Happy birthday, Jimmy
Today would have been Jimmy Stewart’s 100th birthday.
I know somebody that thinks all (female) Cary Grant fans are mistaken: Women think they love Grant, she says, but they really love Stewart. Stewart was the kind of guy you’d bring home to your parents. I don’t know that a girl can’t keep a place in her heart for both—it’s all kind of a moot point now, after all—but over the years, I’ve gotten to see what my friend meant. Watch enough Jimmy Stewart movies and you’re bound to fall at least a little bit in love, or at least in like. Is there anybody you’d rather have spying on you with his binoculars? I didn’t think so.
In celebration of Jimmy Stewart and his lovability, I present, for your consideration, five of his best movies*:
You Can’t Take It With You (1938): Stewart’s first (of several) collaborations with Frank Capra, who outdoes himself in the areas of gentle humor and small-scale human drama. Also: Stewart is the best bewildered boyfriend a girl could want.
The Shop Around the Corner (1940): Before there was Tom, there was James, fighting/flirting it out with Margaret Sullavan. Who should be more excited to be share the role? Unclear.
The Philadelphia Story (1940): Never is Stewart gawkier, dorkier, or more handsome than as Macauley “Mike” Connor, literary snob turned journalist out to destroy the bourgeoisie. If you don’t love him by the end of the movie, well…you’re probably distracted by Cary Grant (or, to be fair, Katharine Hepburn). We won’t judge, but you’re missing out.
Harvey (1950): Warning: This movie is sadder than you think. But Stewart is wonderful in it—gentle, funny, and exactly the kind of guy an invisible six-foot rabbit would choose to pal around with. I would.
Rear Window (1955): Stewart solves a murder from his wheelchair (he’s recovering from a broken leg) without even leaving the house! EAT THAT, MACGYVER.
Happy birthday, Jimmy. Thanks for being so cool.
* This list includes neither It’s A Wonderful Life nor any of Stewart’s westerns. But these are my favorites. So there! You can sing “Buffalo Girl” to yourself, if it’ll make you feel better.
Jimmy Stewart, James Stewart, You Can’t Take It With You, Frank Capra, The Philadelphia Story, The Shop Around the Corner, Rear Window, Harvey, Alfred Hitchcock
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