Rush 4: The Pottersville Mob, and the Perambulators of Bedford Falls

As, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a film which is about the individual's impact on the community, it only makes sense that we would see said community represented onscreen. And indeed, "It's a Wonderful Life's" scene's are packed with extras. Except for a few private spaces in the film (George's home; George's few moments of introspection on the bridge; etc), the principal characters are always accompanied by secondary characters, or nameless extras. 

Were one to chart the blocking of these extras, one would see that they are blocked one of two ways in each scene: There are perambulators (extras who are milling about on warm summer evenings, or those who are going about their business in an orderly fashion, whether their business is getting a drink at Martinis, or filling out a deposit form at the bank); Then, there is the crowd extras. These extras push and undulate, leaving little to no room between each other and sometimes the principal characters. 

The contrast between these two blockings can be seen very clearly when contrasting the two bar scenes. At Martini's bar in Bedford falls, extras remain seated around tables, and there is clear and orderly floor space in the bar. At the parallel bar in Pottersville, "Nick's," the extras crowd and jostle for space. This same crowding can be seen elsewhere in Pottersville: In the neon-lit main drag we see crowd after crowd pushing to get into strip clubs and dance halls. 

To the extent that Bedford Falls stands for middle-class American values, and Pottersville stands for seedy economic corruption, we can extrapolate the film's value judgement onto these two blockings. The orderly walkers are good; the mobs are bad. Indeed, the Pottersville crowds have two antecedents: There is the run on the bank, then there is the Martini's family during their move, and the opening of their new house. The mob at the bank run represents a low point for the life of George, and an allusion to the possibility of the seedy mobs of Pottersville. George, however, tames the mob, and by the end of the scene they have begun a line to orderly collect a small sum of money. Martini's family, in what seems to be a xenophobic move on the part of the film makers, during their move allude to teeming masses outside the value system of the middle class Bedford Falls. Their crowded multitude is once again brought under control by George's establishment of the family as middle class home buyers. 

From these contrasts, we can see that the most of film, "It's a Wonderful Life" is saying in no uncertain terms that the mob is a threat, and order and individualism are good. However, the very last scene of the movie does trouble this thesis in a way which might redeem the film from simply being a polemic to American Individualism: In the end, George is saved by a mob of people who shower him with money. The mob in this case is not something to be contained or controlled, but rather a benevolent force greater than the will of the single individual.