The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma • 44

8D THE OKLAHOMAN NEWSOK.COM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16,2016 It's a Wonderful Life' turns 70 sent to live with relatives in the Midwest. "I later became a medical technologist and sort of forgot about 'It's a Wonderful Life' until a reporter tracked me down around 1979 when I was living in Kansas," she recalled. "That's when interest in the film took off." The film's popularity also reconnected her with Jimmy Stewart. "In 1980, he had his secretary look for me because people were asking him what happened to that little girl in the movie," she said. "We ended up doing some appearances together, and he became a really good friend." Since rediscovering the film, Grimes has amassed an assortment of "It's a Wonderful Life" memorabilia.

In 2010, she decided to share her collection with fans of the film. "We started a museum in Seneca Falls, New York, which is thought to be the town Frank Capra modeled the film after," she said. "I want to see it become a living memorial to the film. Like George Bailey, we may not always fulfill our dreams, but this movie gives us the opportunity to think about what we have and what's important, and how wonderful life really is." Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama, with features, columns, and interviews in over 600 magazines and newspapers. See www.tinseltowntalks.

com BY NICK THOMAS Premiering in New York a few days before Christmas, 1946, "It's a Wonderful Life" has become a perennial holiday movie favorite. But it wasn't always so widely appreciated. Largely ignored for decades after its release, TV stations began airing the film during ThanksgivingChristmas holiday seasons after it fell into the public domain in 1974. In a 2014 interview (with the author), Karolyn Grimes recounted her childhood role playing Zuzu, the daughter of Jimmy Stewart's character, George Bailey, who is given a chance to re eval -uate the impact his life has had on others (see www. zuzu.net).

"He was a wonderful, gentle man," recalled Grimes of Stewart, who says he was patient if the 6 -year -old got her lines wrong. "No one thought the film was special at the time Jimmy, Donna Reed and director Frank Capra just viewed it as another job. But in his later years, Capra said it was the best movie he ever did." And the film's message, she says, is just as relevant today. "People will always suffer from hardships when they lose material things. But then maybe they stop and realize what's important in life, just like George Bailey did." "It's a Wonderful Life" was one of 16 films young Karolyn Grimes with Jimmy Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life." photo provided his hand the whole time we were doing the film." David Niven, however, "was hands off." "At the beginning of a movie, they would tell kids which actors you could hang around and who you should stay away from.

In fact, there was a stressful feeling on the whole set," she said. "Originally, Cary Grant was going to play the bishop and David Niven was going to be the angel, but they swapped roles. I read later that Cary resented the fact that he wasn't going to have the comedicrole." ing Randolph Scott, Glenn Ford, John Wayne and Cary Grant. "One of my favorite films was 'The Bishop's Wife' (1947) with Cary Grant," she said. "He was just wonderful and loved kids.

I sat on his lap, he told me stories and would take me to lunch every day at noon. There was an ice-skating rink on the set for scenes in the film, and he would pull me around on a sled to practice his skating." Grant, she says, must have had an excellent memory because "I never saw him with a script in One of her last films was "Rio Grande" in 1950 with John Wayne. "We were in Moab, Utah, for 3 weeks, and I had a blast riding in a covered wagon being chased by Indians on horseback," she recalled. "My birthday is July 4, and somehow John Wayne managed to get $300 worth of fireworks for the day a lot of fireworks back then. He had a big cake made for me and we had a lot of fun celebrating." But byl952, 12-year-old Karolyn had left the movie business.

Orphaned in her early teens, Grimes was Karolyn appeared in over a 7-year period. "I remember my first role in 'That Night with and I was four when we filmed," Grimes said. "It starred Susanna Foster, an opera singer, who sang a lullaby to me on her lap. There was a Christmas tree in that film, too, and I remember having to break an ornament." Although mostly recognized for her role in "It's a Wonderful Life" and her memorable line to Stewart "every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings" Grimes worked with other greats, includ Globes blaze a golden path to Oscars diversity I -A 1 1 This image released by A24 Films shows Naomie Harris in a scene from, "Moonlight." Harris was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actress in a motion picture comedy or musical for her role in the film. The 74th Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be broadcast on Jan.

8, on NBC. A24 via ap come from a different life experience." 'Another kind of hero' Sharing and illuminating that distinct life experience was the impetus for such films as "Moonlight," the drama depicting three periods in the life of a young black man as he struggles with, and ultimately learns to accept, his gay identity. Made for a pittance, the film has grossed nearly $11 million, a figure that will likely balloon with the Globes and (potential) Oscars nominations. "I do think it's one of these movies that has the ability to change the way people look at life and each other," said "Moonlight" actress Harris, Golden Globe -nominated for playing the film's drug addict mother. Her "Moonlight" cast-mate, Ali, also a Globe nominee, added: "I just hope that that's something that is the norm moving forward, where there are people from all walks of life and different cultures and communities in some way, shape or form being repre -sented on screen, and their work being appreciated and recognized." The academy's diversity push also heightened the way that movies such as "Moonlight," "Hidden Figures," "Fences" and "Loving" were marketed and discussed.

BY GLENN WHIPP Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES With really good marketing and sheer force of will, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has, over the last decade, turned the Golden Globes from a scandal-riven booze fest into a highly rated, influential awards ceremony, a metamorphosis that has never been clearer than this year. The diverse slate of film acting nominees it announced on Monday sent a clear, early message to Oscar voters dogged by the OscarsSoWhite label: There can be no excuses this year. Last year, when faced with criticism for yet another all-white slate of acting nominees, some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences argued that there simply had been too few nonwhite choices. This year, the 85 voting members of the HFPA identified an array of possibilities that included nominating six black actors Denzel Washington and Viola Davis for "Fences," Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris for "Moonlight," Ruth Negga for "Loving" and Octavia Spencer for "Hidden Figures." Also nominated: "Lion's" Dev Patel, British-born to Indian parents. Beyond that, Globes voters also took the oppor -tunity to recognize a wide range of stories, saluting movies driven by women, such as "Florence Foster Jenkins," which tells the true story of a New York socialite whose inability to sing didn't stop her from trying, and "20th Century Women," a poignant look at a freethinking, independent mother raising her son beyond the bounds of convention.

"Hidden Figures," a drama about the black women mathematicians who helped launch John Glenn into space, scored two nominations, includ- invited its largest and most diverse set of new members ever 683 industry professionals, 46 percent of them female and 41 per -cent people of color. What effect those newcomers might have on this year's nominees remains to be seen, though many new members think that a shift in sensibility is inevitable. "There's areal art -house sensibility to this new class," says German director Maren Ade, who joined this year. "They invited a lot of European filmmakers, as well as Asians too, people who see things and value things a bit differently, simply because they This image released by A24 Films shows Mahershala Ali, left, and Alex Hibbert in a scene from, "Moonlight." Ali was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in the film on Monday, Dec. 12, 2016.

The 74th Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be broadcast on Jan. 8, on NBC. david bornfriendA24 via ap The Jan. 24 Oscar nominations also will be the first since the academy ing a nod for supporting actress Spencer. "It is nice to have more inclusion and inclusion across the board," said "Moonlight" writer -director Barry Jenkins, whose coming-of-age drama received six nominations.

"Looking at the types of movies nominated in the best picture categories, especially in this postelection world, it's really this beautiful snapshot of what America is right now. And it's not just a monolith. I think that's the biggest statement." Diversity trend By casting its net wide, the Globes continued a trend. In the wake of January's Oscars So White controversy, the SAG Awards and Emmy Awards ceremonies practically flaunted their inclusive sets of winners and nominees. "Here in Hollywood, the only thing that we value more than diversity is congratulating ourselves on how much we value diversity," Emmys host Jimmy Kimmel joked in his opening monologue at the September show.

Hall' OKC Gun ArATime! "I'll tell you, the Emmys are so diverse this year, the Oscars are now telling people we're one of their closest friends." Now the question is: Will film academy members follow suit? "It's not like voters are going to have to go out of their way to look for worthy names," veteran awards consultant Tony Angelotti said. "There are a lot of bona fide candidates, not just fringe people who, if you vote for them, it might look like you're just responding to the controversy. Every one of these people are great actors delivering strong performances rw DECEMBER 17-18 THE EXPO HALL 2 BUILDING THE FAIRGROUNDS OKCGunShow.com.