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Those were the last words of James Maitland Stewart, who was born in Indiana PA on May 20, 1908. A shy young man, he was fascinated by early airplanes and considered signing up for the military, but was discouraged by his father, who urged him to attend college instead. At Princeton (BA–Architecture–1929), the young James Stewart discovered acting, and one of his careers was set. And this time, his father couldn’t dissuade him from his chosen path:
He remained in the Reserves for another twenty-three years, ending his military career as a Brigadier General, and for the rest of his film career insisted that neither the films themselves nor the studios that produced them, could use his war record to promote them in any way. He also refused to speak publicly about his experiences himself, and turned down roles which depicted him as a member of the military, saying “They’re just hardly ever the way it really is.” In 1966, not long before he retired from the Air Force, he flew his 
Darn, you just surpassed my Personal Record for Likes. And on Jimmy Stewart, for goodness sake. I hope you’re satisfied, Mrs. She.
You need to do a post on John Wayne, Kent. That’ll fix her wagon.
Yes, although he could be believably violent when he needed to. This is from the 1950 movie Winchester ’73. I couldn’t find the scene by itself, but here it is at the start of a brief video about the movie.
Since Indiana, PA was my hometown as well, I grew up on Jimmie Stewart stories. He never forgot his hometown. His 80th birthday was quite the bash including a parade with a vintage car for every film he was in from the year it was released and cast members from his movies and the highlight, a call from President Reagan himself which unfortunately happened at the exact moment that Reagan had a bunch of military jets buzz the main street at rooftop level! We even have an awesome museum in his honor if you’re ever passing through.
Thank you so much for this inspirational story about one of my favorite actors. I had no idea about any of his background. Our family owns and watches “It’s a Wonderful Life” every single Christmas as, I’m sure, many many others do across the country.
We do! And we’re also extremely fond of “You Can’t Take it With You.”
Of course on Jimmy Stewart! What’s not to like about Jimmy Stewart? Fear not, @kentforrester, you’ll get yours one of these days. It’s just a matter of time. (@arahant is giving you good advice, I think).
Tom Hanks is frequently referred to as this generations Jimmy Stewart. I personally find Jimmy even more likeable, but it seems a reasonable comparison.
Christopher Titus does a joke about some celebrities just having such a good image that “if you woke up tomorrow and the headline on the newspaper said ‘Tom Hanks punches Nun’, your first instinct would be to wonder what the nun did to deserve it”.
That certainly applies to Jimmy Stewart too.
She,
They don’t make’em like that anymore. To bad for us.
Regards,
Jim
Well, to be strictly accurate, they didn’t make ’em like that then. I don’t know what I think of the colorization. It amazes me that they do it as well as they do, but I prefer the black and white. The movie was restored a year or two ago, and it’s really a good print. (Well, not a print, but whatever it’s called now.)
Good to hear from you. Stay safe!
She,
It’s all done by computers with very powerful graphic capability. If you think a 1946 b&w Hollywood movie colorized is amazing, what do you think of the full restoration of WWI footage? They had to add frames to make the film smooth, not jerky, and they had to synchronize new sound with actors & musicians playing the voices and the band. They hired lip readers first to get the dialogue just right. This is beyond amazing to me. This is spooky like a time machine.
Regards,
Jim
I saw They Shall Not Grow Old, as soon as it came out. It’s stunning. All the way down to the lip-reading, and the fact that they looked at the military insignia on the men to determine what part of the country they were probably from, and then dubbed in the words with speakers from those areas.
She,
Yes, very brilliant and very cool.
Regards,
Jim
Wonderful, wonderful post @she! Such a fabulous human being as Jimmy Stewart more than deserves it, I think.
Some of the Jimmy Stewart movies I watch most often seem to be ones he co-starred with June Allyson, especially The Glen Miller Story. I remember Ms. Allyson saying once that she took parts based on Jimmy’s recommendation alone she trusted his judgment so much, not her normal practice I gathered.
This marching band scene (starting around 1:10 mark) gets a chuckle every time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lTpCIhJluI
My all time favorite actor – you really filled in so much that I didn’t know – what a wonderful story and post She!