6. IT WAS DONNA REED’S FIRST STARRING ROLE.

Though Donna Reed was hardly a newcomer when It’s a Wonderful Life rolled around, having appeared in nearly 20 projects previously, the film did mark her first starring role. Though it’s difficult to imagine anyone else in the role today, she did have some competition from Jean Arthur. “[Frank Capra] had seen mom in They Were Expendable and liked her,” Mary Owen says. “When Capra met my mother at MGM, he knew she'd be just right for Mary Bailey.”