Editing James Stewart (section)

=== 1950–1959: Collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Mann ===
[[File:Winchester73 trailer Stewart Winters.png|thumb|Stewart with [[Shelley Winters]] in ''Winchester '73'', his first project with Anthony Mann. In the 1950s, Stewart redefined his career as a star of Western films.]]
In the 1950s, Stewart experienced a career renewal as the star of Westerns and collaborated on several films with director [[Anthony Mann]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rafferty |first1=Terrence |title=Film; Anthony Mann, Hollywood Soldiers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/movies/film-anthony-mann-hollywood-soldier.html |access-date=June 17, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=August 8, 2004 |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617191952/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/08/movies/film-anthony-mann-hollywood-soldier.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The first of these was the Universal production ''Winchester '73'' (1950), which Stewart agreed to do in exchange for being cast in a screen adaptation of ''Harvey''.{{sfn|Basinger|2007|p=79}} It also marked a turning point in Hollywood, as Stewart's agent, [[Lew Wasserman]], brokered an innovative deal with Universal, in which Stewart would receive no fee in exchange for a percentage of the profits. Stewart was also granted authority to collaborate with the studio on casting and hiring decisions.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=245}} Stewart ended up earning about $600,000 for ''Winchester '73'', significantly more than his usual fee, and other stars quickly capitalized on this new way of doing business, which further undermined the decaying [[studio system]].{{sfn|Eliot|2006|pp=245, 254}}

Stewart chose Mann to direct,{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=248}} and the film gave him the idea of redefining his screen persona through the Western genre.<ref>{{harvnb|Molyneaux|1992|p=102}}; {{harvnb|Mann|2008|p=50}}; {{harvnb|Basinger|2007|pp=79–80}}</ref> In the film, Stewart is a tough, vengeful sharpshooter, the winner of a prized rifle that is stolen and passes through many hands, until the showdown between him and his brother.<ref>{{harvnb|Eliot|2006|pp=248–249}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Winchester '73-Full Synopsis |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/95933/winchester-73#synopsis |website=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617195839/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/95933/Winchester-73/full-synopsis.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Winchester '73'' became a box-office success upon its summer release and earned Stewart rave reviews.<ref>{{harvnb|Molyneaux|1992|p=102}};{{harvnb|Mann|2008|p=50}}</ref> He also starred in another successful Western that summer, ''[[Broken Arrow (1950 film)|Broken Arrow]]'' (1950), which featured him as an ex-soldier and Native American agent making peace with the [[Apache]].{{sfn|Dewey|1996|pp=307–310}}
[[File:James Stewart Harvey 1950 Promo Still.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Stewart in ''Harvey'' (1950), the only film for which he received both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination]]
Stewart's third film release of 1950 was the comedy ''[[The Jackpot]]''; it received critical acclaim and was commercially successful, but was a minor film in his repertoire and has largely been forgotten by contemporary critics and fans.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kehr |first1=Dave |title=Great American Westerns |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-07-05-9203010200-story.html |access-date=June 19, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=July 5, 1992 |archive-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619172413/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-07-05-9203010200-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|pp=221–222}}; {{harvnb|Molyneaux|1992|p=105}}</ref> In December 1950, the screen adaptation of ''Harvey'' was released, directed by [[Henry Koster]] and with Stewart reprising his stage role. With critics comparing his performance with Fay's, Stewart's performance as well as the film itself received mixed reviews.<ref>{{harvnb|Molyneaux|1992|pp=106–107}}; {{harvnb|Eliot|2006|p=253}}</ref> Bosley Crowther of ''The New York Times'' wrote that "so darling is the acting of James Stewart [...] and all the rest that a virtually brand-new experience is still in store for even those who saw the play",<ref>{{cite news|last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=December 22, 1950 |title=The Screen In Review |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=19 }}</ref> while ''Variety'' called him "perfect" in the role.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 18, 1950 |title=Harvey |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=6 }}</ref> John McCarten of the ''New Yorker'' stated that although he "doesn't bring his part to the battered authority of Frank Fay...he nevertheless succeeds in making plausible the notion that Harvey, the rabbit, would accept him as a pal."{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|p=221}} Stewart later stated that he was dissatisfied with his performance, stating, "I played him a little too dreamily, a little too cute-cute."{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|p=221}} Despite the film's poor box office performance, Stewart received his fourth Academy Award nomination as well as his first [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Golden Globe]] nomination.{{sfn|Dewey|1996|p=324}} Similar to ''It's a Wonderful Life'', ''Harvey'' achieved popularity later, after frequent television showings.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=253}}

Stewart appeared in only one film released in 1951, playing a scientist in Koster's British production ''[[No Highway in the Sky]]'', which was one of the first airplane [[disaster film]]s ever made. Filmed in England, it became a box office success in the United Kingdom, but failed to attract audiences in the United States.<ref>{{harvnb|Thumim|1991|p=258}}; {{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|p=224}}</ref> Stewart took a small supporting role as a troubled clown in [[Cecil B. DeMille]]'s ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1952), which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Critics were curious why Stewart had taken such a small, out-of-character role; he responded that he was inspired by [[Lon Chaney]]'s ability to disguise himself while letting his character emerge.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|pp=258–259}} In the same year, Stewart starred in a critically and commercially failed biopic, ''[[Carbine Williams]]'' (1952),{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|p=231}} and continued his collaboration with Mann in ''[[Bend of the River]]'' (1952), which was a commercial and critical success.{{sfn|Molyneaux|1992|pp=110–111}}[[File:Far Country Cropped lobby card.jpg|thumb|[[John McIntire]] and Stewart in ''[[The Far Country (film)|The Far Country]]'' (1955)]]Stewart followed ''Bend of the River'' with four more collaborations with Mann in the next two years. ''The Naked Spur'' (1953){{sfn|Fishgall|1997|pp=232–233}} and ''The Far Country'' (1954) were successful with audiences and developed Stewart's screen persona into a more mature, ambiguous, and edgier presence.<ref>{{harvnb|Eliot|2006|p=251}}; {{harvnb|Basinger|2007|p=79}}</ref> The films featured him as troubled cowboys seeking redemption while facing corrupt cattlemen, ranchers, and outlaws; a man who knows violence first-hand and struggles to control it. The Stewart–Mann collaborations laid the foundation for many of the Westerns of the 1950s and remain popular today for their grittier, more realistic depiction of the classic movie genre. In addition, Stewart starred in the Western radio show ''[[The Six Shooter]]'' for its one-season run from 1953 to 1954.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reinehr |first1=Robert C. |last2=Swartz |first2=Jon D. |title=The A to Z of Old-Time Radio |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc. |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=9780810876163 |pages=236–237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5uzfQjhlUXoC&q=The%20six%20shooter |access-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423174332/https://books.google.com/books?id=5uzfQjhlUXoC&q=The+six+shooter |url-status=live }}</ref> He and Mann also collaborated on films outside the Western genre such as ''[[Thunder Bay (film)|Thunder Bay]]'' (1953) and ''The Glenn Miller Story'' (1954), the latter a critically acclaimed biopic in which he starred opposite June Allyson.<ref>{{harvnb|Eliot|2006|p=269}}; {{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|pp=239–240}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley |title=The Screen in Review; 'The Glenn Miller Story' Stars James Stewart and June Allyson at the Capitol |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/02/11/archives/the-screen-in-review-the-glenn-miller-story-stars-james-stewart-and.html |access-date=June 17, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=February 11, 1954 |archive-date=June 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603210309/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/02/11/archives/the-screen-in-review-the-glenn-miller-story-stars-james-stewart-and.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It earned Stewart a [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor|BAFTA]] nomination<ref>{{cite web |title=BAFTA Awards Search |url=http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=1955 |website=BAFTA |publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts |access-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129035137/http://awards.bafta.org/keyword-search?keywords=1955 |url-status=live }}</ref> and continued his portrayals of 'American heroes'.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Miller |editor1-first=Frank N. |title=Dictionary of World Biography: Volume 9, The 20th Century |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0893563234 |page=3530 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiQAaGgOChIC&q=james+stewart+portrayal+of+american+heroes+spirit+of+saint+louis+and+the+glenn+miller+story&pg=PA3530 |access-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423174344/https://books.google.com/books?id=uiQAaGgOChIC&q=james+stewart+portrayal+of+american+heroes+spirit+of+saint+louis+and+the+glenn+miller+story&pg=PA3530 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Kelly Stewart Publicity.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Stewart with co-star [[Grace Kelly]] in ''Rear Window'' (1954), which allowed him to explore new depths of his screen persona]]
Stewart's second collaboration with Hitchcock, the thriller ''Rear Window'', became the [[1954 in film|eighth highest-grossing]] film of 1954. Hitchcock and Stewart also formed a corporation, Patron Inc., to produce the film.{{efn|The company later became the subject of a [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]] case ''[[Stewart v. Abend]]'' (1990).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Diliberto |first1=Michael R. |title=Looking through the Rear Window: A Review of the United States Supreme Court Decision in Stewart v. Abend |journal=Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review |date=1992 |volume=12 |issue=2 |url=https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1238&context=elr |access-date=June 13, 2019 |archive-date=June 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200619071524/https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1238&context=elr |url-status=live }}</ref>}} Stewart portrayed a photographer, loosely based on [[Robert Capa]],<ref>{{harvnb|Eliot|2006|pp=272–273}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wigley |first1=Samuel |title=Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window turns 60 |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/hitchcocks-masterpiece-rear-window-turns-60 |website=BFI Film Forever |date=August 4, 2014 |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617184323/https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/hitchcocks-masterpiece-rear-window-turns-60 |url-status=live }}</ref> who projects his fantasies and fears onto the people he observes out his apartment window while on hiatus due to a broken leg and comes to believe that he has witnessed a murder. Limited by his wheelchair, Stewart had to react to what his character sees with mostly facial responses.{{sfn|Huzera|2011|pp=53–54}} Like Mann, Hitchcock uncovered new depths to Stewart's acting, showing a protagonist confronting his fears and repressed desires.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=271}} Although most of the initial acclaim for ''Rear Window'' was directed towards Hitchcock,{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|p=247}} critic [[Vincent Canby]] later described Stewart's performance in it as "grand" and stated that "[his] longtime star status in Hollywood has always obscured recognition of his talent."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |title=Film View; 'Rear Window' – Still a Joy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/arts/film-view-rear-window-still-a-joy.html |access-date=August 23, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=October 9, 1983 |archive-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823173703/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/arts/film-view-rear-window-still-a-joy.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 1954 was a landmark year in Stewart's career in terms of audience success, and he topped ''[[Look (American magazine)|Look]]'' magazine's list of the most-popular movie stars, displacing rival Western star [[John Wayne]].{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=278}}

Stewart continued his successful box-office run with two collaborations with Mann in 1955. ''[[Strategic Air Command (film)|Strategic Air Command]]'' paired him again with June Allyson in a [[Cold War]].{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=280}} Stewart took a central role in its development, using his experiences from the air force.<ref>{{harvnb|Basinger|2007|p=139}}; {{harvnb|Dewey|1996|pp=356–357}}</ref> Despite criticism for the dry, mechanistic storyline, it became the sixth highest-grossing film of 1955.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=281}} Stewart's final collaboration with Mann in the Western genre, ''[[The Man from Laramie]]'', one of the first Westerns to be shot in [[CinemaScope]], was well received by the critics and audiences alike.<ref>{{harvnb|Eliot|2006|pp=282–283}}; {{harvnb|Dewey|1996|p=344}}; {{harvnb|Molyneaux|1992|p=123}}</ref> Following his work with Mann, Stewart starred opposite [[Doris Day]] in Hitchcock's remake of his [[The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)|earlier]] film ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956). The film was another success. Even though critics preferred the first version, Hitchcock himself considered his remake superior.<ref>{{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|p=255}}; {{harvnb|Truffaut|Hitchcock|Scott|1983|p=94}}</ref>

Stewart's next film, [[Billy Wilder]]'s ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' (1957), saw him star as his young adulthood hero, [[Charles Lindbergh]].{{sfn|Eliot|2006|pp=299–300}} It was a big-budget production with elaborate special effects for the flying sequences, but received only mixed reviews and did not earn back its production costs. Stewart ended the year with a starring role in the Western ''[[Night Passage (film)|Night Passage]]'' (1957), which had originally been slated as his ninth collaboration with Mann.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley |title=Screen: 'Night Passage'; James Stewart Stars in Western at Mayfair |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/25/archives/screen-night-passage-james-stewart-stars-in-western-at-mayfair.html |access-date=June 19, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=July 25, 1957 |archive-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619173033/https://www.nytimes.com/1957/07/25/archives/screen-night-passage-james-stewart-stars-in-western-at-mayfair.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During the pre-production, a rift developed between Mann and writer [[Borden Chase]] over the script, which Mann considered weak. Mann decided to leave the film and never collaborated with Stewart again.<ref>{{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|p=260}}; {{harvnb|Eliot|2006|p=303}}; {{harvnb|Basinger|2007|p=12}}</ref> [[James Neilson (director)|James Neilson]] replaced Mann, and the film opened in 1957 to become a box-office flop. Soured by this failure, Stewart avoided the genre and would not make another Western for four years.<ref>{{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|p=261}}; {{harvnb|Pickard|1992|p=116}}; {{harvnb|Eliot|2006|p=303}}</ref>
[[File:Vertigo 1958 trailer embrace.jpg|thumb|left|Stewart's last collaboration with Hitchcock was ''Vertigo'' (1958), in which he co-starred with [[Kim Novak]].]]
Stewart's collaboration with Hitchcock ended the following year with ''Vertigo'' (1958), in which he starred as an [[acrophobia|acrophobic]] former policeman who becomes obsessed with a woman (Kim Novak) he is shadowing.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|pp=291–297, 310, 321}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Samadder |first1=Rhik |title=My favourite Hitchcock: Vertigo |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/aug/10/my-favourite-hitchcock-vertigo |access-date=June 13, 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=August 10, 2012 |archive-date=May 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190529093259/https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/aug/10/my-favourite-hitchcock-vertigo |url-status=live }}</ref> Although ''Vertigo'' has later become considered one of Hitchcock's key works and was ranked the greatest film ever made by the ''[[Sight & Sound]]'' critics' poll in 2012,<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19078948|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120815153000/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19078948|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 15, 2012|title=BBC News – Vertigo is named 'greatest film of all time'|date=August 15, 2012}}</ref> it was met with unenthusiastic reviews and poor box-office receipts upon its release.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|p=321}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Matthews |first1=Peter |title=Vertigo rises: the greatest film of all time? |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/polls-surveys/greatest-films-all-time/vertigo-hitchcock-new-number-one |access-date=June 13, 2019 |work=The International Film Magazine: Sight & Sound |date=September 2012 |archive-date=October 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026123015/https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/polls-surveys/greatest-films-all-time/vertigo-hitchcock-new-number-one |url-status=dead }}</ref> Regardless, several critics complimented Stewart for his performance,{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|p=265}} with Bosley Crowther noting, "Mr. Stewart, as usual, manages to act awfully tense in a casual way."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Crowther |first1=Bosley |title=Veritgo, Hitchcock's Latest; Melodrama Arrives at the Capitol |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/05/29/archives/vertigo-hitchcocks-latest-melodrama-arrives-at-the-capitol.html |access-date=August 23, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=May 29, 1958 |archive-date=August 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823175858/https://www.nytimes.com/1958/05/29/archives/vertigo-hitchcocks-latest-melodrama-arrives-at-the-capitol.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:James Stewart - 1959.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Stewart in ''Anatomy of a Murder'' (1959), which garnered him his final Academy Award nomination|alt=A Black and white closeup image of Stewart with an intense facial expression]]
Hitchcock blamed the film's failure on Stewart being too old to convincingly be Novak's love interest: he was fifty years old at the time and had begun wearing a silver hairpiece in his movies.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Hart |editor1-first=Kylo-Patrick R. |title=Film and Television Stardom |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |location=United Kingdom |isbn=9781847186287 |page=51}}</ref> Consequently, Hitchcock cast Cary Grant in his next film, ''[[North by Northwest]]'' (1959), a role Stewart wanted; Grant was four years older than Stewart but photographed much younger.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|pp=321–324}} Stewart's second 1958 film release, the romantic comedy ''[[Bell, Book and Candle]]'' (1958), also paired him with Kim Novak, with Stewart later echoing Hitchcock in saying that he was miscast as 25-year-old Novak's romantic partner.{{sfn|Munn |2005|pp=238–239}} The film and Stewart's performance received poor reviews and resulted in a box office failure.<ref>{{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|p=268}}; {{harvnb|Eliot|2006|p=327}}</ref> However, according to film scholar David Bingham, by the early 1950s, "Stewart's personality was so credible and well-established", that his choice of role no longer affected his popularity.{{sfn|Bingham|1994|p=16}}

Stewart ended the decade with [[Otto Preminger]]'s realistic courtroom drama ''Anatomy of a Murder'' (1959) and the crime film ''[[The FBI Story]]'' (1959). The former was a box office success despite its explicit dealing with subjects such as rape, and garnered good reviews.{{sfn|Eliot|2006|pp=332–333}} Stewart received critical acclaim for his role as a small-town lawyer involved in a difficult murder case; Bosley Crowther called it "one of the finest performances of his career".{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|p=275}} Stewart won his first BAFTA, a [[Volpi Cup]], a [[New York Film Critics Circle Award]], and a [[Producers Guild of America Award]], as well as earned his fifth and final Academy Award nomination for his performance.{{sfn|Fishgall|1997|pp=272–275}} ''The FBI Story'', in which Stewart portrayed a Depression-era FBI agent, was less well received by critics and was commercially unsuccessful.<ref>{{harvnb|Fishgall|1997|pp=268–271}}</ref> Despite its commercial failure, the film marked the close of the most commercially successful decade of Stewart's career.{{sfn|Magill|1999|p=3530}} According to Quigley's annual poll, Stewart was one of the top money-making stars for ten years, appearing in the top ten in 1950, 1952–1959, and 1965. He topped the list in 1955.<ref>{{cite web |title=Top Ten Money Making Stars |url=http://www.quigleypublishing.com/MPalmanac/Top10/Top10_lists.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130114130743/http://www.quigleypublishing.com/MPalmanac/Top10/Top10_lists.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 14, 2013 |website=The 2013 International Motion Picture Almanac |publisher=Quigley Publishing |access-date=July 26, 2019}}</ref>