I also enjoy IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. I know I grew up being aware of it but I really don't really remember watching it until I was in high school. And then, once we had cable installed, it was kind of fun channel-hopping on Christmas Eve and finding the movie playing at several different points.
The one thing I always wondered about: why does Mary wind up as an "old maid"? Wouldn't she have married Sam Wainwright?