The 1946 Frank Capra movie It's a Wonderful Life is a beloved Christmas classic today, but the film had a hard road getting there, mainly because no one liked it. It was based on a 1939 short story that no one wanted to publish. You have to wonder what that story was, because as it moved toward film, everything was changed because no one liked the details. Quite a few movie stars turned it down because they didn't like the script or the characters, even as all that was being re-written. And movie audiences didn't like It's a Wonderful Life, either, maybe because it was so long and the first 90 minutes are rather depressing. It was a financial loss, and even the owners didn't like it enough to protect the copyright.
It's a Wonderful Life became a hit after it went into the public domain in 1974. When it was shown on TV, word of mouth spread that the ending was worth it. Read some behind-the scenes stories about It's a Wonderful Life at Cracked. Not all of it is about how people disliked it.