Best James Stewart Movie

"Beau" by James Stewart

He never came to me
when I would call
unless I had a tennis ball
or he felt like it
but mostly he didn't come at all

When he was young
he never learned to heel
or sit or stay
he did things his way

Discipline was not his bag
but when you were with him
things sure didn't drag

He'd dig up a rosebush
just to spte me
Then he'd turn'n bite me

He bit lots of folks
from day to day
the delivery boy was
his favorite prey
The gas man wouldn't
read our meter
he said we owned
a real man-eater

He set the house on fire
but the story's long to tell
Suffice to say he survived
and the house survived as well

And on evening walks
and Gloria took him
he was always first out the door
The old one and I brought up the rear
because our bones were sore

And he'd charge up the street
with Mom hangin' on
What a beautiful pair they were
And if it was still light
and the tourists were out
they created a bit of a stir

But every once in a while
he'd stop in his tracks
and with a frown on his face
he'd turn around
It was just to make sure
that the old one was there
to follow him where he was bound

We're early to bedders
in our house
I guess I'm the first to retire
and as I'd leave the room
he'd look at me and
get up from his place by the fire

He knows where the tennis balls
were upstairs
and I'd give him one
for a while
And he'd push it under the bed
with his nose
and I'd dig it out
with a smile

But before very long he'd tire of the ball
and he'd be asleep in his corner
in no time at all

And there were nights when
I'd feel him climb upon our bed
and he'd lie between us
and I'd pat his head

And there were nights when
I'd feel his stare
And I'd wake up and
he'd be sitting there
and I'd reach out
to stroke his hair

And sometimes I'd feel him sigh
and I'd think I'd know the reason why
He'd wake up at night and
he would have this fear
of the dark, of life, of lots of things
and he'd be glad to have me near

And now he's dead
and there are nights when I think
I feel him climb upon our bed
and lie between us
and I pat his head

And there are nights when I think
I feel that stare and
I reach out my hand
to stroke his hair
and he's not there

Oh, how I wish that wasn't so
I'll always love a dog named Beau

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Very cool poem thanks Holden I was intrested in reading it thanks again bud for posting it up.
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So Holden, you don't like Vertigo?

I'd probably take Rear Window as my favorite Stewart movie, but I like a lot of them. Philadelphia Story is good, I adore It's A Wonderful Life (who doesn't?), Vertigo....I'm naming all the easy ones.

No, I don't much care for Vertigo.

I appreciate the visual bravado, the intense Herrmann score, and the use of San Francisco locales, but as a story it's a mess and more convoluted than most Hitch work, almost entirely humorless, and the themes seem obvious or overplayed to me. Personally I think it is Hitchcock's most overrated movie and I wouldn't even put it in the top ten of his filmography.

But that's just me. So yes, I like all ten of the Jimmy Stewart movies I listed more than Vertigo, you read it correctly.

I have to agree...it's been awhile since I've seen "Vertigo," but I'm not a big fan. I didn't dig "Birds" that much either, on a semi-related note. Anyway, back on topic: I dig Jimmy Stewart (I can't call him James...dudn't feel right), and, to me, while "It's a Wonderful Life" is his most touching role, IMO, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is probably his most impressive. I know I can't fake fainting that well.

I thought Vertigo was very good considering how much people didn't like it when it came out it's a great piece of filmmaking I don't think The Bird's is the greatest but I still like it a lot compared to tons of others in the thriller/suspence Genre that have been made a lot of people don't see the sence of humor in Hitchcock it's not that I don't think you get it Holden I think his humor quite possible could be right up your alley but when I went to see it on the big screen people didn't get it the scene were he has the dream sequence and his hair flops around people were laugh at that I was a bit choke people laugh at the dumbest things that scene to me was very serious and it was done very serious so they were laughing at scenes that weren't funny to me. it got to be a little to much half the stuff today's audeinces laugh at arn't that funny at all I'll give another example when I watch Ocean's 11 were it shows the shot of all of them at the end and it goes by the chinese guy the whole theatre was laughing but it was funny at least not to me.
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Obviously I didn't see Vertigo in 1958, so I don't really care how it was received back then. It probably was a little underrated in its day, because at the very least it is technically wonderful. But I think over time, especially into the '90s, Vertigo became very overrated, at least partially to compensate for its reception in the late '50s.

Taking it's critical and popular reputation aside completely, I just don't respond emotionally to Vertigo AT ALL, which is rare for me and Hitch's work. I also don't find much of Hitch's humor in Vertigo. That's fine for some of his movies, The Wrong Man being the best example of humorless Hitch that works well, but for me Vertigo takes itself way too seriously. The plot was so convoluted, and with the dark themes and where he was trying to take Scottie Ferguson character, I think the movie comes off as unintentionally silly and even pretentious. The armchair psychology that we find in that odd epilogue of Psycho (which in that brief context can come off as a parody of sorts) permeates the entire film in Vertigo, but without any wit or insight. For me anyway.

I just plain don't like the movie, other than for the visuals and sound design. Believe me, I know Vertigo is hailed by many as Hitch's very best film, it just doesn't work for me. I'll take North by Northwest and Notorious and Rebecca and Strangers on a Train and Shadow of a Doubt and Psycho and Rear Window and Rope and a dozen others over Vertigo every time...though I will say I like it a damn bit more than the other Stewart collaboration, the '56 re-make of The Man Who Knew Too Much, which is easily my least favorite of his major works.

Anywho, different strokes and all.


*and for Godssake, Jeffries - punctuation and paragraph breaks! Your posts can be quite difficult to read at times.

I never learnt how to write properly in school something I regret , too busy foolin around I'm sorry but if I tried to put all that stuff in it the right place it would be wrong and then I would feel even more like an idoit for thinking that's were they go. sorry bud but I'm not much of a writer.

You don't have to understand the semicolon and finer points of English usage to put periods at the end of thoughts, capitalize ocossionally at the start of your sentences, and even break it up into more than just one big block of text.

This isn't school and you certainly don't have to be anywhere close to perfect, it's just that I want to read what you have to say, and with a pile of run-on sentences it slows me down and makes your thoughts less clear.

That's all.

Rear Window, hands down.

My favorite Jimmy Stewart movies are his films with Capra. It's a Wonderful Life, followed by Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and You Can't Take It With You. I'm realizing there are a lot more Jimmy Stewart movies I haven't seen or just don't remember very well than I had thought. I'll have to work on that.

I also knew Jimmy Stewart flew combat missions in WWII, which always impressed me. I am always amazed at how many celebrities actually served in WWII and how many actually saw combat. No Hollywood celebrity would ever volunteer for the armed services now-a-days. I did not realize, however, that Stewart continued to serve his country in the Air Force Reserves. He retired as a Brigadier General after 27 years of service. He even flew an observation mission over Vietnam near the end of his service. After learning that recently, I have an even higher respect for the man.

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Family DVD Collection | My Top 100 | My Movie Thoughts | Frank Capra

Here he is in one of his best later films. Because of his folksy manner and appearances in Westerns, some people lump him with Gary Cooper and John Wayne, but unlike them Stewart had formal acting training and appeared on the stage.

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- Paula

There's just too many to choose from for me. I think my favorite performance of his would be his smaller role in The Philadelphia Story. He is great at playing a cynical character with a lot of energy. But I think a more overall impressive performance is in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He plays kind of the ideal American, and gives off a lot of passion and sincerity. I also loved Anatomy of a Murder. He also seems perfectly natural as his character, and the movie overall was excellent.

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1. Rear Window
2. Vertigo
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. You Can't Take it With You

He was also good in

Destry Rides Again

Harvey

Flight of the Phoenix

No Highway in the Sky

The Spirit of St. Louis

The Man who Shot Liberty Valance

I would have to say my favorite Stewart movie hands down would be Rear Window. I don't think it was his greatest performances but it is my favorite. I rank this film in my top five of all time.
I don't see why alot of Mofo's didn't like Vertigo. Its not my favorite film but I would still give it 4.5 stars.

I haven't seen a lot of Stewart's films all the way through, so I couldn't say what his best film is. Rear Window is a great one. My personal favourite is Shenandoah; I like his character and his performance in that film.