Film Ahead is a weekly column designed to highlight repertory and art house programming for the discerning Camberville filmgoer seeking something old, something new and something forever provocative. (More cinematic offerings can sometimes be found in our week-ahead events calendar.)

Earning your wings

Beginning Friday, The Brattle Theatre kicks off its annual run of Frank Capra’s Christmas classic, “It’a Wonderful Life” (1946) starring Jimmy Stewart as the idealist everyman George Bailey. After a major financial disaster, he contemplates suicide, but an angel (Clarance Travers) gives him a chance to see the world as if he never existed. It’s kind of a flip on Dickens’ “A Christmas Story” and even has its own Scrooge in the curmudgeonly Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). The feel-good film hits you each and every time. And just listen to the bell ring as the angels get their wings.

The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square.