Reviews of movies with James Stewart.
Friday, March 28th 2008
Grade: B+
Synopsis: A San Francisco detective (James Stewart) with a fear of heights falls for the mysterious woman (Kim Novak) he’s been hired to trail.
Though Vertigo flopped commercially and critically during its initial release, it’s now viewed by many as director Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest film. While it’s certainly well done, it’s not without flaws.
The movie looks great. The San Francisco locales, Technicolor photography, costumes, production; all are top notch. James Stewart is his usual charming, aw-shucks self, and Kim Novak is suitably mysterious opposite him. But, there’s an age gap that doesn’t quite work.
Stewart was almost twice the age of both leading ladies during filming, and it makes things somewhat implausible. Granted, Hitchcock’s next picture, North by Northwest (1959), featured an even wider age gap between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, but that’s the difference between Cary Grant and James Stewart. James Stewart is the man everyone relates to, it’s the secret of his success, and why he’s so believable as a former detective haunted by his fear of heights, but unbelievable as a romancer of women half his age. MORE »
Posted at 12:43 PM in Movie Reviews, Alfred Hitchcock and James Stewart.
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Thursday, March 6th 2008
Grade: C+
Synopsis: A Marshall (James Stewart) and an Army officer (Richard Widmark) try to negotiate with the Comanches for the release of white prisoners.
Two Rode Together is a solid western from director John Ford that echoes his earlier film, The Searchers (1956).
Despite not really fitting the role, James Stewart is good as the lead. His innate charisma more than compensates for the lack of edge he brings to a role that would have been perfect for an older John Wayne.
Opposite Stewart, Richard Widmark does a solid job. Much like Stewart, Widmark doesn’t really fit his role, but compensates by turning in an edgier performance. Of the two, Widmark seems much more dangerous, and, while this doesn’t really suit the character, it does make him more compelling. MORE »
Posted at 1:20 PM in Movie Reviews, James Stewart and John Ford.
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Thursday, January 24th 2008
Grade: B+
Synopsis: In 1901 Nevada, an old gunfighter (John Wayne) rooms with a widow (Lauren Bacall) after learning he has a terminal cancer.
The Shootist was John Wayne’s final film and would be unremarkable were anyone else in the lead, but John Wayne gives the performance of a lifetime.
Having battled cancer in real life, Wayne imparts a quiet dignity to the character that feels honest and true. In the film, he talks about a man’s death being the most private thing he has, and Wayne, on some level, had to know his was coming. This role served as an improbable intersection for the lives of John Wayne the actor and John Wayne the character, finally allowing Wayne to reconcile the man with the myth. MORE »
Posted at 3:14 PM in Movie Reviews, James Stewart and John Wayne.
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Tuesday, January 15th 2008
Grade: B+
Synopsis: Two well-off young men (John Dall and Farley Granger) kill an acquaintance for the thrill, then throw a party and serve drinks off the trunk containing the corpse.
Rope is often dismissed as little more than an experiment, even by director Alfred Hitchcock himself. The goal, to shoot the entire movie in one continuous take, required the director to find creative ways to work around the ten minute shot length imposed by the amount of film cameras were able to hold at the time. Usually, novel techniques like these result in a gimmicky picture, but Rope is the exception to that rule. MORE »
Posted at 2:31 PM in Movie Reviews, Alfred Hitchcock and James Stewart.
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Monday, December 31st 2007
Grade: A-
Synopsis: A selfless man (James Stewart) contemplating suicide gets a glimpse at what life would have been like had he never been born, courtesy of a second-class angel, Clarence (Henry Travers).
It’s a Wonderful Life is a funny, heartfelt story buoyed by some wonderful performances, great production values, and near perfect direction.
The three principal actors give career-defining performances. James Stewart is George Bailey. His performance is so perfect it doesn’t feel like a performance at all. He never seems to be acting, but rather simply reacting to the events of the story in a natural fashion.
Opposite him, there’s Lionel Barrymore, turning in one of the finest villains ever captured on film. His Mr. Potter is an angry, bitter man out to ruin George Bailey simply because he can’t understand him, and therefore fears him. Despite having relatively few scenes, Barrymore still evokes a powerful presence, embodying all the prejudice, hate, and fear of the world in a single, identifiable, character. MORE »
Posted at 2:44 PM in Movie Reviews and James Stewart.
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