What if George Bailey wasn’t saved by his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, on that snowy Christmas Eve in Bedford Falls? This reimagining of the beloved Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life (and the Phillip Van Doren Stern story that inspired it) tells the story of Bedford Falls and its inhabitants after the death of their drama’s central character. The Last Temptation of Clarence Odbody restores the dark undercurrent of the Van Doren Stern’s short story “The Greatest Gift” to the uplifting plot of Capra’s film, and explores how the familiar characters in it might respond to the dire circumstances created by George Bailey’s disappearance from their lives. The paths of an introspective cab driver, a ruthless henchman, and a wayward daughter collide nearly twenty years later in the town that defined their reputations for better or for worse.
