I was not talking about Sam Wainright rich, or even George Bailey rich. I was talking more like Ernie the cab driver, with a little house in Bailey Park rich.
The Ernie of Bedford Falls was a whole lot richer than the Ernie of Pottersville.
His blank-eyed stare in Pottersville indicates to Mr. Jamiesen his essentially “venal internal self.” To me it indicates his depression over his loss of his family, a fully justified sadness.