Skip to main content

Happy Birthday


...to Jimmy Stewart.


If I had to name a favorite actor, it would be James Stewart. As I read through his list of films to list them in this post, I kept saying, "Oh, I love that one...Oh, I love that one, too. Oh...."

I'll start with The Philadelphia Story. There are big names in this film, but Stewart tops them all. Then there's It's A Wonderful Life, Harvey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Shop Around the Corner, Vertigo, Rear Window, Shenandoah, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Glenn Miller Story, and there are more...

He began his adult life in pursuit of a career as an architect. With all due respect to our architect friend (you know who you are), I am grateful that Jimmy Stewart changed course and headed for the theater instead.

Back in August, I posted an excerpt from Harvey (while I realize Stewart didn't write this brilliant monologue, he delivered it so perfectly it deserves repeating):

Harvey and I sit in the bars...and have a drink or two, play the jukebox. And soon the faces of all the other people, they turn toward mine and they smile.

They're saying, "We don't know your name, mister, but you're a very nice fellow."

Harvey and I...warm ourselves in all these golden moments. We've entered as strangers. Soon we have friends. And they come over and they sit with us, they drink with us they talk to us. And they tell about the big, terrible things they've done... and the big, wonderful things they'll do. Their hopes and their regrets,and their loves and their hates, all very large...because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar.

And then...I introduce them to Harvey. And he's bigger and grander than anything they offer me. And...and when they leave, they leave impressed. The same people seldom come back, but that's...that's envy, my dear.

There's a little bit of envy in the best of us.

Comments

Sassy Sundry said…
Imagine Dive in It's a Wonderful Life....

Happy Birthday, Jimmy.
10:53 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money!

Happy Birthday Jimmy!!!!
2:00 PM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
Oh and one more thing-

In the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say, you were nothing but a scurvy little spider!
2:05 PM
Scout said…
Sassy, HA! Dive in It's A Wonderful Life! That's a great idea.

Rich, I would have added the "scurvy little spider" if you hadn't. "And that goes for you, too."
2:33 PM
dive said…
I was originally slated for the part, but when they rewrote it with a happy ending without the chainsaw scene I quit and Jimmy stepped in.
5:27 AM
Neponset River Bridge Dig said…
Dive - doesn't he cut off the knewl post with a chainsaw? or maybe that was another movie. hmmmmm
8:01 AM
dive said…
Hee hee, Rich.
8:47 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No More Mr. Nice Guy

It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...
20 comments
Read more

Am I Stupid, or What?

In two weeks, I will climb up into a charter bus, take my assigned seat, and ride 22 hours straight to Orlando, Florida. I will be a chaperon with the high school marching band, which will perform at Disney's Magic Kingdom--me and 180 people on four big buses for seven days. We will travel together, eat together, play together, fall down exhausted together--and after 22 hours, I suspect stink to high heaven together. Because of the crazy schedule, we will leave Ohio at 6 pm, travel all night and most of the next day, and spend several hours at MGM Studios before ending up at the hotel sometime after 7 pm. After I check in with the eight girls I am to supervise, I intend to shower and shower and shower. I intend to wear clean clothes and socks and brush my teeth until my toothbrush wears out. Of all the things I could be concerned about on this trip, being dirty seems to weigh heaviest on my mind. One of my eight charges could run off and do bad things with her boyfriend, but I'...
21 comments
Read more

An Offending Pile

So, I'm standing in my living room letting my mind wander for a minute or two as I stare out the window and watch the day go by, and I see my neighbors walking their dogs down the street. They are nice neighbors who are always friendly and responsible with their property. That is to say they aren't like the other neighbors who heap rubbish behind their house like Ma and Pa Kettle and let their dogs bark for thirty minutes at a time . Anyway, I see the nice people walking their dogs, a big golden retriever who is as sweet as can be and as dumb as a post—he once ate a sock and nearly died before it was surgically removed—and a new golden retriever puppy. Then I see Neighbor Wife suddenly run down the street with the big dog. Then I see Neighbor Husband stopped in front of my house with the puppy on its leash. And then I see the puppy taking a huge dump in my grass. Let me tell you, that is not done in this town unless the dog owner has a plastic bag handy and is ready to pick up ...
16 comments
Read more