Bank of America Documentary on Cinequest About Founder Draws Real Interest

As a fan of San Jose history, it was a real treat to watch “A Little Fellow: The Legacy of A.P. Giannini,” which had its premiere at the Cinequest film festival on Thursday night. The documentary explores the life of the founder of the Bank of Italy, which later became the Bank of America, and the title comes from his reputation for helping out the “little guy” that other banks would ignore.

The Hammer Theatre Center was packed for the screening, and the audience included not only current Bank of America executives and employees, but also descendants of Giannini and leaders from San Jose’s Italian-American community.

In 1904, Giannini founded the Bank of Italy, which became the Bank of America in 1930. Local history buffs know that while the bank started in San Francisco, its first branch outside that city was in San Jose (and a replica of that branch is at History Park). And one of San Jose’s most famous landmark buildings is still the Bank of Italy tower at the corner of First and Santa Clara streets.

Famously, he helped San Francisco rebuild following the 1906 earthquake and fire by providing cash loans when other banks were still closed. But the film includes a lot of history that is less well-known, such as Giannini’s financing of Walt Disney’s “Snow White” and other Disney films, his financial participation in the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and how he allowed women to open accounts without their husbands’ names on them. Frank Capra even based the character of George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life” on the community-minded banker, who died in 1949.

Raquel Gonzalez, president of Bank of America Silicon Valley, said Giannini’s legacy is one of service and innovation.

“He was the person who said whether they’re merchants or immigrants, Bank of America is going to be the bank of the little people. So he served everyone,” she said during a pre-screening reception at Scott’s Seafood in downtown San Jose. “Today, over 100 years later, our entire team lives that legacy. We still live by what he believed.”

Director Davide Fiore said he became interested in Giannini’s story when he moved to San Francisco and started work on the film in 2017 — only to be interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he hadn’t even been in contact with the Giannini family when his wife spotted A.P. Giannini’s 1933 Lincoln being driven in a San Francisco parade. She chased down the car — which is now maintained by former Bank of America Senior Vice President Randy Welch — and discovered two of Giannini’s granddaughters riding in it.

Both of them — Virginia Hammerness and Anne McWilliams (who died in 2024) — appear in the film talking about their memories of their grandfather, along with Duncan Knowles, a retired historian for Bank of America, and the late Alessandro Baccari, a friend of the Giannini family.

Architect Sal Caruso, who watched the screening with his wife, Josephine, said Gianni’s reputation in the Italian American community remained strong decades after his death, recalling that when he returned to the United States from Italy as a young man in the 1980s, his parents insisted he keep all his money with Bank of America.

Caruso designed the Museum and Cultural Center in Little Italy, which includes an area devoted to Giannini’s history. He said the group plans to have another screening of “A Little Fellow” this fall before the annual Little Italy Festival, and there are also plans in the works to have it screened at the Italian American Heritage Foundation’s Family Festa at History Park this summer.