Vidor""s natural and uncompromising film tells the episodic, poignant story of the working and domestic life of an average, commonplace man in ""the crowd"" - John - with his wife Mary (played exquisitely by the director""s real-life wife Eleanor Boardman), chronicling their ups and downs, including their meeting, courtship, marriage, and family life.[The black bird serves as the film""sMcGuffin, a plot device that propels the story forward but is proven ultimately worthless - although it wasn""t termed hat at the time.The film, in flashback, told the events hat led up to Rosa""s murder inquest, the context for her "evil" reputation, and everything that occurred before the murder." The Commissioner unveiled a Bat-Signal that was to be used to summon Batman.The closing shot was of Batman silhouetted on a rooftop against the Gotham skyline, watching the Bat-Signal projected and shining in the distance.