Where was It's a Wonderful Life filmed?

The opening scene, where Clarence, an elderly angel, convinces a suicidal George Bailey not to take his own life is both heartwarming and emotional. George Bailey is a man who is on the brink of ending it all on Christmas Eve. To turn things around, a group of senior angels sends Clarence, a struggling angel who has not yet earned his wings, to stop him. They assure Clarence that he will earn his wings if he saves George.

The setting for this pivotal scene was a recreated town constructed by RKO Pictures at their Encino Ranch in the San Fernando Valley. The set was designed to resemble Bedford Falls but also included many elements like streets and houses initially built as film sets for other movies and recycled at the lot.

The three-block-long set was destroyed after filming wrapped up. Today, if you visit Oxnard Street and Burbank Boulevard, you won’t find any trace of it; housing developments within the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area have replaced it.

If you want to get to the Former RKO Movie Ranch, first head north on US 101 from Los Angeles towards Ventura County. Once you reach exit 21 for Balboa Blvd., steer onto the exit and use the right two lanes to turn right onto the right blvd. Take a left onto Burbank Blvd, and drive through residential areas until you reach the location on your right side.

At the dance, George talks to some guys. He sees Violet (Gloria Grahame), but then Mary Hatch's (Danny Mummert) brother interrupts and asks George to dance with Mary (Donna Reed). Mary abandons her uninteresting companion to dance with George, and they connect.

The music is lively, and they seem to have a great time, though some onlookers aren’t so happy about it. Mary's original date gets upset and triggers a mechanism that moves the dance floor back, causing George and Mary to fall into the pool below. Other attendees follow suit and start jumping in.

This scene has become an enduring part of pop culture, with references appearing everywhere, from cartoons to video games. The original location for this scene was Beverly Hills High School at 241 Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA. The school still exists today, and while you may not be able to swim in their pool, you can visit and take a tour if you’d like to see where the cinematic moment was created.

To get to Beverly Hills High School, head south on La Cienega Boulevard until you reach the intersection with Olympic Boulevard. Take a right onto Olympic Boulevard and then another right onto Moreno Drive, the Beverly Hills High School entrance will be on your left after about 0.7 miles. The school also offers free parking for visitors, so don't worry about finding a spot once you arrive.

The scene where George and Clarence visit Giuseppe Martini's (Bill Edmunds) house in Bailey Park is set in a desolate wasteland with a graveyard. The graveyard is where his brother Harry (Todd Karns) rests, having passed on at war.

When Clarence reveals that Harry had died, not on the battlefield as everyone believed, but due to an accident at home, George breaks down and insists that his brother deserved a better life than him. One of Clarence's famous lines is, “You had a great life, George. It would be a mistake to waste it, don't you see?"

The touching scene unfolds while snow gently falls around them, adding to the somber mood of the moment. The shot of a despondent George looking at his brother's grave while Clarence stands by has been cited as one of the most emotionally powerful scenes in film history. The exterior shots of Martini's house were filmed at 4587 Viro Road, La Cañada Flintridge, California. This privately owned property isn't open for visitors but can still be seen from the road.

From Los Angeles, to reach 4587 Viro Road, take W Temple St to access CA-110 N. Keep driving on CA-110 N and exit at 22A onto CA-2 N/Glendale Fwy and I-210 E towards La Cañada Flintridge. Then, take Oak Grove Dr and turn onto Viro Rd, where you'll find 4587 on your left-hand side, approximately 1 mile away.