Film of the Day: 48
The Naked Spur (1953)
In the 1940s and 1950s, there were many great actors of the Golden age of Hollywood. Amongst these great icons of Cinema were some of my favourite actors like Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Cagney, Cary Grant, Robert Mitchum and Jimmy Stewart.
Jimmy was always known for his voice and mostly his every-man persona which is why people can easily relate to him/his character. As the man said, "I suppose people can relate to being me, while they dream about being John Wayne" (with whom he stared with on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance & The Shootist). He has given us so many terrific roles and great performances from his lovable character Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, where his best friend in the world is an imaginary 6 foot rabbit or Frank Towns, the captain who must get his crew out of the Sahara desert after crashing in The Flight of the Phoenix.
His career kicked off in 1936 with After the Thin Man (the finest of all the sequels) and then got his big break in his breakout role Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and was nominated for his first Oscar. He won the Oscar the next year in The Philadelphia Story. After that he enlisted in the military and was a decorated solder in World War II and in the Vietnam War and even had pilot training (over 400 hours of flying time).
After the war, he was approached with a role by Frank Capra. "Frank called me one day and said, 'I have an idea for a movie, why don't you come over and I'll tell you?' So I went over and we sat down and he said, 'This picture starts in heaven'. That shook me" Of course this was It's a Wonderful Life (the greatest of all Christmas movies and Jimmy's favourite role).
He then became acquainted with Hitchcock in Rope (a role that he considered himself to be miscast) and went on to make Rear Window and Vertigo (his finest film). However since Vertigo was not a success upon it's release, Hitchcock blamed Stewart (said that he made the character look too old) and cast Cary Grant in his next film instead, North by Northwest (Cary Grant was a year older than Jimmy). In 1950, Anthony Mann cast Stewart in the classic western Winchester '73 and went on to make four other westerns with him, one of them being The Naked Spur, one of my favourite Jimmy Stewart roles.
This is one of the finest, edgiest and most brutal of all classic American westerns. I was also shocked by Stewart's performance, it was a great performance as usual however he did not play his usual self in this film, his happy go lucky character. He played a bounty hunter (Howard Kemp) who is out to get his man (money) and he will do whatever it takes, and will use anyone to do so. Even if it means shooting a man in cold blood as the man he is after also shot a man in cold blood and Kemp wants his ranch back (which he will pay with the money from this job). It is a masterpiece amongst westerns.
Anthony Mann really knows how to shoot a western, he understands the way a western is supposed to feel and is in my opinion one of the finest western directors ever, which you can see by just watching any of his films like The Furies, Bend of the River or Man of the West.
Stewart also starred in Broken Arrow (his most under-rated film) where he played an American who instead of kills the Indians, he stays with them and not only has respect for them but he earns it from them as well. It was a very fresh film in the genre for the time. He even let out his jazz and blues piano-playing skills in Anatomy of a Murder.
James Maitland Stewart died today in 1997 in Los Angeles. He will always be remembered for his many great roles and his lovably personality. He was named the third Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. And he also allegedly hated the nickname 'Jimmy'.
Click here for the trailer
Jimmy was always known for his voice and mostly his every-man persona which is why people can easily relate to him/his character. As the man said, "I suppose people can relate to being me, while they dream about being John Wayne" (with whom he stared with on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance & The Shootist). He has given us so many terrific roles and great performances from his lovable character Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, where his best friend in the world is an imaginary 6 foot rabbit or Frank Towns, the captain who must get his crew out of the Sahara desert after crashing in The Flight of the Phoenix.
His career kicked off in 1936 with After the Thin Man (the finest of all the sequels) and then got his big break in his breakout role Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and was nominated for his first Oscar. He won the Oscar the next year in The Philadelphia Story. After that he enlisted in the military and was a decorated solder in World War II and in the Vietnam War and even had pilot training (over 400 hours of flying time).
After the war, he was approached with a role by Frank Capra. "Frank called me one day and said, 'I have an idea for a movie, why don't you come over and I'll tell you?' So I went over and we sat down and he said, 'This picture starts in heaven'. That shook me" Of course this was It's a Wonderful Life (the greatest of all Christmas movies and Jimmy's favourite role).
He then became acquainted with Hitchcock in Rope (a role that he considered himself to be miscast) and went on to make Rear Window and Vertigo (his finest film). However since Vertigo was not a success upon it's release, Hitchcock blamed Stewart (said that he made the character look too old) and cast Cary Grant in his next film instead, North by Northwest (Cary Grant was a year older than Jimmy). In 1950, Anthony Mann cast Stewart in the classic western Winchester '73 and went on to make four other westerns with him, one of them being The Naked Spur, one of my favourite Jimmy Stewart roles.
This is one of the finest, edgiest and most brutal of all classic American westerns. I was also shocked by Stewart's performance, it was a great performance as usual however he did not play his usual self in this film, his happy go lucky character. He played a bounty hunter (Howard Kemp) who is out to get his man (money) and he will do whatever it takes, and will use anyone to do so. Even if it means shooting a man in cold blood as the man he is after also shot a man in cold blood and Kemp wants his ranch back (which he will pay with the money from this job). It is a masterpiece amongst westerns.
Anthony Mann really knows how to shoot a western, he understands the way a western is supposed to feel and is in my opinion one of the finest western directors ever, which you can see by just watching any of his films like The Furies, Bend of the River or Man of the West.
Stewart also starred in Broken Arrow (his most under-rated film) where he played an American who instead of kills the Indians, he stays with them and not only has respect for them but he earns it from them as well. It was a very fresh film in the genre for the time. He even let out his jazz and blues piano-playing skills in Anatomy of a Murder.
James Maitland Stewart died today in 1997 in Los Angeles. He will always be remembered for his many great roles and his lovably personality. He was named the third Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute. And he also allegedly hated the nickname 'Jimmy'.
Click here for the trailer
This is actually one of my favourite actors. I like Jimmy Stewart for the way he acts, the way he talks and his ability to take on different roles.
ReplyDeleteI seen this film and I liked it....anyway I liked just about every film he starred in.
He will be missed!