Beset with personal and professional problems, George Bailey (James Stewart) finds his previously happy life falling apart around him on Christmas Eve. Seeing no way out, George considers suicide from the edge of a bridge - but Clarence, his guardian angel, intervenes and shows George what his beloved hometown of Bedford Falls would be like without him.
Shocked by what he sees and at the unforeseen circumstances of his absence, George reconsiders and begs Clarence to return him to the problems of the present and the loving community he has fostered throughout his life.