Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Your Favorite James Stewart Movie




This was a tough choice for me because damn, he was versatile. But I am going with REAR WINDOW. It may be my favorite movie ever for that matter.

What's your favorite Stewart film?
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54 comments:

Dana King said...

I saw your question, went directly to IMDB, and scanned every movie Stewart made so I wouldn't miss an obvious choice.

I came up with REAR WINDOW. (Sigh.) I should have listened to you in the first place.

9:03 AM
Cullen Gallagher said...

Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor. (In fact, I woke up early to watch Bandolero!, which I had never seen before.)

My favorite movie of his is probably Harvey, though Vertigo is a close second. I also really like his Westerns, my favorite of which is The Naked Spur.

9:07 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Looking through the list of his movies, I could have chosen a dozen. Another favorite THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE.

9:21 AM
Ron Scheer said...

Gotta be George Bailey in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Every other one is a close second, though.

9:37 AM
Cullen Gallagher said...

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is terrific. Just rewatched it a few months ago. The Man From Laramie is also great!

10:06 AM
John DuMond said...

All of the aforementioned are great films. I'd also add ROPE, in which Stewart played a prep-school teacher who matches wits with two former students who think they've committed the perfect murder. ROPE was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Stewart appeared in four Hitchcock films. He and Cary Grant (who also appeared in four of Hitch's films) were Hitchcock's favorite leading men.

10:09 AM
le0pard13 said...

No question, It's A Wonderful Life.

10:10 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

He could play any part credibly. Although I cannot recall a film where he is the villain. Also love him in ANATOMY OF A MURDER.
ROPE is one scary film.

10:15 AM
Prashant C. Trikannad said...

It would have to be REAR WINDOW though THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and HOW THE WEST WAS WON are my favourite Jimmy Stewart movies too. Though, in the last mentioned he was overshadowed by several great actors.

10:27 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Also love THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER and PHILADELPHIA STORY.

10:41 AM
AC said...

I like an old western he made called (I think) DESTRY RIDES AGAIN.

10:52 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Yep, Marlene Dietrich. A lot of fun.

10:55 AM
Art Taylor said...

VERTIGO — an easy pick because it's my favorite movie, period.

But yes, I could pick a dozen or so, most of which have already been named!

10:55 AM
MP said...

I, too, went to IMDB, but I already knew what I'd pick. It's gotta be "Vertigo", not only the best movie Stewart appeared in, but Hitchcock's best movie. Looking at the IMDB lists for people like Stewart and Cary Grant is just awe inspiring. Will anyone ever again appear in that many great movies? I don't think so. The system works differently now, and it would be virtually impossible.

10:59 AM
Charles Gramlich said...

hum, rear window for me probably too. I don't know much about older movies. I remember him being in quite a few westerns but can't think of the titles.

10:59 AM
Heath said...

Without question, my favorite Stewart movie is VERTIGO-- and I see Art beat me to it. But I also think its Hitchcock's most creepily perverted movie.

11:00 AM
K. A. Laity said...

Philadelphia Story hands down! Besides, it's got Hepburn and Grant, too. Harvey is a delight as well. Best, perhaps Vertigo, but favourite is different. He is unrelentingly creepy and appalling in Vertigo which is miles away from his more affable roles.

11:01 AM
George said...

I can't decide between VERTIGO and REAR WINDOW.

11:07 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Pretty creepy in Rear Window too although perhaps not to writers who behave similarly.
I like Read Window more than Vertigo but only by a hair.

11:08 AM
Joe Barone said...

I too liked Rear Window, but honestly It's a Wonderful Life would be my choice.

11:38 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

It is so unrelentingly depressing until the end, I find it hard to watch. Much like A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

11:50 AM
Jane said...

Harvey!--and Vertigo--and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington . . . oh that's an impossible question!

12:06 PM
Anonymous said...

Jackie says IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

I'd go with PHILADELPHIA STORY or THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER Margaret Sullavan!), or possibly VERTIGO.

I'd have to see ANATOMY OF A MURDER again first because it's been a long time.

Trivia: did you know that Stewart Granger is a stage name he adopted because his real name...James Stewart...was already taken?

Jeff M.

12:17 PM
Todd Mason said...

I am fonder of ANATOMY OF A MURDER than it really deserves (and as Glenn Miller he faked playing a trombone pretty well), but my favorite role for Stewart in some ways is as Britt Poncet, the protagonist of the radio series THE SIX SHOOTER (until looking at IMDb, I didn't know that he'd played Poncet on some tv productions, too). He's pretty close to a villain in THE NAKED SPUR, too.

12:33 PM
Paul D. Brazill said...

Harvey for me but Rear Window and It's A Wonderful life have certainly got the chops, as, I think, they say.

12:36 PM
Todd Mason said...

Oops. Britt Ponset. (A disadvantage of radio.)

12:37 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

I probably know less about radio shows than anyone.
I don't know that I have ever seen NAKED SPUR.

12:43 PM
Cap'n Bob said...

As usual, all the good ones have been taken by the time I arrive. I'll say THE MAN FROM LARAMIE just to be different.

12:50 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Any takers for THE SHOPWORN ANGEL?
And MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

12:55 PM
Cullen Gallagher said...

I haven't seen Shopworn or Made For Each Other in years. I remember liking them, so I'll have to revisit.

Another fav of mine is Firecreek, which I don't think has been mentioned yet. One of his later Westerns. Henry Fonda co-stars.

1:09 PM
Anonymous said...

I know some consider MADE FOR EACH OTHER too soapy but I liked it. Never saw SHOPWORN ANGEL.

I'm surprised no one (Cap'n Bob?) mentioned WINCHESTER '73.

I should mention that we saw him on stage in a revival of HARVEY with Helen Hayes, way back in 1970.

It was a lot of fun.

Jeff M.

1:33 PM
Dorte H said...

Hm. I think it is brilliant of me that I know who James Stewart is.

But as far as I remember, Laura Lippman´s The Girl in the Green Raincoat is supposed to be inspired by Rear Window. So actually I´d like to watch it. Did you hear that, J.S? - now you must be pleased ;)

1:52 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

We think of our actors and movies as universal, Dorte. Gets us into trouble all the time.

2:04 PM
Dorte H said...

They are! The point is that I know yours as well (or not) as our own - I only watch films when my family watch something so intriguing I have to put my crime novel down ;)

2:10 PM
Naomi Johnson said...

No question, my favorite is REAR WINDOW. Second place would have so many of his films tied for that position that it would take a while to name them all.

3:57 PM
Mike Dennis said...

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and WINCHESTER 73.

4:03 PM
Scott Parker said...

Mike beat me to my two favs:
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
WINCHESTER '73

ROPE is another that's tops on my list.

4:44 PM
Richard R. said...

VERTIGO would be my favorite, followed by MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, then PHILADELPHIA STORY. I also admit to a great fondness for THE GLENN MILLER STORY, but it's because of the music as much as the plot or acting.

5:09 PM
Richard R. said...

For the westerns, WINCHESTER 73 is my favorite.

5:10 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

Even credible as Glenn Miller, wasn't he? The music was sublime.

5:12 PM
Todd Mason said...

It is hard for some non-trombonists to gauge how to move the slide. The worst ever was the fellow who played Bill Cosby's father in THE COSBY SHOW.

The music certainly helps sell ANATOMY OF A MURDER for me, as well...and CALL NORTHSIDE 777 is in some ways a more energetic prefiguring of ANATOMY, particularly in Stewart's performance.

Dorte: I suspect you should *read* "Rear Window" (by Cornell Woolrich) first...

6:27 PM
Anonymous said...

For a very different viewpoint on Glenn Miller, you should check out "Perfidia" in Lewis Shiner's COLLECTED STORIES.

Jeff M.

6:48 PM
pattinase (abbott) said...

On my way to the library, I will see if they carry it.

6:52 PM
Kieran Shea said...

Rear Window. The Shootist. The 2nd film because it seemed like such a sad good-bye.

7:47 PM
SteveHL said...

The Shop around the Corner and Vertigo, but I think many of his other films are great as well. A film from later in Stewart's career that I liked a lot is The Flight of the Phoenix.

I can also think of a couple of Stewart's films that I didn't like - Liberty Valance (and yes, I know that's a very minority opnion) and The Spirit of St. Louis.

8:03 PM
Deb said...

"Vertigo" is my favorite Jimmy Stewart movie--perhaps because he plays against type. He's so domineering and controlling, especially after he meets Kim Novak's "real" character. And I always feel sorry for Midge (played by Barbara Bel Geddes)--another in a line of Hitchcock's disposable brunettes easily shunted aside by the hero for a cool blonde (e.g., Suzanne Pleshette in "The Birds," Diane Baker in "Marnie").

7:10 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

But even the blondes don't seem to fare well in Hitchcock. They are victims to the men (or nature) most of the time. A real misogynist.

7:36 AM
Dorte H said...

Good tip, Tood. Thanks.

7:44 AM
Cap'n Bob said...

I would have said WINCHESTER '73, Jeff, except it co-stars Shelly Winters. I never could abide that blubbering woman.

1:39 PM
Erik Donald France said...

Oh, yes -- Rear Window~~

4:56 PM
John said...

I love his performances in all those movies mentioned above plus DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, ROPE, ANATOMY OF A MURDER, and BELL BOOK AND CANDLE. But truly I have to say THE NAKED SPUR is my favorite Stewart movie because when I saw it I finally realized what a phenomenal actor he was. Watch it. He made it five years before VERTIGO and you see the darkest depths of him that were only hinted at in his earlier movies. He's so NOT Jimmy Stewart in this movie. Plus it's an amazing example of the western as crime movie. It's almost a western noir.

8:38 PM
iluvcinema said...

There are so many to choose from I can hardly decide!
Definitely love REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO but also like some of the classics like YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU and THE PHILADELPHIA STORY.

I am leaving this as a toss-up for me!

7:26 AM
Anonymous said...

My wife & I say Elwood P. Dowd in "Harvey." Think of Jimmy Stewart's monologues. How he is both loopy and charming, rueful and innocent, flexible yet rooted in his own truth. How fully he engages in his admiration of feminine beauty ("Oh Miss Kelly--You'll never look lovelier"), how respectful he is to his sister even when she is betraying him ("That Vita--She's a whirlwind"), and how gracefully he lets go of his best friend. What other actor could tread such a fine line of sanity, and make us believe he is enlightened, naive, humble and broken. And think please, did you ever once doubt the rabbit was there? I think it's his greatest performance because it is essentially a duet with an invisible partner. Or more accurately--a dual performance. Think about that. Harvey is created by Stewart's responses to him. Does he do anything near that tricky in any of his other superb roles?

Patrick O

10:36 AM
pattinase (abbott) said...

I haven't seen Harvey in years and definitely need to revisit. Thanks for such a thoughtful response.

1:16 PM

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