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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Happy 100th birthday, Jimmy Stewart!
Today marks the 100th birthday of my favorite Hollywood star of all time, Jimmy Stewart.
As is their habit, Turner Classic movies marks the occasion today, playing some of his best films. Click here for details, and more importantly, watch the movies when you get a chance.
Over the years people have talked often about how Jimmy Stewart was great because he projected that modesty marked by his halting “Waaallll,” that made everyone feel like his friend. As much star quality as he had (and he had plenty), he still seemed like one of us.
That’s all very true, of course, but I think there’s another part of Stewart’s star quality that doesn’t get talked about often enough: the conviction he brought to every role he played. Whether he was playing a nice guy or someone with more than a mean streak, he was always utterly believable.
Some of my favorite performances of his:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: If we had the impossible task of remembering Jimmy Stewart for only one performance, it probably ought to be this one. It’s the prototype example of one of his trademark “nice guys” put to a severe test, culminating in one of the great movie speeches of all time.
The Philadelphia Story: People often say that Stewart got an Oscar for this movie because he failed to get one for Mr. Smith. That’s probably true, but to suggest this performance is somehow not deserving of the award is almost as deluded as the Mr. Smith debacle. When else could you say Jimmy Stewart played a fast talker?
It’s a Wonderful Life: This often wrongly gets dismissed for being sweetness and light - as if being driven to suicide was sweetness and light. The despair of George Baily was frighteningly palpable, influenced, no doubt, by fresh memories of the World War II bombing missions Stewart piloted.
The Naked Spur: Winchester 73 was probably the best of the Stewart/Anthony Mann westerns, but this one contains what may be the actor’s most intense work, as a bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice.
Vertigo: Here’s the performance that really turns the Jimmy Stewart persona on its head. He seems like his typical “nice guy” at first, but as he detective character spirals deep into the depths of obsession, Stewart reveals a sad and rather sick, twisted, damaged soul.
What are your favorite Jimmy Stewart performances? If he’s not your favorite Hollywood star, who is?
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