Jimmy, Jimmy, Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy!

H-h-h-h-he is one of the most recognizable stars of Classic Hollywood. With his boyish charm and humble stutter, James Stewart personified the thoughtful, passionate everyman in a career that spanned over fifty years. Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Stewart started his entertainment career in college and then went to Broadway. By the mid-Thirties he was making movies in Hollywood and was a bankable star by the end of the decade.

When America went to war, Stewart was drafted- but was found to be underweight. Rather than shrugging his bony shoulders and going back to the safety of a Hollywood soundstage, he kept re-applying (and eating) until he was accepted in the Air Corps, turning down a behind-the-lines instructor position to fly actual combat missions.
His return to Hollywood in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) not only created an iconic film role, but signaled a more complex Stewart that reflected Post-War America. He would work with some of the masters of Fifties cinema: Hitchcock, Preminger, Mann, Ford. As he aged, Stewart continued to perform and remained immensely popular, earning a total of five Academy Awards and an Honorary Oscar in 1985.

Stewart was a star- but after an early reputation as a playboy, managed to avoid the kinds of scandal and rumor that attracted the likes of Hedda Hopper and Louella Parson (unless you consider the fact that he was a proud card-carrying Hollywood Republican scandalous). He was known as a consummate professional and an all-around swell fella. The lovable screen persona of Jimmy Stewart became the public image- and it has endured.

On what would have been his 108th birthday here are my Top 5 Jimmy Stewart Movies:

You Can't Take It With You (1938)

Director Frank Capra was on a roll with two Best Director Oscars for It Happened One Night (1934) and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) so the expectations for his film adaptation of Kaufman and Hart's Broadway hit You Can't Take it With You were high. Capra cast Stewart as Tony Kirby, the lovestruck son of a banker who has to re-examine his political beliefs when he falls for a gal (wise-crackin' Jean Arthur) from a kooky liberal family.

With a family of hams like Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington, and Ann Miller, who wouldn't do a spit-take over Sunday dinner? The film hops between goofy family comedy and earnest political statement, so there are moments when Capra's social preachiness weighs-down the narrative. But Stewart was perfect as a young man addled by love and an eccentric family, finally succumbing to the charms of both.

The success of You Can't cemented Stewart's endearing stammer and open-mouthed "aw shucks" face in popular culture and became his first big hit. It also started a professional relationship with Frank Capra that would result in legendary films Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). Not to mention Capra earned his third and final Best Director statue. It seems in this case, you can definitely take it with you.

Destry Rides Again (1939)

Stewart's first Western in a career riddled with them is a real charmer. The town of Bottleneck is run by crooked mayor Hiram J. Slade who has just had his henchman dispatch the town sheriff. Enter son of a famous lawman Tom Destry, Jr. (Stewart) who without a gun, begins to clean up this one-horse town. Standing in his way is saloon chanteuse Frenchy (the not French- but who cares? Marlene Dietrich) who winds up falling for the lanky sharpshooter who ultimately has to whip out his pistol to break the bad guys.

Dietrich gives a career-defining performance, playing a world-weary gal who knows her way around a bar and a man. Her warbling of "See What the Boys in the Backroom Will Have" inspired Madeline Kahn's hilarious Lili Von Schtupp in Mel Brooks' classic Western parody Blazing Saddles (1974). And Dietrich's catfight with Una Merkel is a hair-pulling, glass-throwing, chair-breaking masterpiece that caused a ruckus with the censors.

Dietrich and Stewart are absolute magic together- a sort of odd couple with the seductive singer and the reluctant gunman throwing off sparks. Apparently they hit it off offscreen as well. In later years, Dietrich claimed she got pregnant during the affair but got rid of lil' Jimmy without telling the father. This did not prevent her from starring with Stewart years later in airplane drama No Highway in the Sky (1951) where Dietrich takes full advantage of the fact that you could still smoke on planes.

See what the boys in the backroom will have- Emphysema.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Is there such a thing as the perfect movie? I would venture to say there is- and this is one of them. George Cukor's romantic comedy about a society wedding was based on a successful Broadway play and had top star wattage. The great Kate Hepburn played uppercrust gal Tracy Lord (no not that Traci Lords) whose wedding to another uppercrust soul (John Howard staying out of the way of the rest of the stellar cast) is complicated when her ex-husband C.K. Dexter Haven (oh so handsome Cary Grant) shows up, along with a pair of newspaper reporters (Stewart and his gal Friday Ruth Hussey), and Tracy's philandering father (John Halliday).

Of course there are mix-ups and romantic entanglements, witty barbs, and enough cocktails to fill a backyard pool. It's one of those movies where you wish you could jump through the screen and tie one on at a garden party with these fascinating folk.

Stewart as disillusioned poet turned newshound plays against his famous image by being cynical and snide- mocking Tracy and her whims and fancies. But once he gets drunk, he gives in to his true feelings and gushes about his awe of her "magnificence." Here is the Stewart we know- the young man spilling out his heart to beat the band grabbing all of our heart strings in his thin hand. Macaulay Connor for this one shining moment becomes Jefferson Smith, giving a filibuster on love. It's a wonderful performance that earned him his only competitive Oscar. And as a member of this mostly Oscar nominated cast (someone was smoking crack and left Grant off the nomination list that year), he helped make one of the great romantic comedies of the Golden Era.


Harvey (1950)

Elwood P. Dowd has troubles. His live-in sister and niece are angry with him because his best friend Harvey is causing a stir. Why shouldn't he? He's an imaginary 6" tall rabbit. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Mary Chase play (they used to make a lot of movies out of plays) Harvey was a pet project for Stewart. He had played Elwood on Broadway, and hoped to bring the success he had on stage to the screen. Spoiler alert: He did.

Stewart was at the peak of his genial abilities, making this lost alcoholic who saw the world differently irresistable. Most of the characters in the play believe Elwood is crazy, in fact they want him committed. But for the play to work, we have to believe that Elwood sees Harvey. We can't think he's crazy. And even though we don't see the hulking lepus, we want to. Stewart's innate ability to make us trust and love him achieves those aims, seemingly effortlessly. He would earn his fourth Academy Award nomination for it. 

Harvey is one of those showcase movies built around one star's performance that can feel like an ego-trip. But the supporting cast that includes Oscar winner Josephine Hull joins in the heavy-lifting with Stewart and delivers a picture that works even when Stewart (and Harvey) are offscreen. 

Rear Window (1954)

Before you Hitchcock fans get too up in arms, yes I chose Rear Window over Vertigo (1958) for my favorite Stewart/Hitchcock movie. Vertigo might be a better work of art- but I think Rear Window is a better movie.
Stewart plays photographer Jeff Jeffries who is laid-up in his New York apartment with a broken leg. Unable to get around he sits in his wheelchair and tunes in to a common New York City show- the neighbors. Jeff's apartment looks out onto a back courtyard that is ringed by the rears of multiple buildings, providing a view into the lives of all of his neighbors- or at least those that don't lower their shades. As we watch The Songwriter, Miss Torso, Miss Lonelyhearts, a pair of newlyweds, and Miss Hearing Aid, we become part of a community that doesn't know it's a community.

Jeff is the director linking all of these strangers' lives. When neighbor Lars Thorwald (a creep-a-rific Raymond Burr) begins acting very strangely, Jeff worries that a murder has occurred and uses his girlfriend Lisa (the oh-so posh Grace Kelly) to investigate.

Stewart's trustworthiness is again at the center of his performance. We have to believe that Jeff witnessed a murder- even if we don't see it. We must have faith something happened- even if other characters are reluctant to accept it. With Stewart, that belief comes unconditionally, so that even when doubts creep in, we know that ultimately he will be vindicated. It's watching how the proof is revealed that makes it so much fun.

Hitchcock's brilliant camerawork uses long takes and subtle POV shots to lure us into Jeff's voyeuristic world and link together all of the different characters. The camera rarely leaves Jeff's apartment, opting for long shots that immerse the audience in Jeff's immobile view, making us meta viewers of a viewer.

This "viewed from a distance" technique produces a feeling of helplessness- much how Stewart feels when watching Lisa in danger from the confines of his apartment. Instead of a simple gimmick, Hitchcock's use of the camera allows us to be part of the film- and that ups the thrill level as the mystery unfolds.

Oh and Thelma Ritter appears as a sassy visiting nurse. Who wouldn't want that rubdown?

If all that's not enough to prove how charming Jimmy is, watch him tell a joke.