James Stewart

Our pastor went on a short vacation, and as part of it he visited the James Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania, his hometown. In passing he mentioned that Stewart is his favorite actor. I responded that Stewart is also mine.

Of the 80 movies Stewart made, I've seen more than 30 of them. The exact number is unclear because I don't recognize some of the titles, but if i saw the movies I might be able ot say, "Oh, yes, I saw that."

My favorite movie if gis is also one of my favorite Christmas movies: It's a Wonderful Life.

My top five Stewart movies are:

It's a Wonderful Life
Harvey
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Shop Around the Corner
Anatomy of a Murder

But I also really like: 

You Can't Take It with You
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Winchester '73 (Though I thought the Shelley Winters character was annoying and deserved to be shot!)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Flight of the Phoenix

There are others I like, though not as much as these 10.

I know he won an Academy Award for The Philadelphia Story, though I think that was a payback for not getting the best actor award for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. My quibble with this otherwise fine movie is that it stars Katherine Hepburn, and except for The African Queen I never liked any of her movies or her portrayals!

I was once in a production of Under Milkwood, portraying multiple characters. One of them the Rev. Eli Jenkins. I imitated Stewart's voice in playing him! (I also played Lt. Sulu in a parody of Star Trek, imitating the voice of John Wayne, so the character was known as "Duke Sulu! But that's another story.)

Stewart tended to play decent, moral characters (with a few exceptions). He was also a war hero, taking years away from his movie career to fight in World War II. 

My only sadness about Stewart is that while filming Destry Rides Again he had an affair with Marlene Dietrich, who was married at the time. He broke up with her after filming ended. The affair was bad enough morally, but what Stewart did not know was that she became pregnant and aborted their child. How awful.

Still, he remains my favorite actor. It's nice to know he is also the favorite of my pastor, a fellow movie buff.

Pax et bonum