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Why Henry Potter Is the Undeniable Hero of 'It's a Wonderful Life'
RCM ^ | 12/14/2018 | By Daniel Savickas

Posted on 12/14/2018 7:46:26 AM PST by SeekAndFind

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To: Nifster

Yeah, the excuse he made for Potter keeping the eight grand was kinda dumb.


41 posted on 12/14/2018 8:45:07 AM PST by cuban leaf
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To: ifinnegan

Henry Potter was a Filthy Heathen Liberal by todays standards


42 posted on 12/14/2018 8:49:08 AM PST by carmen2017
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To: Shethink13

Will get to it soonest - TNX!!


43 posted on 12/14/2018 8:55:23 AM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: SeekAndFind

I seem to remember an article with a version of this thesis coming up every couple of years.


44 posted on 12/14/2018 8:57:20 AM PST by Ted Grant
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To: sima_yi

Bailey accomplished this by simply paying out what people said they needed during the weeklong bank holiday, rather than paying out the entire contents of their accounts.


45 posted on 12/14/2018 9:01:37 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Ya lyublyu kovfefe!)
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To: SeekAndFind

And don’t forget Freedom is Slavery; up is down and out is really in. Another schmuck with way too much time on his hands.


46 posted on 12/14/2018 9:03:31 AM PST by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberal is lies.)
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To: Ciaphas Cain

I had a book on the movie. It said there actually was an alternative ending filmed at the time.

Potter has a change of heart. I think (read this book 30 some years ago) he goes Georges house and returns the money.

IIRC they were worried that the censors would object to Potter getting away with a crime.


47 posted on 12/14/2018 9:13:48 AM PST by lizma2
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To: SeekAndFind

Oh, for God’s sake! What a stupid article. Mr. Potter steals the bank funds from Uncle Billy - was he sleeping during that scene?!


48 posted on 12/14/2018 9:15:40 AM PST by miss marmelstein
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To: SeekAndFind

What’s this guy’s next article...how Scrooge is the real Santa Claus?


49 posted on 12/14/2018 9:23:14 AM PST by Mozzafiato
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To: Ciaphas Cain

I came here just for that.


50 posted on 12/14/2018 9:23:46 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: SeekAndFind

In the alternate universe Bedford Falls becomes Pottersville and it looks like Berlin 1920 where everyone turned to live sex shows and prostitution and drinking.


51 posted on 12/14/2018 9:26:12 AM PST by DungeonMaster (Vote your bible.)
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To: HeadOn

“In other words, if you buy the story, you buy the WHOLE story. “

I disagree. That’s not how it should work.

Every movie has it’s own internal reality. None of these realities are just like real life, but they should be consistent within the framework of the movie. The world within a film that presents a hero with superhuman powers is different from one, say like Saving Private Ryan, which presents WWII combat in very realistic terms. Of course that’s setting aside the fact that Tom Hanks was really too old to be playing an army captain at that time. In the movie’s world he was 27 instead of 42.

Superman exists in a representation of the real world. While his superhuman strength is fictional the weight of the vehicle, the strength of the building, the laws of physics, etc. should remain consistent with reality, or at least close enough to allow the suspension of disbelief.

A classic example of this was in Blue Thunder, when the heat seeking missile was diverted by the reflection of the sun off a glass building. They don’t work that way. Of course everyone has to draw the line for themselves. I didn’t object to German soldiers anachronistically wearing Afrika Korps uniforms in the time period in which Raider of the Lost Ark was set, but the stupid scene in the wretched Crystal Skull where Indiana Jones survives an atomic blast inside a refrigerator was just too stupid.


52 posted on 12/14/2018 9:41:40 AM PST by SoCal Pubbie (ec)
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To: a fool in paradise

I cry every time Colonel Potter cries. :)


53 posted on 12/14/2018 10:11:17 AM PST by Tell It Right (Offense sells Sooner tickets. Defense wins championships.)
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To: dainbramaged

My 7th grade teacher was a dead ringer for Donna Reed in this film. She killed us young boys when she wore pants that were very flattering for her. Oh the 70’s were fun...

Potter was a thief plan and simple. I know local people like him who obtained their wealth in some cases very questionably—illegally, they buy up buildings and houses and rent them out for outrageous prices, refuse to maintain them and they look like third world slums and buy off the local code enforcement officers. They are despicable human beings.


54 posted on 12/14/2018 11:08:47 AM PST by sarge83
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To: Nifster

Yes he did to keep Potter from getting his hands on the B&L. But their rules were required the depositor to submit their request and their funds would be available in 30 or 60 days.


55 posted on 12/14/2018 11:31:48 AM PST by shotgun
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To: SoCal Pubbie

Interesting comment. I see your point. That’s why movies/shows have “continuity directors/supervisors”, I guess.

I guess I didn’t make my view too clear, though. If we are willing to accept plainly outrageous circumstances, we can’t hang our hat on small details. Tom Hanks is a great example of suspending belief, in that the actor was too old, but it didn’t kill the mood or message. To your point, a 95 year old would have completely ruined it, which is your comment about drawing the line. The last Raiders movie was horrible whether he survived a nuclear blast or not... :-)

In the case of “Wonderful Life”, it looks to me that the internal reality is spelled out, in that life with Potter in charge would be horrible - he’s the villain.

In a much more broad pet peeve of mine - this type of article is a furtherance of liberals trying to re-write not only real history, but our cultural history as well. The FICTIONAL villains of old are now being positioned as good guys, and heroes are now being positioned as the bad guys. (Potter, Malificent, and others...)

Have a great weekend, FRiend.


56 posted on 12/14/2018 12:02:36 PM PST by HeadOn (Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. - John Wayne)
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To: SeekAndFind

I’m 60 and I’ve never seen this movie. I’ve tried to watch it 4 or 5 times but even as a kid it seemed saccharin and very calculated and I’d bail.


57 posted on 12/14/2018 1:57:27 PM PST by TalBlack (It's hard to shoot people when they are shooting back at you...)
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To: dangus
I know ... Bedford Falls was really lucky Harry Potter didn't get his way with the town ...


58 posted on 12/14/2018 2:00:36 PM PST by x
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To: SeekAndFind

Crap like this makes me ashamed to be a conservative capitalist.


59 posted on 12/14/2018 2:09:36 PM PST by Crusher138 ("Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just")
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To: SeekAndFind

The author of this article seems to think that a savings and loan bank operates like a huge piggy bank where the Bailey Savings and Loan merely holds its customers money safe until such time as they as need it back. He concentrates on the “savings” portions of the name but completely ignores the “loan” portion of the name because of his ignorance. The savings and loan model used by the company is that deposits from savers are loaned to borrowers and they only need to keep a small amount on hand, usually around 5% to 10% of the total deposits for the extraordinary needs of their customers’ limited withdrawals spending. They were not a check based bank. . . But a savings account, cash based bank. The money they held was not intended for day-to-day expenses but for life savings, retirement, college accounts, Christmas clubs, saving to buy a car, etc. George Bailey explained it quite well to the first customer who demanded everything in her account who wouldn’t listen despite her signing an agreement for demand deposits and still wanted it all.

There is zero evidence that Bailey’s made sub-prime loans. . . If they had the banking examiners would have shut them down.


60 posted on 12/14/2018 2:35:44 PM PST by Swordmaker (My pistol self-identifies as an iPad, so you must accept it in gun-free zones, you hoplaphobe bigot)
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