Before this completely derails, let’s look at a third-party definition of Building and Loan Association.
Let’s also remember that IAWL is a work of fiction, not a documentary on financial institutions of the 1930s and 30s.
She was also at least as good as a contractor as George was. She moved them into an abandoned mess on the day of their wedding and somehow while raising four kids remolded it into the finest house in town. It was literally a wreck that leaked and almost every window was busted out when they moved in.
I have it on good authority that she would have been a crackerjack librarian if she had perhaps pursued that route instead of marrying George. The Hatch family have much to be proud of in Mary. (Don’t you wonder how her older brother Marty turned out, not mentioned much after he gets George to dance with Mary.)
As far as heroic figures go, George is also behind his little brother Harry (who won the Distinguished Flying Cross for saving a transport full of soldiers) and Sam Wainwright who really solved the financial crisis caused by Uncle Billy. Of course, Mary had an operation underway that might have saved her husband again if Sam had not come through.
Actually, if she hadn’t married George, she would have ended up in an abusive marriage.
Actually, the Congressional Medal of Honor. (BTW, I never liked how they portrayed Mary as the eyeglass-wearing spinster librarian.)
Sorry, I don’t follow??
During the part of the movie where George does not exist she is an old maid who never married and serves as the town’s librarian.
(I don’t remember what happened to her in From Here to Eternity. Later on TV, she was the title character and was not abused.)
My apologies, once I posted that I wondered if the DFC was given that far back. In any case, thank you for the correction.
And how did “slacker George” feel about Harry winning that award?
Thanks to everyone for answering the OP, so as we have moved on, the ending (the financial part) bugs me as well.
It’s not a crime to lose an envelope full of cash, however, it was heavily implied that George was having an affair Violet Beck, or at least having an unhealthy emotional relationship with her and that Potter was putting the word out that there was no “losing” of the money, but that George had illegally pissed it away. Maybe George was having an affair with her; seems unlikely in the context of the movie, but he always seemed to have a soft spot for her.
Anyways, the bank examiner had a warrant for George’s arrest because of the missing money, but he witnesses the townspeople give him money and hears of the wire from Sam Wainwright and promptly tears the warrant up.
Now, just tearing the warrant up won’t work; he has to go to the judge that issued it first, but I’m willing to chalk that up to movie shortcuts. But the underlying crime should remain! Maybe I have missed something drastic, but if you are accused of stealing, say $80,000, it is not enough that one of your rich buddies loans you $80,000 to put back in the till. Otherwise everyone could steal if they had a line of credit. That part of the movie always lost me.
First, I apologize for all the distractions I have added to your thread. One of the things I have always admired about The Dope is how discussions grow and encompass other topics. I was not trying to sidetrack the discussion, I was hoping to enhance it – but I definitely took it off the rails - sorry.
EDIT: Add the answer concisely: It is not a crime to lose an envelope full of cash, but it is illegal to be short on your accounts. If your books do not add up you are in trouble. That is why when someone IS stealing they “cook the books” so it will be undetectable for a period of time. George (and Uncle Billy) were not stealing and that is why it showed up right away. the ledgers said he should have $8,000 somewhere and they did not. That is the crime-- the accusations of spending money on women or gambling were just speculation based upon previous embezzlers.
As to this question; the guy with the warrant was not the bank examiner. There were three guys there, the bank examiner, a newspaper reporter, and a law enforcement official (I believe he was called the constable - and he knew George personally, he was local).
The charge was (according to Potter pontificating at a retreating George Bailey) malfeasance, misappropriation of funds, etc. Potter claimed he was going to call the constable and swear out a warrant himself, and he had the juice to get that done for sure. The accusations of fooling around with Violet was the scandel part of the deal. Potter also asked him if he was gambling “playing the ponies” as Potter put it.
The thing is George was short Eight Thousand Dollars Even American ($8,000). Potter called, the enforcement agent spoke to the bank examiner and it was confirmed George was short the dough. An arrest warrant was issued and they were waiting at his house to arrest George. Why the money was missing wasn’t the issue, the missing money was the issue. (If the money was truly gone because he was gambling or blowing it on women or doing blow off the naked bodies of shaved goats other charges might have been added later. But the warrant they had in hand was for missing money. Missing money is a big deal to banking types!)
Of course we know that Potter accidentally stole the money (thanks to Uncle Billy), but rather than return it and rescue a fellow human being – Potter kept the money (which was a trifling sum to him but he was guilty of avarice - a mortal sin especially within the movie). Potter not only kept the money but made false accusations against an innocent man because he was a corrupt soul who was only rich in a temporal sense.
As the enforcement officer (and possibly the entity issuing the warrant he might have been the judge also or he may have had the right to draft warrants himself - if you remember The Andy Griffith Show, he was both the law enforcement official AND the judge for that little town), he can report back to any judge that he investigated the incident – that it APPEARED initially as the money was missing and possibly misused by officers of the Building and Loan. But that upon further investigation the money was intact and the bank examiner dropped the matter, had a glass of wine, and sang carols with the accused.
He was never having an affair with Violet Biggs although they had been friendly before he was married. He WAS a bit loosy goosy with the funds (that was the worst unsecured loan in the history of time!!), he loaned a sum of money to someone leaving town and with very little ability to pay it back.
That whole episode falls under the category of the Bailey’s being chumps (as mentioned by Trum --oops, I mean Potter’s bill collector with the blue prints). He felt bad for Violet – while he and Mary had a loving family and a wonderful home (ALL thanks to Mary by-the-way), Vi was leaving town during the holidays because she was alone and unloved. George felt sorry for her and gave her a little something to get started with in New York.
George wasn’t gambling or diverting funds to remodel his own home or anything else. There was no scandal, but the appearance of a scandal would ruin a business in those days-- especially a business built 100% upon trust like George’s was. The money was missing because Uncle Billy handed it to Potter and that was a violation of banking regulations. (being short funds- not mouthing off to Potter.) That much money was enough to buy two or maybe even three- three bedroom houses at that time. When it is missing – there are questions; when it stopped being missing it stopped being an issue.
Before I retired I worked for a company that had a huge debt most of the time. We had a payroll credit line that covered our paychecks every week. Once a month we would turn in a ‘draw’ for any completed work with each of the companies we worked for. Some paid within fourteen days, some thirty days, some sixty and some ninety days. We were either filthy rich or dirt poor depending on what jobs were being completed. The money was invested and then we would settle up with the payroll company. My point is that even in modern business it is not unusual to have huge paydays followed by periods of squaller. Still you have to pay bills as they come due and that is what the Building and Loan did – George also oversaw the building of dozens of homes and probably some schools or churches or retail buildings – and that was how he viewed himself, as a builder. (The way cops claim most of the job is filling out reports – for contractors, building is mostly about money and delivering on contracts. My friend who works as a job supervisor is not allowed to use tools because the insurance company considers him as office personal.)
Seems to me that if I’m Bob or Jane, I would want to B&L to go bust. Not much point in making mortgage payments to an institution that doesn’t exist anymore.
I know it’s probably not as simple as that.
It definitely isn’t when Potter is willing to buy the loans for “50 cents on the dollar.” They’d owe their money to him instead, and he wouldn’t look the other way if they had trouble paying their bill one month.
Also, Potter owned the bank, and we know that Uncle Billy sometimes needed to pay the bank. And my understanding is that, in bankruptcy, whoever you owe money to will try to collect your assets. If so, then that’s another way Potter could own it.
But even if Potter didn’t wind up owning the mortgage, I’m pretty sure someone would own it. And that whoever it was would probably not be as lenient as George Bailey.
That’s the movie. I’m talking about the original story, which is better. It has a far more interesting message and isn’t self-plagiarized.
I figured it was something like that, but if the B&L still has assets (mortgages) that outweigh its debits, it seems like they ought to still be in business. Is there a law or a regulation that they have to pay their depositors right now, and that need for instant cash compels them to sell their assets for less than they’re worth?
Also, if Potter is willing to buy the loans for 50 cents on the dollar, maybe I can find some way (or someone) to offer 51 cents. Is there no bank in Bedfordport that could offer some competition to Potter?
It’s been ages since I’ve seen the movie. George and Mary essentially lent the B&L $2,000. After the panic ended, and people started depositing money again, did they ever get it back?
You’d have to assume. it was their wedding day, and next we see that they had kids, and their house is all fixed up and liveable.
Still had the crappy car, though.
I though Violet was leaving town because she had a “reputation”. i.e., they didn’t take kindly to loose women, even if the upstanding citizens of BF did avail themselves of her friendliness. She could even possibly have been pregnant, but the movie ended before we the audience could know.
No. That’s a key plot point mentioned several times upthread. The only financial institutions in Bedford Falls are Potter’s bank and Bailey’s B&L. The B&L is explicitly the only competition/alternative to the Bank, and if George sells out to Potter, Potter will effectively own Bedford Falls. He will control all of the mortgages and loans, and will be the only place the people of Bedford Falls can go for banking and financial services. Potter is wealthy enough he can personally buy out shares in the B&L at a 50-cents-on-the-dollar-discount - George and Mary barely manage to cover a small run with their personal savings. There’s no one else.
That’s why they could go to a bank in another town, like in Bedfordport, where the Bedford River flows into the ocean.
Or is Bedford Falls named for a ford on the Bed River?
Well, give George a little slack there, because as a young boy he dove into the pond to save Harry, risking his own life (and damaging his hearing.)
Ok, but, again, it’s an explicit plot point of the movie that there is no other competition to Potter’s Bank. Remember, that part of the movie is set in 1929. The entire financial system is collapsing. An offer of 50 cents on the dollar, for a failing financial institution, pre-FDIC, is actually generous. And regardless of whether a hypothetical bank in a neighboring town could try to absorb the B&L on better terms for the shareholders, it’s an explicit plot point that Potter is the only person who actually will.
No, Bedford Falls is named for an early nineteenth century event during which an early resident tried to cross the river on a bed he was using as a raft. I think it’s in the press materials for the movie.
I have to admit for my part, there is no hero greater than George Bailey, and I have quoted this movie every time I have spoken at a loved one’s funeral. There is no higher honor from me than being compared to George Bailey.
I forgot I pulled it back, but last night I typed up a whole parody of the Monty Python “what have the Roman’s ever done for us” scene from Life of Brian. It was late and I was tired and had already been distracting to the thread topic so I didn’t post it. Turns out, it was actually the rest of the post I did make-- I will paste it in below:
All George Bailey ever did was stand up to Potter that one time. Well, a few times (B&L board meeting after father’s death, the run on both financial institutions, and turning down the lucrative job offer) he stood up to Potter. But what else did he ever do??? Sure he organized the rescue of his brother. And saved a drunken pharmacist from killing a sick child. And provided a few friends with questionable mortgage loans (that saved at least on marriage- Ernie’s). Other than that his life was just collecting rubber and scrap metal for the war effort. Well, he kept his widowed uncle employed (to his great regret!), and helped his mother stay solvent so she didn’t have to take in borders to make ends meet, but other than that- what has George Bailey ever done for US??
The swimming pool under the gym floor was pretty cool. Bet it’s still there.