A foreign film, black & white, very old, subtitles in English.  A very
harsh man repossesses furniture when the loan is not repaid to a bank
on time.  He is incredibly fierce.  One scene shows him looking down
at an old woman, dying on her bed.  He reaches down and upturns the
woman and the bed. She gets up cursing him (she was faking).  The
story is about his son meeting up with him and the impossible
relationship between them.

If it is the one I am thinking of it is not that old 1971, even though
it is shot in glorious black and white (for atmosphere). I believe it
is the Dutch film 'Karakter' (Character) Directed by Walter van der
Kamp. It takes place about the turn of the century and goes about a
bailiff (deurwaaarder)who is brutal to everybody around him but
particularly to his son. He does this to make his son strong in life
but this fact is not appreciated by the son. A somber tale with a sort
of reconcilliation at the end.

Norman

If it's the right one, there is also a re-make from 1997:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007KK52

Among the varied plot descriptions:
"a fearless Scrooge-like moneylender who has cold-heartedly built his
fortune by collecting debts and foreclosing on the poor."