This is an American classic. I knew – vaguely – the plot: a man is in despair, then learns what his town and friends would have been like without him. But I’d never seen it.

Finally, a few days after Christmas, we sat down to watch it. It wasn’t quite as I expected: most of the film was a series of flashbacks to George’s life, briefly in childhood and as a young man, and then some glimpses of him as he grew older. It was in some ways a frustrating life, as he had to give up many of his dreams.

His guardian angel, Clarence, is a masterpiece of casting. He’s rather a bumbling angel, but by no means a young or even attractive one. He really wants the best for George, but is rather nervous about trying it, and would really love to earn his wings…

It could easily have been over-sentimental or schmaltzy, but somehow it isn’t. I found it a bit hard to get into, partly because of the 1940s American accents, but by the time we were half way through I was totally captivated. Definitely a feel-good film, one of the few that I expect to watch again in a few years.