The Greatest Gift (story)

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"The Greatest Gift" is a 1943 short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern which became the basis for the film It's a Wonderful Life.

1 Plot summary
2 History
3 Footnotes
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The story begins with George Pratt, a man who is unsatisfied with his life, standing on a bridge. A strange, well-dressed and mannered man approches him, carrying a briefcase. The man strikes a conversation with him and George tells him that he wishes he was never born. The man tells him it is done, that he was never born and before he goes home, take the briefcase and pretend to be a door-to-door hairbrush salesman when he sees his wife. When George returns home, he does as he is told and is shocked to discover that not only does his wife not know him, everyone who knew him took different and often negative steps in life because George was never born. George offers "his wife" a complimentary brush which she takes and then he leaves. George returns to the bridge and questions the man who explains to him that he wanted more when he was already given everything; the greatest gift of all--the gift of life. The man says that everything has returned to normal now and he takes the briefcase and leaves. George, now realizing the lesson returns home. True enough, everything is normal and he hugs his wife, and explains that he "thought he lost her". She is confused, and as he is about to explain, his hand bumps a hairbrush on a table behind him. Without turning around, he knew the brush was the one he presented to her.

[edit] History

Inspired by a dream, Stern published a 4,000-word short story called "The Greatest Gift" in 1943 after working on it since the late 1930s but, unable to find a publisher, he sent the 200 copies he had printed to friends as Christmas cards in December 1943. One of the pamphlets came to the attention of RKO Pictures producer David Hempstead, who showed it to actor Cary Grant, who was interested in playing the lead role. RKO purchased the motion picture rights for $10,000 in April 1944.^[1] After several screenwriters worked on adaptations, RKO sold the rights to the story in 1945 to Frank Capra's production company for the same $10,000, which he adapted into It's a Wonderful Life.

The story was first published as a book in December 1944, with illustrations by Rafaello Busoni. Stern also sold it to Reader's Scope magazine, which published the story in its December 1944 issue, and to the magazine Good Housekeeping, which published it under the title "The Man Who Was Never Born" in its January 1945 issue (published in December 1944).