Since moviemaking first became an industry, watching an engaging movie has provided one of the traditional means available for escaping, if only for a couple of hours, from the pressures and demands of the real world. Sitting around with family and friends during the holidays while revisiting some favorite Christmas-themed movies from both the recent and even distant past, I have found it can be a bonding and fortifying experience to help ease the stresses of the season. As to the Norris family's top five holiday watch list, it ranges from "The Walton's Homecoming" to "Polar Express," based on the children's book of the same name, to the classic Charles Dickens tale of "A Christmas Carol."

Prominent on the list is director Frank Capra's 1946 masterpiece, "It's a Wonderful Life." According to film news website Cinemablend, as we close in on 80 years since its release, "It's a Wonderful Life" and its world that has been likened to "a snow globe come to life" remains one of the most rewatched Christmas movies in film history.

As a three-time Academy Award-winning director responsible for such classics as "It Happened One Night," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "You Can't Take It With You," in later life, Frank Capra would claim "It's A Wonderful Life" as his favorite film. Says Cinemablend, "He would also screen it for his own family every Christmas."

What makes this film unique is the journey it takes the viewer on in reaching its positive life-reaffirming ending and the dark themes it explores along the way that lead to a near act of suicide by the central character. The power of this moment has not been lost after all these years as Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey stares over the edge of a bridge at the shadowy water below, tears begin to flow down his face as he starts to recite a prayer.

In a story originally published by Movieguide in December 1987, Stewart recalls that as he began to recite the scripted prayer, he became consumed by the meaning of what he is saying. "In agony I raise my eyes," he said as he then began following the scripted words, pleading, "God ... God ... dear Father in heaven, I'm not a praying man, but if you're up there and you can hear me, show me the way. I'm at the end of my rope. Show me the way, God ..." At that moment, Stewart says he felt "the loneliness, the hopelessness of people who had nowhere to turn, and my eyes filled with tears. I broke down sobbing. This was not planned at all, but the power of that prayer, the realization that our Father in heaven is there to help the hopeless, had reduced me to tears."

In a testimonial posted in January on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention website, Scott Fisher reflects on this film and "its alternate ending to a more tragic result. ... Over the past several years I've begun to work through the pain of my father's suicide when I was 15 years old," he writes. "I've discovered some connections with the film which I had not noticed previously. ... Like many suicide loss survivors, I've struggled with feelings of abandonment, guilt, anger, regret, and shame. I've spent countless hours trying to figure out what my father may have been thinking the day he killed himself. I've asked myself how I could have intervened if I'd been more aware of the possibility of his suicide. What clues did I miss?"

We are told that these are common questions confronted by suicide loss survivors. "The simple and painful fact is that we almost never have complete answers to these questions and have to come to some type of negotiated peace with leaving them open-ended," says Fisher. "I wish there had been an angel sent to intervene in my dad's life. Still, I find joy in seeing George pulled back from the brink ... I find comfort in the film. For two hours, I get to see a story come out right. I get to see redemption. Restoration. A family re-united."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a record number of people in the United States died of suicide last year as the suicide rate reached the highest level in nearly 80 years.

"America's suicide rate in 2022 was the highest seen since 1941 — the tail end of the Great Depression," notes Los Angeles Times cultural columnist LZ Granderson in a recent opinion piece. "The numbers are out there to diagnose the problem. But it's much harder to treat. ... This is a time of year to keep that in mind in all our interactions. For some, the holidays are more stressful or sad than cheerful. Many keenly feel both the sorrows and the joys during this season. Nearly two-thirds of people with mental health issues say this time of year makes their condition worse. Overall, 3 in 5 Americans say so," he adds.

"It's part of that 'human experience,'" writes Granderson, "and we're all figuring it out as we go along. But here's one guiding truth about us spiritual beings: Whatever people are facing, at any age and any time of year, we fare better if we don't feel alone."

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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