Description
LIFE Magazine – December 30, 1946 features Metropolitan Opera star Dorothy Kirsten on the cover and includes a major movie feature on It’s a Wonderful Life, released that month. That combination gives this issue unusually broad appeal across classic Hollywood, film history, opera, and postwar American culture.
Inside, LIFE covers Frank Capra’s now-classic film along with a wide range of late-1946 stories: Princess Elizabeth’s romance, Dwight D. Eisenhower being discussed as a presidential possibility, W. Averell Harriman, unrest in Shanghai, Christmas in postwar Europe, astrology, retriever trials, the West Indies, and new developments in science. The issue is a particularly rich snapshot of America at the end of 1946.
Inside This Issue
- Dorothy Kirsten — Metropolitan Opera star featured on the cover
- It’s a Wonderful Life — LIFE covers Frank Capra’s newly released film
- Princess Elizabeth — Coverage of the future queen’s romance
- Dwight D. Eisenhower — Discussion of Eisenhower as a possible presidential candidate
- W. Averell Harriman — A LIFE close-up on the diplomat and public figure
- Christmas in Europe — Postwar holiday scenes of joy and hardship
- Shanghai Riots — Coverage of unrest among street vendors
- The West Indies — A major photographic essay
- Astrology — LIFE examines the continuing fascination with the stars
- Man-Made Snowstorm — A science feature on artificial weather effects
Original LIFE Magazines are authentic issues published between 1936 and 2000.
Pg… 13 The Week’s Events: Election Murder Shakes Up New York Police
Pg… 18 The Week’s Events: Editorial: Get a Horse
Pg… 19 The Week’s Events: Shanghai Street Vendors Riot
Pg… 20 The Week’s Events: Grain Elevator Burns in Minneapolis
Pg… 22 The Week’s Events: Christmas Brings Joy and Sadness to Europe’s Children
Pg… 24 The Week’s Events: Princess Elizabeth Has a Romance
Pg… 26 The Week’s Events: Eisenhower is Boomed for President
Pg… 56 Close–Up: W. Averell Harriman by Charles J. V. Murphy
Pg… 34 Photographic Essays: The West Indies
Pg… 45 Photographic Essays: Astrology
Pg… 28 Sports: Retriever Trials
Pg… 52 Science: Man–Made Snowstorm
Pg… 68 Movie: “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Pg… 2 Other Departments: Letters to the Editors
Pg… 6 Other Departments: Speaking of Pictures: Metropolitan Opera Glamour Girls
Pg… 74 Other Departments: LIFE Goes to a Fraternity Circus Party
