It's a Wonderful Life with Mary Owen

Doors Open: 5:00pm  |  Showtime: 6:00pm

Celebrate the holiday season with Frank Capra’s beloved 1946 classic, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. Before the movie, enjoy festive pre-show caroling by students from Statement Arts and a special introduction by Mary Owen, daughter of Donna Reed. Directed by Frank Capra and written by Francis Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Frank Capra, the movie runs 2 hours, 10 minutes and will be screened on DCP.

This screening is part of our Wonder Organ for a Wonderful Life campaign—an ongoing effort to make our Robert Morton "Wonder" Organ sing for the holidays! Thanks to dozens of long-time and first-time supporters, we are already halfway to our $10,000 goal, which will unlock a matching $10,000 gift from our anonymous “guardian angel” donor (whom we affectionately call Clarence). If we reach our goal by November 15, 2025, our Wonder Organ—the voice and soul of the United Palace—will accompany our pre-show caroling with Statement Arts. For more information about the organ restoration campaign, or to donate, click here.

It's a Wonderful Life also continues the Movies at the Palace Season of Community, celebrating 95 years serving the community of Washington Heights. To learn more about our 2025 season, click here.

Please note: The Season of Community is a different series than Movies at the Palace with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is not scheduled to be at this screening.

United Palace History  

The ornate United Palace opened in 1930 as the Loew's 175th Street Theatre, a deluxe movie theater and vaudeville house, the last of the five Wonder Theaters in New York City and New Jersey. Its first act as a movie theater ended in April 1969 with a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

With a groundswell of community support and our good friend, patron, and neighbor Lin-Manuel Miranda, movies returned to the United Palace in 2013. Since then, we have screened over 100 feature films, from world premieres (In the Heights, Halftime, and Rebecca as part of the Tribeca Festival) to all-time classics (It's A Wonderful Life), and community favorites (Mad Hot Ballroom). 

Our goal is to have the cinematic experience come alive for audiences too used to watching movies on their phones or TVs. 

One of our highest compliments came from Robert DeNiro who, speaking before a 50th anniversary screening of The Godfather, described watching a movie at the United Palace as: “The moviegoing experience doesn't get any better.”