| REVIEWS Destry Rides Again - 1939 Winchester '73 - 1950 Broken Arrow - 1950 Bend of the River - 1952 Carbine Williams - 1952 The Naked Spur - 1953 The Far Country - 1954 The Man From Laramie - 1955 Night Passage - 1957 Two Rode Together - 1961 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 1962 How the West Was Won - 1962 Shenandoah - 1965 The Rare Breed - 1966 Firecreek - 1968 Bandolero! - 1968 The Cheyenne Social Club - 1970 The Shootist - 1976 An American Tail: Fievel Goes West - 1991 |
Jimmy Stewart wasn't exactly known for being a rough and tough Western hero during the prewar years of his career. He had been defined by Joe Q. Public as an
honest, "Aw, Shucks" kind of guy. Through films like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "The Shop Around the Corner," Stewart's on screen persona had been
cemented as the always moral American boy, even in his few Westerns like "Destry Rides Again"...or so it seemed. After serving in World War II, everything
changed for Stewart and his outlook had changed too. Not only was he seeking more complex roles, he had become a more complex person. Even in films that
seemed to be in his old vein, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Harvey," if viewers looks closely they will see a more adult Stewart, one with real human problems
that can't be shrugged off.
All of this came to a boil when Stewart teamed with director Anthony Mann in five Westerns that effectively reinvented Jimmy Stewart for audiences. Through the
course of these gritty and realistic Westerns, Stewart transformed from the clean cut American icon to a different kind of hero. He wasn't as invincible as John
Wayne or Gary Cooper. He wasn't as instantly noble and forthright as Gregory Peck. He was somewhere in between. He was a wholly human hero in his
Westerns, with both physical limitations and complications from a life of hard knocks in films like "Winchester '73" and "The Man From Laramie." He carried this
into later projects without Mann.
Towards the end of his career, Stewart's character in his Westerns became an interesting hybrid of his prewar and postwar persona. He became a person of
great moral character who had weathered a lifetime of hardship in films like "Firecreek" and "Shenandoah." He even took turns as a villain in "Bandolero!" and an
unwitting and unwilling brothel owner in the comedy, "The Cheyenne Social Club." His last Western, and last film, was animated. He played the voice of Wylie Burp
in "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West." Stewart's cowboy career was easily the most varied and interesting of them all. Below are photos of his Western career.
honest, "Aw, Shucks" kind of guy. Through films like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "The Shop Around the Corner," Stewart's on screen persona had been
cemented as the always moral American boy, even in his few Westerns like "Destry Rides Again"...or so it seemed. After serving in World War II, everything
changed for Stewart and his outlook had changed too. Not only was he seeking more complex roles, he had become a more complex person. Even in films that
seemed to be in his old vein, such as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Harvey," if viewers looks closely they will see a more adult Stewart, one with real human problems
that can't be shrugged off.
All of this came to a boil when Stewart teamed with director Anthony Mann in five Westerns that effectively reinvented Jimmy Stewart for audiences. Through the
course of these gritty and realistic Westerns, Stewart transformed from the clean cut American icon to a different kind of hero. He wasn't as invincible as John
Wayne or Gary Cooper. He wasn't as instantly noble and forthright as Gregory Peck. He was somewhere in between. He was a wholly human hero in his
Westerns, with both physical limitations and complications from a life of hard knocks in films like "Winchester '73" and "The Man From Laramie." He carried this
into later projects without Mann.
Towards the end of his career, Stewart's character in his Westerns became an interesting hybrid of his prewar and postwar persona. He became a person of
great moral character who had weathered a lifetime of hardship in films like "Firecreek" and "Shenandoah." He even took turns as a villain in "Bandolero!" and an
unwitting and unwilling brothel owner in the comedy, "The Cheyenne Social Club." His last Western, and last film, was animated. He played the voice of Wylie Burp
in "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West." Stewart's cowboy career was easily the most varied and interesting of them all. Below are photos of his Western career.
| A COWBOY OF MANY HATS |
LEFT: Jimmy as the
stalwart Tom Destry,
a peaceful sheriff with
a deadly edge in
"Destry Rides Again."
RIGHT: Jimmy takes
on his nemesis, Dutch
Henry Brown, in the
climactic finale of
Anthony Mann's
unforgettable
"Winchester '73."
LEFT: Jimmy dodges
arrows in the Western
that dared to side with
the Indians in "Broken
Arrow."
RIGHT: Jimmy takes
no prisoners as a
guide with a grudge in
the pioneer drama,
"Bend of the River."
| ABOVE: Jimmy is dragged through the dirt in "The Man From Laramie." BELOW: Jimmy, the unlikely cowboy, in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." |
| ABOVE: Jimmy ponders his problems...and his accordion...in "Night Passage." BELOW: Jimmy is a practical pacifist in the Civil War drama, "Shenandoah." |
| LEFT: Jimmy and Henry Fonda just learn that they are the proud inheritors of a house of ill repute in "The Cheyenne Social Club." BELOW: Jimmy watches over the lovely Raquel Welch to protect her from his fellow bandits in "Bandolero!" |
