Selling Jimmy

I've been meaning to post these for a while and decided to make time to do so today by way of tribute to a great poster artist named John Alvin, who has passed away age 59. Examples of his work can be found here. The following posters were not created by Alvin, his work was from a much later period, but they are still great. Sorry about the poor quality of some of the scans.

Winchester '73 (Italian)

The Man From Laramie (Italian)

The Man From Laramie (British)

Mr Smith Goes To Washington (Italian)

Jimmy Stewart and His Poems (1989)

By the end of the 1970s James Stewart had effectively semi-retired from the screen. The roles he enjoyed playing were simply no longer being offered, his type of film seemed out of vogue. Never the less he remained well exposed thanks to regular appearances on television and at organised public events. Due to a number of wise investments Stewart was independently wealthy so these appearances were not a matter of financial necessity. It is believed that his wife Gloria was instrumental in keeping him active during his later years. Her belief was that, if left to his own devices, the aging star would never leave his own house.

One of the strangest directions for Stewart’s career to take was his foray into the world of poetry. By his own admission this wasn’t a planned move.

I’m sure I never said to myself, “Now, Jim – why don’t you sit down and write a poem.” It’s still a mystery to me, but I think probably it’s something that happened by accident – like a lot of things have happened in my life. (Stewart, 1989; 5)

Stewart goes on to give a typically matter of fact account of his first stumbling steps towards authorship. On a trip to Junín (pronounced Who-need) he tripped over the top step leading to his hotel.

I remember saying to Gloria – out of the clear blue sky – “The top step in the hotel in Who-neen is mean.” It sort of surprised me that what I had just said rhymed. (Stewart, 1989; 6)

His meditations on why that particular step seemed to attack everyone to cross its path were recorded for posterity in his notebook, a poem which he called, perhaps unsurprisingly, ‘The top step in the hotel in Junín.’

One of the first outlets for Stewart’s verse was on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Jimmy had been appearing on the late night chat show on a near annually basis and new material was always welcome. His casual readings endeared him to the millions of viewers on many occasions.

One interesting historical note is that, while Stewart may have personified a cosy brand of American family values to the viewing public, even he could not escape the wrath of the all powerful network censor. His reading of the poem Lake Baringo got him into hot water over the use of the word ass. (Dewy, 1996)

Perhaps the most well known of these appearances is the time Stewart recited his poem Beau. Thanks to the joys of youtube we can see this reading in full. I highly recommend you view before reading on.

What starts off as a deceptively simple character study slowly reveals itself to be a touching, heart breaking meditation on the relationship between a man and his dog. The one line, “and now he’s dead” cuts through the audience like a knife. Gone is the folksy, comforting Jimmy Stewart and in his place is an equally loveable yet far more real man.

Despite encouragement from television audiences Stewart was reluctant to publish any of his verse. Eventually though a children’s book entitles Buffalo Girls sufficiently impressed him and he offered the book to the publisher, Crown Books.

Upon release in late 1989 the book, Jimmy Stewart and His Poems, climbed to the top of many best seller lists. It reached number three on The Los Angeles Times chart and ranked fourth in The New York Times. There were a number of factors that led to this great success. Television exposure certainly helped, as did the $9.95 price tag and pre Christmas release. At the age of 81 Stewart also embarked upon an extensive promotional appearance tour. It is estimated he signed over 5000 books.

Contemporary reviews were positive for the most part. Daniel Pinkwater of The New York Times was particularly upbeat in his review.

The jacket copy of ‘Jimmy Stewart and His Poems’ concludes that ‘the book confirms what we all expected. That the real Jimmy Stewart is every bit as endearing as the film characters he’s portrayed!’ Well, you’re not going to hear any argument from me. (Cited in Molyneaux, 1992: 229)

Other reviewers were not so kind, particularly those in higher literary circles. The argument was made that there was little artistic value to the work beneath the surface. Would similar poetry from a lesser known author have received as much attention? Would it even have been published? This kind of criticism though seems to be missing the point somewhat. The book was never expected to appeal to poet laureates but instead to the many fans who had invited Stewart into their home via the medium of television.

The only disappointment I really had with the book was that it is far too short. In fact there are only four poems contained in the slim hardback volume, each accompanied by an introduction by the author. This seems odd considering that poems Stewart had recited on television were not all included, work like No More Milk and Lake Baringo. Perhaps this is indicative of Stewart’s own insecurity over the quality of his writing. The introductions to each poem in the book convey what seems to be an honest bewilderment about their publication. He was very happy if people wanted to buy his book, but couldn’t really understand why.

Finally I highly recommend you seek out a copy of the unabridged audio book that was released on cassette by Random House in 1991. However nice it may be to own the poems in print nothing can ever compare to the unique Stewart delivery. Listening to his voice here feels like listening to an old friend delivering a story in person. Some feat considering that he sticks exactly to the text as printed!

For those of you who have waited patiently for this long delayed post here is your reward; a recital of the poem No More Milk. Enjoy!

Apologies

Apologies for the delay in completing the next post folks. It should be ready by Sunday at the latest. To keep you amused for now why not take a gander at this youtube video? Here is an old TCM tribute narrated by George Kennedy. A great start to the year.

What's My Line?

Here is James Stewart’s appearance on the popular US game show What’s My Line? This particular episode dates from 10^th November 1963. The idea behind the show was for the panel to guess the occupation of the mystery guest by asking simple yes or no question. For every question the panel asked to which the answer was "No" the contestant would gain more points. Each week there would also be a mystery celebrity guest; this is why the panellists in this clip are wearing blindfolds. Enjoy.

The show's popularity was such that the producers were able to arrange an impressive range on celebrity guests for the series. Some, like Jerry Lewis, Peter Cook, Johnny Carson and Groucho Marx, would appear on the panel and try to guess the occupation of the various mystery guests. Others like Stewart would appear as the mystery guest and attempt as best as possible to disguise their, often very famous, voice. The latter category included guests like Alan Alda, Woody Allen, June Allyson, Lucie and Desi Arnaz, Louis Armstrong, Fred Astair and many, many others. In fact those are just a selection of the guests whose last name begins with A!

You can see the trouble Stewart has in disguising his voice here. His after all was perhaps the most recognisable in Hollywood. Never the less I think he does a pretty good job and he gets to show off his comedic side, playing up to his own persona much to the audience’s delight.

To me the most fascinating aspect of this clip is the motion picture Stewart is there to plug, Take Her, She’s Mine in which he plays an overprotective father whose beautiful daughter is heading off to college. In particular he mentions visiting Texas on a promotional visit. Generally Take Her, She’s Mine is not regarded as one of his better vehicles, just a fun throw away comedy, but to me this represents a tangible link to one of my favourite actors. I own a ticket to the premier of the film from that Texas showing! And here it is:

Not much of a connection I know but it does strengthen my belief in the interconnectedness of all things!

I highly recommend seeking out episodes of What’s My Line? as they are often hilarious and a nice alternative to the modern suspense filled game shows we see today.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Hello and welcome to what I hope will be a 52 week endeavour!

May 20^th 2008 will mark the 100^th anniversary of the birth of James Maitland Stewart, better known to the world as Jimmy Stewart. In over 90 screen appearances in films like The Philadelphia Story, Harvey, It’s A Wonderful Life and Winchester ‘73 he charmed and delighted audiences with his honest performances and natural likeability.

For a while now I have cited Stewart as my favourite actor. To attempt to explain this now would do the man a disservice, I simply do not have the words to explain that certain something he possessed. Hopefully this blog will help me answer that fundamental question.

My current plan is that this site should be updated at least twice a week, depending on my work commitments. Along the way you can expect to read production histories, biographical accounts, episode guides, film and book reviews as well as a range of visual and audio material from my own personal collection. If you like what you read then please make sure to bookmark the site and come back for more.

The first update should be with you by the end of the week. Until then I suggest you pop in your favourite James Stewart film and join me as we embark upon a year long tribute to one of the greatest actors ever to grace the screen.