The movie “It’s A Wonderful  Life” is based on ‘The Greatest
Gift,’ a short story by Philip Van Doren Stern. He originally
started writing the story in 1939, but had no luck publishing
it at first.

After failing to find a publisher, Stern decided to print his story
as a 21-page Christmas card that he sent to 200 of his friends
in 1943.

An RKO Pictures producer saw the "card" and convinced the
studio to buy the rights to the story, which were eventually
sold to Frank Capra’s production company, Liberty Films.

Stern’s short story was also eventually published as a book in
1944—and Stern also sold the story to Good Housekeeping,
which published it in its January 1945 issue under the title
"The Man Who Was Never Born."

Philip Van Doren Stern
(September 10, 1900 – July 31, 1984)