Review of It's a Wonderful Life (1946) by Manny Farber for The New Republic — 09 Aug 1959

Capra is an old-time movie craftsman, the master of every trick in the bag, and in many ways he is more at home with the medium than any other Hollywood director. But all of his details give the impression of contrived effect.

..To make his points he always takes an easy, simple-minded path that doesn’t give much credit to the intelligence of the audience.