The film is regarded as a classic and is a staple of Christmas television around the world, although, due to its high production costs and stiff competition at the box office, financially, it was considered a "flop." The film's break-even point was actually $6.3 million, approximately twice the production cost, a figure it never came close to achieving in its initial release. Mark Eliot writes, "Although it was not the complete box-office failure that today everyone believes... it was a major disappointment and confirmed, at least to the studios, that Capra was no longer capable of turning out the populist features that made his films the must-see, money-making events they once were." Although not an Oscar winner at the time, it has been since named by the American Film Institute one of the best films ever made and was placed number one on the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers list of the most inspirational American films of all time.