It's a Wonderful Life: House Tour [CG Tour]

ever wish she could walk around inside of your favorite TV and movie homes well on this channel you can today we're going to explore every nook and cranny of the home from that holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life both in color and black and white [Music] hi I'm Marina Coates I have a degree in architecture and an obsession and set design welcome to behind the scenes where we get up close and personal with all your favorite TV and movie homes today we'll be taking a tour of the home from It's a Wonderful Life including the upstairs bedrooms and we'll have Carolyn Grimes who played Zuzu along for the ride to share her memories and fun behind-the-scenes stories of making this film let's get started we're first introduced to the house on the very night that George and Mary's real cording begins walking home together after the dance they stopped to throw stones at an old dilapidated house Mary confides to George that she has always loved the home even now as it stands in complete disrepair somehow she can see something in it that George can't it's true worth Mary has also always loved George as witnessed in the scene where a young Mary Whispers in his ear his bad ear that she will love him till the day she dies and love him she does she can also see something in George that at times he and others can't his true worth Mary is devoted to both George and the house and her Devotion to the house becomes a metaphor for her more important Devotion to the man she gives her all to creating a wonderful home and a wonderful home life as well she is one of those rare people who sees things not as they are but as what they could be on the day of their wedding when they discover a run on the building and Loan Mary comes to the rescue willingly giving up their honeymoon money to help keep the institution afloat while George tries to save the building alone she heads over to the crumbling rundown old house to begin her Rescue of it and perhaps more importantly to help George see its true potential too when the crisis at the building and loan is over George finally arrives to find a doorman there his old pal Ernie ready to greet and Usher him in after all a fine establishment like this one deserves a grand entrance Mary has hung posters on the wall of exotic locations representing one of George's biggest dreams to travel the world she has chickens roasting on an improvised rotisserie candles at the table and crooning outside the window adding the perfect Ambiance to the scene if George hadn't seen its potential before perhaps now he'll begin to we'll begin with an overhead view of the main floor to help us get our bearings this is the main room where most of the scenes took place this is the entry hall over here is the dining room that started out as their bedroom and back here is the butler's pantry and kitchen The Parlor the main room or parlor was the Hub of activity for the home in this corner was the piano the fireplace was here and on this end was George Bailey's work area some things to take note of before we tour the home these framed butterflies were previously seen in the home George grew up in as were some photos of George as a youth for the film they used actual photos of Jimmy Stewart when he was young I have done the same for this tour and of course you'll recognize in this corner the artwork Mary made for George George lasso's the Moon a reference to their late night discussion as they walked home from the dance when George tells Mary he could give her anything she wants even the Moon a promise I think we can all agree that he eventually delivers on now that drawing sits in the Parlor its placement in the heart of the home letting us know that he's already lasso the greatest possession there is a happy family life George has it all just like he'd hoped just not exactly in the way he had imagined so many lessons here for us who hasn't overlooked the value of what they have while yearning over the fence at what they think they want we see family photos placed all around the room his mother brother Harry and even a large portrait of his now deceased father looking down on him George had always tried to do what was right and what his father would have wanted even when it hampered his own aspirations he chose to make good decisions selfless decisions but at the same time he felt trapped by them there were his choices to be sure but that didn't mean he might have chosen differently if not for the fact that others were always depending on him foreign I asked Carolyn Grimes who played the adorable Zuzu about her memories of being on the set what stood out to her well we didn't have a whole lot of money and so we had a tree that was about two feet tall it sat on a table so it was a very small tree and when I saw the tree I was like oh my gosh this thing is huge it was as big as my whole front room at home you know so it was I was fascinated with that beautiful Christmas tree and all the gorgeous decorations and this tinsel is hanging all over the tree it looked kind of like a silver Tree in a way and ah I just loved it it was beautiful I I'll never forget it the hall in the hallway we see the grandfather clock from George's family home a small table with a telephone where George while under great stress and out of character for him chews out zuzu's teacher and her husband and later reaps the consequences we see a soft wide chair next to the telephone a unique coat rack slash umbrella stand and a plant stand here in the very back there's a door we never see what's inside of it I at first thought it was the exit door of the kitchen we see in this scene but it doesn't line up we can also see from the outline of the house in this overhead shot that there wouldn't be another large room back there it's possible it's just a closet it most likely wouldn't have been a bathroom back then in this style of home there was usually only one bathroom and it was almost always upstairs with the bedrooms it could possibly lead to a screened-in back porch which was also very common in this style of home but I want to hear what you think let me know in the comments what you think it might lead to the dining room we don't get to see much of the dining room but we get enough glimpses of each wall that I was able to recreate it the night of George and Mary's wedding Mary had it set up as a bedroom this was probably meant to be their temporary bedroom since it wouldn't have been safe to have it upstairs until repairs were made as Mary and George walked through the home we see a buffet here a dining table here a curio cabinet in this corner and a plant stand here one interesting thing I uncovered as I researched the home was made apparent in this shot here we're in the butler's Pantry looking out into the dining room notice that there's a space for the dining table area but then there's a framed out separation here just before the area with the bay windows that explained a lot you can see the bay window on the outside of the home here but we see the dining room table here and it's not in the Bay Area the room is actually much deeper than the part we see them walking through so what is accounted for in this extra space in the Bay Area the answer is found in this shot we see a bird cage and some plants but not much else is shown to us I've added another small table with extra side chairs what would you put there one of the things I love most about creating these tours is that we get to see the rooms in their entirety the set design just go to so much trouble to create these incredible homes and yet we often only catch glimpses as we watch the show the camera is panning by quickly and actors are in the way so to speak it's only when we can pause the scenes and study the background that we can catch what all is going on and I love being able to walk through them as though they were real homes a way that even the actors themselves never got to see them [Music] thank you [Music] the kitchen this overhead view of the kitchen and Butler's Pantry will help us understand the layout more we see the family walking from the dining room in through this door into a Butler's Pantry before entering the kitchen area here's the butler's Pantry before the kitchen once in the kitchen we see that the refrigerator is here the sink here with a little table next to it and the stove is right here with a door on each side of it this store most likely would not lead to a basement as it doesn't line up with the staircase it could either be a separate Pantry or closet or it could lead back into the butler's pantry which is what I've turned it into we'll take a tour of the kitchen now before heading on upstairs by the way you can see all of these tours in black and white at the link in the description below I've taken the colors for these rooms from the colorized version of the movie I realized that it might not be the actual colors that were on the set but I assumed that the people who worked on the colorization did their research before choosing colors so I kept it in line with their version foreign [Music] [Music] a tour of the whole main floor is coming up but first we're gonna head upstairs you'll remember as George heads up the stairs he encounters the loose cap on the Newell post on three different occasions an indicator of repairs still left undone but more importantly it symbolizes his view of his life in the moment when he's in distress the encounter leaves him frustrated but when he gains A Renewed look on the gift his life truly is that same encounter leaves him elated he even kisses it before placing it back on life dealt him the same situation but his perspective made all the difference George in Mary's bedroom we didn't get to see much of this room but there are plenty of Clues you'll notice from this image that their bedroom was at the top of the stairs on this end we know this because we see the stairs here behind George as he enters the room when we see their room it's not yet finished you can see bare walls here with heavy water stains however at one point in the film we see Mary working on a room was it perhaps their bedroom the wallpaper has peacocks on it which doesn't match the wallpaper on the finished stairs the dining room or zuzu's room for that reason I chose to use this wallpaper in their bedroom we see the bed is right here beside the door there's a small Nook here with a window we see the same drawing of George last sewing the moon here by the dresser later it would show up down in the Parlor above the piano even though it obviously can't be in two places at once I chose to leave it in this tour so that it would look how we remember it in the film in this shot we can see the reflection of light coming through a window here that would place this set of Windows on this wall which lines up with the wall Mary could have been wallpapering here's an overhead view of George and Mary's room then here's the location of the bed the Nook with the window and the pair of Windows on this wall I chose to add a closet on the wall that we never got to see here you've probably figured out that this room doesn't match up with what we are shown on the exterior which is very common with both movie and TV homes if it matched the exterior there would be a large Bay Area here matching the one directly below in the dining room instead of the small square Nook such a beautiful room it's a shame we didn't get to see more of it in the film [Music] thank you coming up zuzu's room and then a tour of the entire main floor before we head over to zuzu's room I wanted to see what the view would look like from up here looking down to the hall below so I thought I'd give you a peek too that's another thing I love about creating these tours getting to see views we never got to see on the show by now you may be wondering where a bathroom could go you'll notice that as we look at the exterior there's several Windows here in the front that we never get to see in the movie that would suggest that there's a hallway here where the other children's bedrooms could be as well as the bathroom zuzu's room one of the sweetest rooms in the whole house and one of the most heartwarming scenes from the film takes place here too George Bailey runs up the stairs upon hearing that Zuzu is sick she hands him a rose and asks him to fix the petals that have fallen off he tucks them in his pocket pretending to fix it those same petals would later mean so much to George when Clarence the angel shows what life would be like if George were never born the petals are nowhere to be found but as it begins in Earnest prayer and the snow starts to fall he eventually realizes that he is back back to his life and one of the first things he searches for is zuzu's petals here's an overhead view of the room this is where zuzu's bed was and her little brother's crib right beside her there's another little bay window here this time with built-in seating all of the furniture the bed the crib the nightstand and the chiffarobe have the same three-dimensional cut out wooden flowers adorning them there's a pretty little wing back chair in this corner next to zuzu's nightstand as for the missing fourth wall that we never got to see I added a closet the more I examined this room the more I fell in love with it we'll Tour zuzu's room now and then get a tour of the whole main floor at once at the end of this tour I'll show you the square feet of the entire home [Music] thank you [Music] [Applause] foreign foreign [Music] of course the most inspirational scene from the film begins when George is given a second chance and relishes it he runs through the town exhilarated at all of the things he'd taken for granted before he even pops his head in the window of the bank and says Merry Christmas to Potter himself when he rushes home and greets his family at the top of the stairs bypassing the bank Auditors in the Press we can feel his genuine gratitude for all that he has his family and his life Carolyn Grimes recalls memories of filming those scenes I was on his back on the stairs Larry Sims the oldest boy who played Petey was holding my bottom so that you know I wouldn't fall off and giving me a little bit so I wouldn't have to choke him to death because he had his arms of other places Jimmy Stewart did and he's got little Tommy under this arm and he's got Mary's hand in the other hand and I'm just hanging on his back hanging onto his neck we did that many times going up and down those or down those stairs down the stairs and down the stairs and he was so kind and he was so gentle and he always let me down in the living room very gently and you know we had all the patients in the world it was really sweet he was really sweet to hear the full interview with Carolyn including many more behind the scenes stories click on the link below now we'll take the full tour of the main floor as you'll remember Mary had already gone off to college and had chosen to come back home to Bedford Falls Mary knew who she was and what she wanted she was happy with simple things she kind of knew who George was too though he might not have realized it himself who he really was or what he really had and that it was right in front of him George resented having to stay in Bedford Falls he also resented the old broken-down house George had Grand visions of who he was going to be and what he was going to build he was going to build Bridges and airports he was going to travel the world he fought against the life he felt he was handed the cards he was dealt in fact it took an angel to help him see what he had right in front of him he didn't even appreciate the angel at first you look like about the kind of Angel I'd get he said in exasperation what he didn't see was that he had built something bigger and much more important than skyscrapers Bridges and airports he had literally helped build a town more specifically he had helped to build up people's lives within that town he provided homes to those who if not for him could never have afforded them he finally understood when his life was returned to him he didn't make a fortune but he truly had a fortune as his brother Harry said to my big brother George the richest man in town be sure to check out all the other TV and movie home tours I've created and let me know in the comments which homes you'd like to see in the future but as for today that's a wrap see you next time on behind the scenes [Music]

Channel: Marina Coates - Mockingbird Lane

Views: 132,585

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Id: cTkEoasyHl0

Length: 22min 9sec (1329 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 09 2022