I saw the details and subleties of a performance that felt so real that if I saw some scenes a thousand times I would still be torn up by her in them. I find that I have become a bit of an apologist for the movie as a whole, and her in particular. I am working on a guide, of sorts, that deals with certain aspects of the plot and character development that I feel are commonly overlooked by the casual viewer. All I can say is this: If you watch it-pay deliberate attention to her face and especially her eyes. And, watch her scenes several times over so you can see the details. Near the end of the “Parlor” scene there are several seconds of her that I find endearingly spicy. The very last frame before the camera cuts to her mother shows a change in her expression I wish I could have seen all of. I wish Capra had allowed us to see this scene develop from their point of view all the way through. At least from the point where sweet, innocent Mary has just told her disapproving mother that a depressed and irritable George is “…making violent love to me, mother!”
I would have much rather seen the two of them and merely heard her mother’s reply.
The “telephone” scene is the best emotional interaction I guess I have ever seen on film. If it isn’t clear why, I’ll send you a copy of what I have so far.

I realize that I had never really noticed Donna Reed before, other than that she was different in this from what I’d heard about her. My dad didn’t watch the Donna Reed show, so it was never on. I never really noticed her in anything else, except maybe for glimpses of the TV show. After watching the young Miss Reed closely in It’s a Wonderful Life I find it hard to believe that she was mostly offered bland/dull/B-movie, squeaky clean roles afterward. I can’t imagine that no one could have seen the things I now see in this movie, and in Donna Reed’s character Mary Hatch. She is just such a foxy lady in this-even given the standards of the day. Her eyes and facial expressions show a fun, playful spirit that she seems to be well aware is a contradiction to the prim and proper front Mary presents to the world. Although she won her Academy Award for the role of Alma in “From Here to Eternity”, as for steamy attractiveness, Alma can’t hold a candle to Mary Hatch!