JIMMY STEWART BLOGATHON: THE MUSICAL SIDE OF JIMMY STEWART

When you think of the wealth of movies that Jimmy Stewart made in his career, you do not consider him a musical star. Anyone who has ever heard him sing would agree with me. However, Jimmy Stewart dimake a handful of musicals during his long and illustrious career which spanned decades. Most of them however we not that well received.

After debuting in a forgotten Spencer Tracy film The Murder Man in 1935, Stewart's next movie was a musical - Rose Marie (1936). The movie was an adaptation of the stage operetta and a starring vehicle for Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Stewart plays the second male lead that tries to steal MacDonald away from Eddy. Jimmy did not sing in this film, but Nelson and Jeanette would introduce the song "Indian Love Call" in the movie. It would be the duo's signature song.

MGM still had no clue what to do with Stewart so they stuck him in another musical right after. In Born To Dance (1936) he was paired with the beautiful Eleanor Powell. The musical score was done by the great Cole Porter, and Stewart was even given the task of introducing the Porter classic "Easy To Love". His voice brought tears to my eyes and not in a good way. Even in the 1974 documentary That's Entertainment Stewart poked fun and his attempt at singing. Thank goodness Eleanor Powell's tap dancing and the Cole Porter score took made audiences forget Stewart's vocal inadequacy.

By the late 1930s, Jimmy Stewart was making a mark for himself as the "every man" of film. His films like You Can't Take It With You and Mr Smith Goes To Washington cemented Stewart's place as a great leading man. However, in 1941 Stewart appeared in two musicals. For the horrible film Pot O Gold, Jimmy was loaned out to United Artists, a studio not known for great musicals. The movie was an adaptation of a popular radio show of the time. The film tells of a couple (Stewart and Paulette Goddard) romantically involved despite family feuds. Stewart and Goddard both were not singers so the musical part of the movie came from Horace Heidt and His Orchestra. Pot O Gold was a bomb, and Stewart later referred to the film as the worst one he ever appeared in.

The other musical Stewart appeared in in 1941 was MGM's lavish musical Ziegfeld Girl. Set in the 1920s, the film tells the parallel stories of three women who become performers in the renowned Broadway show the Ziegfeld Follies. Stewart had no musical numbers in the film. He was the main male lead, playing the boyfriend of a tortured Ziegfeld girl (Lana Turner). Stewart did not need to sing in this film, because it also had the talented musical stars Judy Garland and Tony Martin to make the film one of the best musicals of 1941.

In the 1940s Jimmy steered clear of the musical genre. Other than a humorous song he sang on Bing Crosby's radio show in the late 1940s, Jimmy stayed away from the musical. However, he did make one more musical of note. Not only was it his most profitable musical, but it was one of the greatest musicals of the 1950s. Stewart portrayed big band leader Glenn Miller in The Glenn Miller Story (1954). The film follows big band leader Glenn Miller (1904–1944) (James Stewart) from his early days in the music business in 1929 through to his 1944 death when the airplane he was flying in was lost over the English Channel during World War II. Prominent placement in the film is given to Miller's courtship and marriage to Helen Burger (June Allyson), and various cameos by actual musicians who were colleagues of Miller. Upon release in 1954, The Glenn Miller Story was massively successful at the box office.

In 1954, the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay (by Valentine Davies and Oscar Brodney) and Best Score (by Henry Mancini and Joseph Gershenson). The film won the Oscar for Best Sound Recording, by Leslie I. Carey. Jimmy Stewart was definitely no rival to Bing Crosby or Fred Astaire in the musical genre, but it is interesting to look at the musicals the non-musical Stewart made during his career. His acting ability as America's "every man" is what made him one of the biggest stars of classic Hollywood. Again, it was definitely his acting ability and not his musical talent or lack of...

THE FIVE MOST OVERRATED ACTRESSES

I figured I would follow up my look at overrated stars by profiling the ladies now. I think my choices for overrated actresses will even be more controversial than my overrated actors profile. I have picked some of Hollywood's most beloved actresses, but in my opinion - and only my opinion, I believe that the following five actresses were overrated...

JOAN FONTAINE

5. JOAN FONTAINE (born 1917)
It is not that I think that Joan Fontaine is a bad actress. She won an Oscar for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's "Suspicion" in 1941, but in every role she starred in she seemed cold and distant. She seemed cold in "Suspicion" (in that film it was called for), but if you want another example of her cold, almost wooden acting - watch her in "The Emperor's Waltz" (1948) with Bing Crosby. Watching Fontaine on screen I get a chill even if it is the hottest day in summer.

4. LANA TURNER (1921-1995)
Lana Turner was very popular in the 1940s and 1950s, but I feel her appeal was more her looks than her actual acting ability. I have to admit I do not hate everything Turner did. I think her best movie was the underrated "Ziegfeld Girl"(1941) which she plays a Ziegfeld girl. However, for the most part I feel that the public was going to see a Lana Turner movie to see beauty and not talent. That beauty (a form of talent) made her a popular star for decades though.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR

3. ELIZABETH TAYLOR (1932-2011)
Before Elizabeth Taylor passed away, I would have said she was the most overrated. However, since she died I have seen some of her movies, and she did have talent. I still think though that her popularity was more about the men she slept with and the marriages she broke up than her actual ability. One movie I did like her in was a more demure role in "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (1954). I watched it for Van Johnson, but I discovered an ability that Taylor did have. Still though, she may be an icon but a very overrated one in my book.

2. AUDREY HEPBURN (1929-1993)
I know having Audrey Hepborn on an overrated list is going to get me in trouble with movie fans everywhere. What was her appeal? I did not think she was beautiful - not to be rude, but she was kind of ugly. She made a lot of interesting movies ,and Hepburn has risen to such ultra stardom, but I do not understand why. She won an Oscar for "Roman Holliday" in 1953, and I do not think the movie role warranted an Oscar. I guess some people like the waif type beauty that Audrey Hepburn had, but her looks did not last, and I do not think her acting ability warranted legendary status either.

BARBRA STREISAND

1. BARBRA STREISAND (BORN 1942)
Okay even though I am not a fan of Barbra Streisand's singing, I do believe she had a good voice. However, as an actress I thought she was horrible. With the exception of her role as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" (1968) and "Funny Lady" (1975), I have not seen another Streisand film I have remotely liked. I don't know who cast her as Dolly Levi in "Hello Dolly" (1969), but she ruined a great Jerry Herman musical. Her attitude like she knows she is this great star has also been a big turn off for me. Plus, I can't get past that nose! Like all of the stars on this list, they have more talent than I will ever have, but stars like Streisand are just way too overrated for me...

MY FIVE FAVORITE JIMMY STEWART MOVIES

While I have always preferred Cary Grant as an actor, Jimmy Stewart had a down home quality in all of his movies. Grant was the typical good looking matinee idol while Stewart was your neighbor next door. Also, while Jimmy's most favorite movie is "It's A Wonderful Life" - the movie is not one of my favorites. Here are the movies that make did make the cut into the top five...

5. ZIEGFELD GIRL (1941)
While the musical "Ziegfeld Girl" is not a major Jimmy Stewart film but a collaboration of many acting talents, Stewart's role is one of my favorites in the film. Thankfully he does not sing in this movie (He did in 1936's "Born To Dance"), but he played the boy next door. In the film he is the sweetheart of Lana Turner. As their lives change and they grow apart, you can see the changes in Stewart's character. It is a really great musical to watch his acting ability in.

4. SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (1957)
If anyone could play Charles Lindbergh in a movie then Jimmy Stewart could. The screenplay was adapted by Charles Lederer, Wendell Mayes, and Billy Wilder from Lindbergh's 1953 autobiographical account of his historic flight, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. Along with reminiscences of his early days in aviation, the film depicts Lindbergh's historic 33-hour transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis monoplane from his take off at Roosevelt Field to his landing at Le Bourget Field in Paris on May 21, 1927. Most of the movie is only Stewart in an airplane cockpit, and surprisingly the film works.

3. REAR WINDOW (1954)
Here is another movie with only one or two settings. This Alfred Hitchcock thriller stars Stewart as a man recovering from a broken leg. He is bored being stuck in his apartment, so he uses a telescope to spy on the neighbors. While spying, he witnesses a neighbor (Raymond Burr) murder his wife. The film is not only considered one of Hitchcock's best movies but one of Jimmy Stewart's as well. For most of the movie Stewart sits through the whole film. Despite that, again Stewart portrays the role in such a way that you lose yourself in his role.

2. HARVEY (1950)
"Harvey" is by far one of the most charming comedies of the 1950s. It is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase's play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster, and starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The story is about a man whose best friend is a pooka named Harvey—in the form of a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall invisible rabbit. Most actors would not be able to play a man who sees a rabbit - they would come off as crazy. Again, with Stewart in this role he is charming and enjoyable. Stewart was nominated for an Oscar for his great portrayal, but unfortunately he did not win. What is interesting is Stewart also made a television version of the film in 1972 with Helen Hayes.

1. VERTIGO (1958)
While my wife prefers "Rear Window", I think "Vertigo" is Jimmy Stewart's best and darkest film role. It is the story of a retired police detective suffering from acrophobia who is hired as a private investigator to follow the wife of an acquaintance to uncover the mystery of her peculiar behavior.
The film received mixed reviews upon initial release, but has garnered acclaim since and is now frequently ranked among the greatest films ever made, and often cited as a classic Alfred Hitchcock film and one of the defining works of his career. Personally, I feel that the end of this movie has one of the best twist endings of any Hitchcock film. Jimmy Stewart is great as a man who goes from living a normal life, to having his life turned upside and descend into near madness. In my humble opinion, this was Jimmy Stewart's crowning achievement and another example of the ability that Stewart had in every film role...

SEX SYMBOLS OF THE CINEMA: 1940s

Even though the 1940s saw horrific suffering with World War II, the movies tried to remaine wholesome and innocent. Soldiers were seeing lost limbs and blood and carnage, but they were not allowed to see much of a sexual nature in films. It was too shocking for them to see Jane Russell's cleavage or Betty Grable's stocking clad legs. Many of the films of the early 1940s had a patriotic tone to them, and what better way to show your patriotism than by showing off beautiful girls. The sex symbols of the 1940s, in my opinion were drop dead beautiful. During World War II, these sex symbols made the soldiers have something to fight for, and after the war it gave them something to come home to. There were countless beauties in the movies during the 1940s, but here are a few of the most popular:

RITA HAYWORTH (1918-1987)
My personal favorite beauty of classic Hollywood, Rita Hayworth started as a teenage dancer, whose partner was her father. In the 1930s, they were billed as a couple - which in itself is creepy, but it did get her noticed by studio executives. A complete make-over including plastic surgery, changed her from Margarita Cansino to Rita Hayworth. Her beauty was literally breath taking, and she became a favorite of soldiers during World War II. When her most famous movie, Gilda, came out in 1946 the movie poster was censored due to a slight hint of her cleavage in the picture. It is amazing what was censored then as compared to now. Rita's life was a difficult one - from failed marriages to genius Orson Welles and singer Dick Haymes to suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Hayworth did not have it easy. She deserved better.

BETTY GRABLE (1916-1973)
She herself said she could not sing and was not particularly beautiful, but Betty Grable was the ultimate pin up girl for soldiers during World War II. Her seductive picture looking over her soldier was one of the most popular images of the war years. Yes, she was not the best singer or dancer, but from 1943 to 1950 she was one of the most popular female box office draws. She not only had a beauty about her, but she also seemed like an average girl that you could take to a dance or have a beer with. I think that was more sexy than anything to the soldiers during the war and after when they were coming home. Betty Grable was America to these soldiers who were giving their lives for their country.

AVA GARDNER (1922-1990)
If Betty Grable was the girl next door, then Ava Gardner was the girl from the other side of the tracks. She started in movies for MGM in the early 1940s, but I feel she really made her mark in film noir movies of the late 1940s. Her come hither look heated up the screen as never before. Like Rita Hayworth though, she did not have a very happy life. She was married to such famous men as bandleader Artie Shaw and singer Frank Sinatra, and her later years were filled with many health problems. When she died in 1990, she was reportedly penniless, so ex husband Frank Sinatra paid for her whole funeral. However, to see Ava Gardner in a movie is to experience pure sexuality as never before.

LANA TURNER (1921-1995)
Another MGM alumni, Lana Turner was called "The Sweater Girl" because obviously she could fill a sweater better than anyone! During World War II, Turner became a popular pin-up girl due to her popularity in such films such as Ziegfeld Girl (1941), Johnny Eager (1942), and four films with Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer's "king of the lot", Clark Gable. The Turner-Gable films' successes were only heightened by gossip-column rumors about a relationship between the two. In 1957, Turner's daughter was accused of murdering Lana Turner's boyfriend, and it was actually believed that Turner was the one that killed him. Despite the scandal, Turner remained a huge star throughout the 1960s.

MOVIE REVIEW: ZIEGFELD GIRL

I am a sucker for those all-star movies of classic Hollywood. Where the whole studio would appear in a single movie. A lot of times the talent is merely used to make a cameo appearance in the movie. I enjoy those appearances as well, but a movie that uses the talent effectively in great roles is really a gem of celluloid. One such movie that uses all of the stars in great roles is Ziegfeld Girl (1941).

Set in the 1920s, the film tells the parallel stories of three women who become performers in the renowned Broadway show the Ziegfeld Follies. It was intended to be a 1938 sequel to the 1936 hit The Great Ziegfeld, and even recycled some footage from the earlier film - however the movie underwent many changes in its plot before it was released.

The story here follows three young women who get into the Ziegfeld chorus line.

Lana Turner is an elevator operator in a department store who is seen by the showman and hired by his right hand man (Edward Everett Horton). She is seeing a truck driver (Jimmy Stewart). Turner likes the more lucrative and glamorous lifestyle she is entering (especialy the relationship she picks up with wealthy Ian Hunter). Stewart gradually gets disgusted by the change in her, and turns to "easy, big money" of his own - working as a driver and lieutenant of a bootlegger.

The second follows Hedy Lamarr, the wife of violinist Philip Dorn. Dorn has been struggling (with the help of friend Felix Bressart) to get into public notice as a great classical violinist. While accompanying him to an audition for a violinist at the New Amsterdam Theater, Lamarr is hired for the chorus. Dorn does not want his wife to be a possible sex object for lascivious males. When Hedy refuses to give up a good job, Dorn walks out on her (although he keeps an eye on her career and relationships, especially with the male singer star of the show Tony Martin).

Finally we see Judy acting with her father Charles Winninger at a vaudeville theater in Harlem (this is about 1920 or so). He is "Pop" Gallagher, a tried-and-true old vaudeville comedian and song and dance man. Judy is hired also for the chorus (the one failure of the plot: Judy is still an adorable young woman like "Dorothy" in the WIZARD OF OZ, but is outclassed by Turner and Lamarr or even fellow chorus girl Eve Arden as a statuesque looker), but we see her pushed onto Horton and show director Paul Kelly as a singer by Turner and Lamarr. But her singing is not how Winninger trained her, and he feels he has to let her go off on her own. Instead he meets an old friend, Al Shean (here playing himself), and they go off into the vaudeville hinterlands to perfect an act together.

The film follows the rise and fall or rise of the three young women, with Turner having the hardest fall (as does Stewart). On the way Turner will have two run-ins with a very young (and obnoxious) Dan Daily as a boxing champion. It's an interesting early role for this actor, better recalled for musical and comic parts a decade later. The other supporting players do well too, Arden getting some nice zingers regarding the benefits of being there for stage door johnnies. Horton plays it fairly controlled and not as startled as normal. Kelly is all business, an interesting early come-back role for a fine character actor just getting his life together after years in prison for a tragedy he was not really to blame for. Martin gets to sing "You Look Like a Dream" and several other tunes, his romance doomed when Hedy meets his long-suffering wife. Dorn proves an adept actor, jealous and hurt at Hedy's choice, but willing to meet her half-way at the end. Jackie Cooper (as Lana's brother) is fine as her would-be conscience, and Judy's boy-friend.

Judy Garland had the best numbers with the sentimental "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and the bouncy "Minnie From Trinidad", but Tony Martin nearly stole the show with his signature number "You Stepped Out Of A Dream". The story of the three Ziegfeld hopefuls was interesting and compelling. One of the girls gained fame being a Ziegfeld girl, one Ziegfeld girl decided that family was her best bet, and one Ziegfeld girl went down the wrong path to self-destruction. Everything about this movie I enjoyed, and it a shame that this film is not remembered more. Florence Ziegfeld sure could put on a show, and even a movie about him was no different!

my rating: 10 out of 10

THIS WEEK IN FILM HISTORY

Here are some interesting dates that happened in film history:

July 14, 1908: Edison Company actor D.W. Griffith makes his directing debut with The Adventures of Dollie, the first of over 500 works to come.

July 12, 1912: Adolph Zukor releases a French film, Queen Elizabeth, starring stage star Sarah Bernhardt, in America, giving a new respectability to motion pictures.

July 15, 1932: The Disney Studio releases the first cartoon using the three-color Technicolor process, a Silly Symphony called Flowers and Trees.

July 14, 1933: E.C. Segar's comic strip creation Popeye the Sailor is set afloat in his first film appearance, in Max Fleischer's cartoon short.

July 14, 1937: After her memorable debut appearance in Warners' They Won't Forget, 17-year-old Lana Turner will earn the nickname "the sweater girl."

July 14, 1969: Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda's low-budget "road" picture, Easy Rider, debuts, and will make a star of Jack Nicholson and spawn a host of imitators.

July 15, 1988: Bruce Willis shoots his way into the pantheon of Hollywood action heroes with the debut of Die Hard.

July 10, 1989: The voice of nearly every major Warner Bros. cartoon character, as well as Heathcliff the cat, Mel Blanc, dies at 80.

July 11, 1989: The portrayer of nearly every major Shakespearean character, as well as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Laurence Olivier, dies at 82.

July 15, 1998: Cameron Diaz sports a unique hair-do in the year's most unlikely hit, the "gross-out" comedy There's Something About Mary.

July 16, 1999: Amid cries of "Is it real?," the $60,000 pseudo-documentary The Blair Witch Project opens to packed houses and will become the top independent film of all time.

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