JAMES STEWART ON THE BIG SCREEN: A FILM LECTURE SERIES

Hello Friends:

Why not escape from the summer heat to enjoy five movies starring one of filmdom's most beloved movie stars, Jimmy Stewart--or James Stewart, as he was always officially billed.

Stewart. It almost makes one think of the word STALWART. The website yourdictionary.com defines this word as follows: "A description for someone who is loyal and strong or for something that is reliable and sturdy." Perhaps the website should feature a photo of James Stewart next to its definition. Few other actors conjure so vividly an image of reliability, strength, and loyalty--traits that spring to mind when we use the term "All American."

Certainly these traits, when coupled with honesty, idealism, and integrity, are on exhibit in Stewart's portrayal of Jefferson Smith in the film that opens the series, director Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But while Smith was a career-defining role for Stewart, there was a tendency, perhaps, to assume that, because the actor played characters who possessed these traits, they were uncomplicated and one-dimensional.

Following Stewart's stint of duty as a bomber pilot during World War II, he returned to acting a changed man. The war had aged him, and he brought a less light, more complex sensibility to most of his screen portrayals from that point on.

For example, the five westerns that Stewart made with director Anthony Mann brought a darker, psychological dimension to the genre. Winchester '73 is one such film that will be featured in this series.

He also appeared in four films for director Alfred Hitchcock, including Vertigo, in which he plays a man who becomes obsessed with a woman to the point that he wants her look-alike to be in his thrall. In Rear Window, which will be shown during this series, Stewart plays another obsessed character, this time a convalescing photographer who takes to watching his neighbors. Is it possible that he is projecting many of his unresolved feelings about interpersonal relations onto the lives of the people in whose windows he is peering?

The series is rounded out by two romantic comedies: The Shop Around the Corner, an Ernst Lubitsch-directed confection that derives its sweetness from its Old World setting and characters; and Bell, Book & Candle, a late fifties piece of whimsy with Stewart's book publisher falling under the spell of beautiful witch Kim Novak.

Here's the series schedule -- all films are on Mondays at 1:00 P.M.

July  9th -- Mr. Smith Goes To Washington - Idealistic scout master Jefferson Smith is appointed to the senate and tries to fight corruption. With Jean Arthur, Claude Rains. 1939 -- Black & white -- 129 minutes.

July 16th -- The Shop Around the Corner - Two employees in a Budapest shop clash, but are unaware that they are sending anonymous love letters to one another. With Margaret Sullavan. 1940 -- Black & white -- 99 minutes.

July 23rd -- Winchester '73 - A man tries to find his father's murderer and the one-of-a-kind rifle that was stolen from him. With Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea. 1950 -- Black & white -- 92 minutes.

July 30th -- Rear Window - A photographer with a broken leg fears that a neighbor was murdered. Co-starring Grace Kelly and Thelma Ritter. 1954 -- Color -- 112 minutes.

Aug.  6th -- Bell, Book & Candle - A beautiful witch (Kim Novak) casts a spell to make a man fall in love with her. With Elsa Lanchester, Jack Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs. 1958 -- Color -- 106 minutes.


I look forward to seeing you all in our air-conditioned movie theater here at the Barrington Library.

Doug Swiszcz
Librarian and Film Enthusiast