providing an open-air space for theatre, food, film, music, comedy and more.

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This huge three-floor pub, formerly a Victorian warehouse, then an umbrella factory (hence the name), has one of the city centre’s largest beer gardens. The two-tier terrace overlooks the Rochdale canal and what used to be the back of the Hacienda, providing an unusual, historic view of the city.

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