Tagged: James Stewart
Jimmy Stewart’s Christmas Cardigan in The FBI Story
James Stewart in The FBI Story (1959)
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Chip” Hardesty, earnest FBI agent
Chicago, Christmas 1933
Film: The FBI Story
Release Date: October 1959
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Costume Designer: Adele Palmer
Background
While Jimmy Stewart’s cinematic Christmas creds are primarily as the troubled protagonist of It’s a Wonderful Life, more than a decade later we’re treated to a brief holiday sequence in The FBI Story.
Essentially a feature-length dramatization propagating the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s role in quelling all American lawlessness across the first half of the 20th century, the once-obscure The FBI Story has been the subject of some renewed interest as it had been the first major production to depict the Osage murders of the 1920s that were recently at the center of Martin Scorsese’s epic Killers of the Flower Moon.
Bell, Book and Candle: James Stewart’s Stone Suit
James Stewart in Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
Vitals
James Stewart as Shepherd “Shep” Henderson, bewitched publisher
New York City, Spring 1958
Film: Bell, Book and Candle
Release Date: November 11, 1958
Director: Richard Quine
Wardrobe Credit: Ed Ware
Background
Not every Halloween-season movie has to be scary! In time for October 29 being National Cat Day, dig your claws into Bell, Book and Candle, Richard Quine’s lighthearted supernatural romance that reunited Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak just months after their iconic screen pairing in Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Vertigo.
I’ll admit that Bell, Book and Candle may not be my favorite from Stewart, Novak, Quine, or screenwriter Daniel Taradash, but this bewitching comedy still offers plenty of atmospheric fun and camp between the two stars… and Novak’s magical Siamese cat Pyewacket. Continue reading
Jimmy Stewart in The Flight of the Phoenix
James Stewart as Frank Towns in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
Vitals
James Stewart as Frank Towns, experienced cargo pilot and war veteran
Libyan desert, Spring 1965
Film: The Flight of the Phoenix
Release Date: December 15, 1965
Director: Robert Aldrich
Costume Designer: Norma Koch
Background
James Maitland Stewart had to fly. His earliest memories of flight involved colorful covers of Literary Digest depicting the Great War, then in progress, and the incredible use of air power by both sides. Jim tacked up each magazine cover on the wall in his bedroom. “Airplanes were the last thing I thought of every night and the first thing I thought of every morning,” he would say as an adult.
— Robert Matzen, Mission: Jimmy Stewart and the Fight for Europe, Chapter 1
Born 115 years ago today on May 20, 1908, Jimmy Stewart had a lifelong passion for flight that followed him through his career, from the model airplane he lovingly constructed with Henry Fonda during their salad days on Broadway through his celebrated service flying dangerous combat missions as a U.S. Army Air Forces officer during World War II. Reticent to discuss his service after the war, Stewart flew B-24 Liberators on 20 combat missions over Europe and, by war’s end, was one of only a handful of Americans to rise from the rank of private to colonel in only four years.
Aviation continued to be a theme of Stewart’s life during his postwar film career, often starring in flight-themed dramas like No Highway in the Sky (1951), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Strategic Air Command (1955), and The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), playing famed aviator Charles Lindbergh.
One of the last—and perhaps best—of Stewart’s aviation-centered films is The Flight of the Phoenix, Robert Aldrich’s 1965 survival drama based on Elleston Trevor’s novel of the same name. Stewart plays civilian cargo pilot Frank Towns, described by his navigator Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) as “one of the few really great pilots left in this push-button world of yours.” Continue reading
It’s a Wonderful Life: Jimmy Stewart’s Barleycorn Tweed Suit
James Stewart and Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Vitals
James Stewart as George Bailey, reluctant banker
Bedford Falls, New York, Spring 1932
Film: It’s a Wonderful Life
Release Date: December 20, 1946
Director: Frank Capra
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson
Background
Released 75 years ago today, It’s a Wonderful Life has become an enduring Christmas classic… almost by accident! Based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s self-published novella The Greatest Gift, the movie had been relatively well-received at the time of its release, even earning five Academy Award nominations including one for Best Picture, but it would be overshadowed by the epic blockbuster The Best Years of Our Lives that told the story of servicemen returning from World War II.
Despite being a personal favorite of director Frank Capra and star Jimmy Stewart, It’s a Wonderful Life seemed destined for obscurity as just another “old movie” when a clerical error prevented proper renewal of the copyright. Though small royalties were still owed as it was derived from Stern’s story, TV stations leapt at the chance to air high-quality, low-cost seasonal programming, launching It’s a Wonderful Life to its status as a perennial favorite for holiday viewers by the 1980s.
Jimmy Stewart’s Undercover Denim Jacket in The FBI Story
James Stewart as agent John “Chip” Hardesty in The FBI Story (1959)
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Chip” Hardesty, earnest FBI agent
Oklahoma, June 1930
Film: The FBI Story
Release Date: October 1959
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Costume Designer: Adele Palmer
Background
One of the greatest stars of the 20th century, James Stewart—known to friends and fans as “Jimmy”—was born on this day in 1908 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, just about an hour west of Pittsburgh.
Among the less celebrated titles in the actor’s extensive filmography is The FBI Story, a J. Edgar Hoover-influenced epic exploring the early successes of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jimmy plays our fictional all-American agent John “Chip” Hardesty, whose Forrest Gump-like decades-long career with the Bureau includes a role in nearly every major investigation from tracking down the bank-robbing “Public Enemies” of the Depression and World War II spies to the bombing of United Flight 629 in 1955.
An interesting chapter of The FBI Story sends Chip to Oklahoma in the summer of 1930 to investigate the “Reign of Terror” in Osage County, Oklahoma, represented on screen as the obsoletely named “Wade County”. These murders of dozens of Osage Native Americans throughout the ’20s were recently explored by David Grann in his fascinating book, Killers of the Flower Moon, which provided the basis for a Martin Scorsese film of the same name currently in production starring Jesse Plemons, Robert De Niro, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Continue reading
Rear Window: James Stewart’s Pajamas
James Stewart and Thelma Ritter in Rear Window (1954)
Vitals
James Stewart as L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, bored photographer
New York City, Summer 1954
Film: Rear Window
Release Date: September 1, 1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
April 16 is celebrated as National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, an observance that many would have considered unthinkable until the spread of the coronavirus pandemic last month found many around the world working from home for the first time, finding comfort in their lounge-wear while struggling with unfamiliar teleconferencing software. The idea of being confined to one’s home in pajamas while a growing terror lurks outside brought one movie to mind: Alfred Hitchcock’s damn-near-perfect thriller Rear Window.
Continue reading
Jimmy Stewart’s Brown Tweed Sports Coat in Vertigo
James Stewart and Kim Novak in Vertigo (1958)
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson, former San Francisco detective
San Juan Bautista, California, Fall 1957
Film: Vertigo
Release Date: May 9, 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Let’s wrap up this week’s commemoration of Alfred Hitchcock’s 120th birthday with another exploration of the style in Vertigo, now considered one of the Master of Suspense’s masterpieces though it may have been overlooked during his lifetime and resulted in the end of his successful collaborations with James Stewart.
Jimmy Stewart’s Blue-Gray Flannel Suit in Vertigo
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson in Vertigo (1958)
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson, former San Francisco detective
San Francisco, Fall 1957
Film: Vertigo
Release Date: May 9, 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
In the spirit of yesterday, March 12, being deemed Alfred Hitchcock Day, not to mention being one week away from the first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, even if the weather itself can’t make up its mind…
For those whose offices call for jackets and ties, dressing for work during these transitional weather periods can be a challenge, balancing professionalism with comfort in the context of an uncertain weather forecast. As San Francisco detective “Scottie” Ferguson in Vertigo, James Stewart provides a solution.
It’s a Wonderful Life: Jimmy Stewart’s Sporty Tweed Suit
James Stewart as George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Vitals
James Stewart as George Bailey, newlywed banker
Bedford Falls, NY, fall 1932 through spring 1934
Film: It’s a Wonderful Life
Release Date: December 20, 1946
Director: Frank Capra
Costume Designer: Edward Stevenson
Background
Although the film takes place over the course of one man’s whole life, It’s a Wonderful Life has earned a comfortable home among nostalgic holiday cinema. The man in question, George Bailey (James Stewart), spends a depressing Christmas Eve questioning his existence… prompting a visit from his guardian angel to remind him of the titular wonderful life that he has led.
Vertigo: Jimmy Stewart’s Brown Suit and White DeSoto
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson with his white DeSoto in Vertigo (1958)
Vitals
James Stewart as John “Scottie” Ferguson, former San Francisco detective
San Francisco, Fall 1957
Film: Vertigo
Release Date: May 9, 1958
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Costume Designer: Edith Head
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Let’s kick off the winter edition of BAMF Style’s semi-annual (or is that bi-annual) Car Week where I take an additional look at what these well-dressed characters are driving.
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock’s noir-esque 1958 thriller and the last of his four collaborations with James Stewart, finds the actor behind the wheel of a white DeSoto coupe as he follows Kim Novak’s character around San Francisco from her Nob Hill apartment and the Podesta Baldocchi flower shop to Mission Dolores and their fateful meeting at Fort Point on the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Continue reading
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