/——/ The movie preserves mainly because it’s a heat warming Christmas movie with top rated actors, and also because some clerk at the studio forgot to pay the $6 to renew the copyright. This threw the movie into public domain and TV stations could run it for free each year and take in the ad money. People watched it every year and grew to love it.The movie perseveres because it's good triumphing over evil, Christianity triumphing over irreligion, love triumphing over hate. These truths will always resonate.