You probably know that the American classic It’s a Wonderful Life teaches us that no man is a failure if he has friends. But did you also know that the film irked Senator Joe McCarthy so much that he wanted it banned?

It’s a Wonderful Life is about a guardian angel who helps a suicidal man named George Bailey see the value in his life. Although the film received positive reviews when it premiered in 1946, it underwhelmed at the box office. But when Senator McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee turned their attention to Hollywood, they focused on the movie and its director, Frank Capra. It wasn’t long before the FBI released a memo hinting at Capra’s pinko tendencies.

So, what made Senator McCarthy so angry? The part involving the maligning of fat-cat banker and slumlord Henry Potter. While Bailey (who lends money to the working poor) is the movie’s hero, Henry Potter (who focuses on the financial bottom line alone) is the villain. According to the FBI’s memo, portraying a capitalist in such a negative light was a classic communist trick. Fortunately, Capra had served as a major in the U.S. Army Reserves during World War II and had produced a series of American propaganda films for the government, so he escaped the criticism relatively unscathed.

Meanwhile, opinions about Henry Potter’s character have changed over the years. In light of the housing-market crisis, the fiscally responsible banker may not have been such a bad guy after all. The loans that he tried to prevent George Bailey from handing out were essentially subprime mortgages. Mr. Potter may have just been trying to stop the poor citizens of Bedford Falls from over-leveraging themselves. Who’s the evil capitalist now?

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