JAMES STEWART - IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE TOPS INSPIRATIONAL LIST

JAMES STEWART's Christmas classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE has topped a new TV poll of inspiring US movies. The FRANK CAPRA movie, in which Stewart's despondent character, GEORGE BAILEY, discovers what his hometown would be like if he didn't exist, led the American Film Institute's list of life-affirming films, which was revealed on TV in America last night (14JUN06). The film beat the movie adaptation of HARPER LEE's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, which starred GREGORY PECK as a dad seeking justice for a wrongly accused man, and STEVEN SPIELBERG's touching Holocaust drama SCHINDLER'S LIST. Another James Stewart/Frank Capra collaboration, MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, came in fifth on the list, while Spielberg had another two films in the top 10 - ET THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. The top 10 was: 1. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 3. SCHINDLER'S LIST 4. ROCKY 5. MR SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 6. ET THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL 7. THE GRAPES OF WRATH 8. BREAKING AWAY 9. MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET 10. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.