James Stewart in the 1950s By Susan King
Jimmy Stewart was one of the biggest stars at MGM in 1940s and 1950s. In fact, he had just earned the lead actor Oscar for his indelible comedic performance in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (‘40) when he became the first major performer to enlist in the U.S. Army in March of 1941, a full eight months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Stewart, then 32, had made his film debut in THE MURDER MAN (‘35) and quickly became a leading man at the studio, earning his first Oscar nomination for his memorable portrayal of an earnest young senator in Frank Capra’s MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (‘39). Audiences and critics loved the lanky, tall young man who excelled at playing an Everyman, the boy-next-door who was earnest, kind and often brave. Stewart, who was an experienced amateur flyer, spent a year training pilots at Kirtland Army Airfield and then in the fall of 1943 was sent to England. He ended the war with 20 combat missions, won awards for his service and remained in the USAF Reserve, where he was promoted to brigadier general in 1959. He retired in 1968.
When he returned to films in Capra’s holiday favorite IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (‘46), he was 38 years old. He looked older; his hair was graying. He had only been out of the service for a year. There was a gravitas to his performance, a gravitas of someone who had seen the horrors of war. His George Bailey was still the Everyman, but one in despair, someone who is about to commit suicide. He earned his third Oscar nomination for his beloved performance. And, he followed that up with strong turns in the newspaper drama CALL NORTHSIDE 777 and Alfred Hitchcock’s ROPE (both ‘48).
But I think Stewart did his best work in the 1950s. He was certainly adventurous playing flawed, conflicted characters and eccentric individuals. There was a dangerous, nervous cat-like quality to his roles. And there was often a sexiness to his performances. He also worked with some of the best directors, including Hitchcock, Anthony Mann, Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger.
Stewart began his fruitful collaboration with Mann—they made eight films together—with the gritty Western WINCHESTER ’73 (‘50). Mann had made a name for himself in the late 1940s with such low-budget atmospheric films noir as RAW DEAL (‘48). Mann brought a noir sensibility to WINCHESTER ’73, in which Stewart plays the Everyman on the edge doggedly trying to find the Winchester ’73 rifle that was stolen from him, while laser-focused on tracking down the man (Stephen McNally) who stole it and also murdered his father. Stewart is just terrific playing a conflicted man who is filled with rage.
My favorite Stewart-Mann production is THE NAKED SPUR (‘53). In this exceptional Western, Stewart is even more wired. He plays a Civil War vet who lost his land during the war and becomes a bounty hunter. But he more than meets his match with his latest capture, a wily outlaw (Robert Ryan) and the two companions he picks up (Millard Mitchell, Ralph Meeker) to help him. THE NAKED SPUR isn’t just a Western adventure, it’s a psychological one. The scene at the end when Stewart loses it in front of the outlaw’s companion (Janet Leigh) – crying, yelling and shaking with hatred and grief – is an astonishing piece of acting.
Stewart and Mann didn’t just do Westerns. They scored a huge hit with the biopic THE GLENN MILLER STORY (‘54) and STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (‘55). The latter was close to Stewart’s heart because it revolved around the Air Force and flying. He plays a baseball player who is reactivated in the Air Force to test flight new planes. The film gets bogged down on land when it concentrates on his private life with June Allyson, but he and the film soar when it takes to the air.
The same year he made WINCHESTER ’73, Stewart also began another fruitful collaboration with director Henry Koster. In fact, he received his fourth Oscar nomination for the delightful HARVEY (‘50) based on Mary Chase’s popular Broadway play about an eccentric Elwood P. Dowd, who has an invisible six-foot tall white rabbit named Harvey as his best friend. Stewart had filled in for the part on Broadway in 1947 when star Frank Fay went on vacation. Though Dowd is an alcoholic, the Production Code prevented Koster from showing him taking a drink. Almost 20 years later, Stewart and Helen Hayes appeared on Broadway in a revival of the play, and then in 1972 reprised their roles for a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation.
The following year, Koster and Stewart teamed up again for the taut British thriller NO HIGHWAY IN THE SKY (’51). Stewart is entirely believable as a brilliant but absent-minded engineer who has a hard time convincing anybody that an expensive new airplane model is not safe. The film also paired him with his DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (’39) leading lady, Marlene Dietrich.
Stewart is probably best remembered in the 1950s for his work with the Master of Suspense in REAR WINDOW (‘54); THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (‘56) and VERTIGO (‘58). So much has been written and discussed about those films, all I want to say is that REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO are my two most favorite Hitchcock thrillers, and Hitch had to have really delved into Stewart’s psyche to get that brave, daring turn from the actor in VERTIGO. I know that it’s a polarizing film, but I think it’s brilliant, demanding and a psychological thrill ride. I am still very much on the fence with the only film Stewart made with Wilder, THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (‘57).
Based on Charles Lindbergh’s award-winning best-seller chronicling his landmark 1927 flight across the Atlantic to Paris, the film is beautifully shot and consistently engrossing. But the big problem is that Lindberg was 25 when he made the flight and Stewart was 48 when he made the film. Just as with STRATEGIC, Lindbergh’s story was very inspiring to Stewart so, he lost weight, got in shape and lightened his hair to play Lucky Lindy. He’s very charming in the part, but there’s no getting over the fact he’s nearly 50 years old.
Stewart ended the decade with a real crackerjack of a legal drama, Otto Preminger’s ANATOMY OF A MURDER (‘59). Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Actor for Stewart and Supporting Actor for Arthur O’Connell, ANATOMY OF A MURDER raised more than a few eyebrows for its sexual frankness at the time, with Stewart talking about rape, panties and even semen. He’s perfectly cast as the witty, brilliant small-town attorney who seems to enjoy fishing more than taking cases. He gets the case of his career, though, when he’s hired to defend a hot-tempered Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering the man who allegedly raped his wife (Lee Remick).
Stewart has a wonderful rapport with Eve Arden as his longtime secretary who secretly loves him and Arthur O’Connell as his alcoholic buddy, an attorney who gets his mojo back when he helps Stewart on the case. And the scenes his scenes with the flirtatious Remick and George C. Scott as the slick big city prosecuting attorney just couldn’t be better. Nevertheless, Stewart lost the Oscar to Charlton Heston for BEN-HUR (’59). Stewart was presented with an Honorary Award from the Academy in 1985.
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