{"id":1782782,"date":"2022-12-21T12:03:03","date_gmt":"2022-12-21T17:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1782782"},"modified":"2022-12-21T12:03:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T17:03:43","slug":"jimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-a-little-less-wonderful-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-a-little-less-wonderful-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Stewart, A World At War, And Why \u2018It\u2019s A Wonderful Life\u2019 Was Almost A Little Less Wonderful: Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjimmy-stewart-a-world-at-war-and-why-its-a-wonderful-life-was-almost-a-little-less-wonderful-part-ii%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1782782&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Months after his return from combat, actor James \u201cJimmy\u201d Stewart was still adrift \u2014 unmoored in the Hollywood he had previously called home, living with fellow veteran Henry Fonda, and waiting for film offers that just weren\u2019t coming in.<\/p>\n<p>After a couple of months had gone by, director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/entertainment\/movies\/ct-jimmy-stewart-book-mov-1202-20161201-column.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Capra<\/a> \u2014 who had worked with Stewart before in 1936\u2019s \u201cYou Can\u2019t Take It With You\u201d \u2014 first pitched \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life.\u201d A meeting was set, and Capra described the story to Stewart and his agent Lew Wasserman.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart, who had been adamant about doing a comedy upon his return to Hollywood, was reportedly taken aback at first. \u201cYou want me to do what?\u201d he asked, and according to Capra\u2019s notes walked out of his initial pitch meeting. But Capra believed in the strength of the story \u2014 and he was equally adamant that Stewart was not just the <em><strong>right<\/strong><\/em> person to play George Bailey, he was the\u00a0<strong><em>only<\/em><\/strong> person who could do it.<\/p>\n<p>Stewart eventually sat down to listen to Capra\u2019s pitch in full, and he recalled the director\u2019s awkward description of the story in a <a href=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/positive-living\/entertainment\/movies-and-tv\/guideposts-classics-james-stewart-on-its-a-wonderful-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1987 interview<\/a> for Guideposts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018Now, listen,\u2019 Frank began hesitantly. He seemed a little embarrassed. \u2018The story starts in heaven, and it\u2019s sort of the Lord telling somebody to go down to earth because there\u2019s a fellow who\u2019s in trouble, and this heavenly being goes to a small town, and \u2026\u00a0Well, what it boils down to is, this fella who thinks he\u2019s a failure in life jumps off a bridge. The Lord sends down an angel named Clarence, who hasn\u2019t earned his wings yet, and Clarence jumps into the water to save the guy. But the angel can\u2019t swim, so the guy has to save him, and then \u2026\u00a0This doesn\u2019t tell very well, does it?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The actor said his response was simple: \u201cFrank, if you want to do a picture about a guy who jumps off a bridge and an angel named Clarence who hasn\u2019t won his wings yet coming down to save him, well, I\u2019m your man!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478827\" class=\"wp-image-478827 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707423-767x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"767\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707423-767x576-1.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707423-300x225-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707423-768x577-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707423.jpg 1024w\" style=\"display:none\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-478827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d, directed by Frank Capra. Seen here from left, Henry Travers as Clarence and James Stewart as George Bailey. CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>For Capra and Stewart both, the film was a do or die project. For Stewart, it was his chance to prove that he still had something to give to fans. And Capra \u2014 who had also been away from Hollywood making movies for the War Department \u2014 believed so much in the story that he put everything on the line, even forming a new independent studio (Liberty Films) to produce it. But making the film was not without its difficulties. As actress Donna Reed \u2014 who played Mary Bailey to Stewart\u2019s George Bailey \u2014 put it, \u201cThis was not a happy set.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At one point, an agitated Stewart complained about the superficiality of Hollywood and acting in general, prompting veteran actor Lionel Barrymore \u2014 who plays the movie\u2019s villain Mr. Henry F. Potter \u2014 to scold him: \u201cSo, are you saying it\u2019s more worthwhile to drop bombs on people than to entertain them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-478823\" class=\"wp-image-478823 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707402-767x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"767\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707402-767x576-1.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707402-300x225-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707402-768x577-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-1187707402.jpg 1024w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-478823\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d, directed by Frank Capra. Seen here from left, Lionel Barrymore as Henry F. Potter, Frank Hagney (in background) as Potter\u2019s Bodyguard and James Stewart as George Bailey. Photo by CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>As Matzen explained in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/entertainment\/movies\/ct-jimmy-stewart-book-mov-1202-20161201-column.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2016 interview<\/a> with The Chicago Tribune, Stewart appeared to funnel all the bottled up rage, anxiety, anger, fear, and frustration into the role \u2014 making his portrayal of a man on the brink truly blur the line between fiction and reality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a scene in the movie where he questions his sanity and he\u2019s got this wild look about him. That\u2019s one scene that really struck me, watching it on the big screen. And the other scene that always made me uncomfortable, but now means so much more to me, is when he\u2019s in his living room and he\u2019s throwing things and screaming at his kids \u2014 and his wife and children look at him like, \u2018Who is this man? Who is this monster?&#8217;\u201d Matzen explained. \u201cAnd that is so reflective of what millions of families faced, looking at these strangers who came back from the war with this rage. Stewart played it beautifully. He just lets it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stewart recalled a similar moment in the <a href=\"https:\/\/guideposts.org\/positive-living\/entertainment\/movies-and-tv\/guideposts-classics-james-stewart-on-its-a-wonderful-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Guideposts interview<\/a>, when George Bailey turned to God in desperation \u2014 completely unaware that his entire town was also praying for him in the same moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn agony I raise my eyes and, following the script, plead, \u2018God \u2026 God \u2026 dear Father in heaven, I\u2019m not a praying man, but<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Months after his return from combat, actor James \u201cJimmy\u201d Stewart was still adrift \u2014 unmoored in the Hollywood he had previously called home, living with fellow veteran Henry Fonda, and waiting for film offers that just weren\u2019t coming in. After a couple of months had gone by, director Frank Capra \u2014 who had worked with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":1782785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[10885,6962,10894,10847,6202,6550,4781,3848,4532,6467,4453,6696,10844,7273,6195,10628,4697],"class_list":["post-1782782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-less","tag-the","tag-almost","tag-and","tag-daily","tag-its","tag-jimmy","tag-life","tag-little","tag-part","tag-stewart","tag-war","tag-was","tag-why","tag-wire","tag-wonderful","tag-world"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1782782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1782785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1782782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1782782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1782782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}