#MOVIE ITHEATER IN BEDFORD PA MOVIE#

Maybe they were Capra’s inspiration?īut Bedford is a very affluent community of Colonial-era homes and sprawling horse farms, not like the humble Bedford Falls in the movie at all. There are road signs in the movie pointing to Katonah and Chappaqua, both of which are in Westchester County and near the towns of Bedford and Bedford Hills. And, a reference to Cornell University in Ithaca, just 40 miles south, was taken out of the script by the studio’s rights clearance lawyers. All three are an easy drive from Seneca Falls. Rochester, Buffalo, and Elmira are mentioned in the script and referenced as being relatively close. It’s hard to dispute that Capra set Bedford Falls in New York State. Seneca Falls’ claim begins with geography. Why isn’t the movie set just an excellent depiction of the look and feel of small-town America? Many towns have similarities to Bedford Falls. Jimmy Stewart said the set reminded him of his hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania. So why does Seneca Falls think it is Bedford Falls? After all, Bedford Falls strikes a chord with millions of people in small towns across the country.

(Her character closes the movie with the famous line, “Look, Daddy teacher says, ‘Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.’”) The downtown will be decorated with replicas of the Christmas lights of Bedford Falls, and the shops and restaurants will serve up It’s A Wonderful Life fare.

This year’s event is December 7-9 and will include a screening of It’s A Wonderful Life, during which featured guest Karolyn Grimes will discuss her experiences shooting the movie. Seneca Falls’ town leaders are so sure it served as Capra’s inspiration that they have created an It’s A Wonderful Life festival. In the movie it was “Bailey Park,” named in honor of George Bailey’s family building and loan in Seneca Falls it was “Rumseyville,” named after the owner of one the town’s large pump manufacturers. Both had a large Italian community and both had a neighborhood where people of modest means could live comfortably, courtesy of the generous terms of a community leader. There were also similarities in the towns’ characters. Seneca Falls had the globe street lamps seen in the movie and even had a median on a portion of its main street. In 1945, when the movie was shot, Seneca Falls was a mill town, just like Bedford Falls. In addition to the architecture along the main street and the steel truss bridge, Seneca Falls has many Second Empire Victorian homes (like the large, old house George and Mary owned in the movie). Physical similarities between Seneca Falls and Bedford Falls are striking. “When I came around the corner and saw main street, I gasped and said, ‘This is Bedford Falls!’” Grimes then saw the steel bridge that flows over the canal: “It is nearly a replica of the same bridge that George Bailey had grown up with all his life.” Karolyn Grimes, the actress who played Zuzu, one of the children of George and Mary Bailey (James Stewart and Donna Reed) in the American movie classic, thinks it was.

Too Many Coincidences to Ignore… Seneca Falls, NY - Was the Upstate New York village of Seneca Falls Frank Capra’s inspiration for the design of Bedford Falls in It’s A Wonderful Life?

Movie itheater in bedford pa