The wife is a cold-hearted harridan with her endless reminders of the night George’s father died. Just won’t let him forget it. Plus she wished him to remain in town with that hex she made that very night by breaking the window in the old house. I say throw her into the water to see if she floats and burn her anyway regardless, just for good measure.
right after the dance George is walking with his future wife (unbeknownst to him). George makes a wish (by breaking the window with a rock) to get out of town and see the world. She immediately makes what is alluded to as a counter wish to keep him there and presumably to marry him. She then dances naked under a full moon. BAM his father immediately has a heart attack and dies. This forces George to stay behind. They eventually get married and consummate the marriage at the same house the wish was made from.
She’s evil I tells yah.
well we know she floats because she pushes George into the school pool and is pulled in with him.
Witch! Burn her!
In case anyone’s curious, $8000 in 1946 is almost $91,000 today. Not a small sum. I always hated that Potter got away with the money.
True, but in a situation where a bank is going bust, the FDIC (or other authority responsible for the banks’ charter) looks for another bank to buy out the troubled bank. Usually a bank isn’t forcibly closed until this buyout partner is found, with the order to close coming on Friday and the bank re-opening under it’s new corporate name on Monday morning.
It could be argued that Wainrights proposal to fully fund the Bailey Bank was tantamount to a buyout offer.
Here’s what I wanted to know: WHY THE HELL WEREN’T THESE PEOPLE SAVING THAT CASH IN THE BANK? 
(Yeah, yeah: I know - it was right after the GD and people didn’t trust banks then. But still… )
Yes. I’m no expert on the regulatory environment in the 40s, but as a former auditor and one who deals with regulatory entities on a regular basis, I can assure you that they worry about all kinds of things. And an instance where BEFORE THEIR EYES they see proof that there is money unaccounted for, a gap that requires unobligated people to cover, is all they’d need. When I audited organizations, in fact, there was no need to find an actual discrepancy–the mere absence of controls and monitoring mechanisms was enough. “I don’t know where the money went, but look!–I have pals that will cover the discrepancy, now that I see you’ve found out!” My audit report would be already written at that point, and management would be in a world of shit.
I strongly suspect this was the case then as well.
The bank examiner, and the guy with the warrant, reported back to Potter that George Bailey ‘found’ the money - it was under a cash drawer or something.
Potter can’t expose their lie without blowing his own cover, so he uses the $8000 windfall for hookers and blow.
Besides, George has a guardian angel who knows the whole deal and won’t let George go to the slammer.
Nice tidy package.
Also, George’s dad died of a stroke.
well yes, I was curious, thanks. Now explain to me who walks around with that kind of money without an armed guard? And while I’m thinking about it, that’s a pretty good haul for a thread bare savings and loan. We know George was giving it away to loose women. He did it right in front of an auditor.
That’s what they WANTED you to think. He actually died of a heart attack having sex with one of the women on the savings and loan’s payroll.
To derail the thread a little more, I noticed a couple of new things this last viewing on Christmas Eve.
First, at George and Mary’s wedding, the mother of the bride looks really angry as they burst out of the doors, and throughout the scene. That was a nice little touch by the actress playing the shrewish little harridan.
Second, I didn’t remember, at Uncle Billy’s house, when he collapses his head on his desk in despair, that a pet squirrel climbs up his arm to his shoulder. Great touch.
What kind of guardian angel takes a person drinking and then turns him loose to assault innocent librarians and police officers? He practically walked George into prison. The people who saved George were his cronies who got special favors from the Savings and Loan Company in the form of delayed payments.
An armed guard in Bedford Falls? :eek: Why heck fire, Bert the cop’s probably no more than a shout away.
Well he counts, but apparently they didn’t want him to see their ill-gotten booty. Which in this case includes the women George is giving money to.
Exactly right.
Clarence his guardian angel, assisted by Joseph his boss made sure that everything came out aces for George Bailey because so many people prayed to God to help him.
George is just lucky Clarence did not blow it due to his inexperience and lack of wings. I suspect his successful outcome was due to his indomitable spirit.
:rolleyes:
That is the most warped view of IAWL that has ever been my misfortune to read.
Nah, I’d say it’s pretty spot-on.
I’ve always hated this movie.
… that’s one of the weirder zombie bumps I’ve seen on this board.
Well, since it is bumped, I too can say I hated this movie. I didn’t see it until less than five years ago, and it is a very depressing ending…he’s still stuck in that awful town, still resenting every moment of his life, and potter gets the money.
The whole movie is like an advert for abusers. Don’t ever try to get away, just stay where you are and learn to take it with a smile!
Oh come on, it’s not that bad. Yes, George never got to see the world and become a famous architect. But the whole point of the movie was that he learned that his accomplishments, though far less visible, were substantial. What he’d thought were merely years of drudgery and sacrifice weren’t for nothing- he’d single-handedly kept one small corner of the world from becoming a hell on earth. And in the process gained the love of his family and the gratitude of the town.