James Stewart

James Stewart is truly one of the best actors that I have ever seen. Although he is gone now, I truly look forward to watching his movies. I have seen many of his movies but there are several that I haven't seen.

The actors in Hollywood today can learn a lesson from Mr. Jimmy Stewart. He was so very talented. He could convey so much with just a look or with a single line. Not many actors have that much power. Jimmy Stewart could command the screen or fade into the background when necessary. He also had the talent to be be funny and silly as well as serious. He excelled at serious emotions such as sad, scared or depressed. His suspense movies and thrillers are some of the best I have ever seen. It's not just the directors; it's Jimmy Stewart. He is utterly believable in every single role that I have seen him in thus far.

I look forward to seeing more of James Stewart's movies. I have seen about a dozen so far and I am truly convinced that he is one of the best actors to ever grace the screen.

While attending Princenton, he became attracted to the drama and music clubs, and eventually became a part of the University Players, after some bit parts he moved to New York to become an actor where he roomed with Henry Fonda. Getting parts here and there eventually got him a notice from a MGM scout who signed him up and forcing Jimmy to move to Los Angeles. In 1938, Jimmy collarborated with Frank Capra where he starred in 'You can't take it with you" which went on to win best picture Oscar, the following year Capra and Jimmy Stewart hooked up again to film "Mr.Smith goes to Washington", in doing so Stewart received critical acclaim for his work and was nominated for his first, which would be the first of five, Oscars for best actor. In 1940, Jimmy starred with Carey Grant and Katherine Hepburn in the Philadelphia Story, where Stewart won Best Actor Oscar for his perfromance. In March of 1941, Jimmy Stewart enlisted into the military where he would go on to be the highest ranking actor in history. After active duty military service ended, he decided to join forces with Frank Capra once again and filmed "Its a Wonderful Life" though the movie got nominated for five Oscars the movie bombed at the box office. And in doing so, it pretty much ended Capra's movie career and made Stewart question his own ability, even though he was nominated once again for a Best Actor Oscar. Jimmy Stewart has said that "Its a Wonderful Life" was his favorite movie. Later he would go back to acting on Broadway, where he would star in the quirky play Harvey, which was made into a movie and once again Stewart found himself nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. In 1950, Jimmy Stewart teamed up with director Anthony Mann to film many movies most of them Westerns, which established Stewart as a box office success in Western genre. They collaborated on such movies as "Winchester '73", "The Man from Laramie", "The Naked Spur", "The Far Coun try", etc. In 1954, Stewart collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock their second collaboration together after 1948's "Rope", in the movie "The Rear Window", which most consider Hitchock and Stewart's best movie. Next they went on to film a remake of "The Man That Knew Too Much" and "Vertigo", after the box office failure of Vertigo, Hitchcock blamed Jimmy and decided to let Cary Grant star in "North by Northwest" in doing so, Hitchcock and Stewart had a falling out and never filmed a movie together again. In 1959, Jimmy Stewart received his final nomination for a Best Actor Oscar for his work in Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of Murder". Stewart would go back to doing Westerns with heralded director John Ford, in movies such as "How the West was Won", "Two Rode Together", "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance" among others. In the early 70's Stewart would find himself working in television, including starring in a show featuring his name. He would finish his career, in the early 80's and would receive an Academy Award Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985. In July of 1997, Jimmy Stewart passed away, leaving behind 3 kids and a wonderful life.

James "Jimmy" Stewart is, in my opinion, the greatest film actor in the history of motion pictures. I've seen a pretty large ammount of James Stewart films and he has never disappointed me. Vertigo, Rear Window, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and It's A Wonderful Life, to name a few, are brilliant films, in a large part due to Stewart and his endless supplies of charisma.

If you've never seen a James Stewart film, do yourself a favour and pick one up. You won't regret it.