Posted on 12/20/2020 10:06:13 AM PST by ealgeone
Jimmy, to use a metaphor, the movie industry is a -- well it's sometimes called a jungle, but I think it's a forest, a forest made up of a million different plants and trees and shrubs. And some of these plants have a brief day in the sun -- they flower quickly, but they can't seem to sustain, so they wither away. Hollywood has seen a lot of these.
But a career like yours, Jimmy, is an evergreen. Rain or shine it keeps growing. Because is had a kind of beauty and purpose it will never die. That's what we've always seen in you, something that will be here when all the fads and fancies are long gone.
As an image, Jimmy Stewart is indelible.
As an actor -- well, I saw him on the stage in New York long before he went to Hollywood -- well, long before Hollywood got him. No, that's not -- that's wrong. Hollywood never got Jimmy Stewart. He was the conqueror. He was and is superb -- and I use that word very carefully. I pause for a parentheses -- I'm the only actor on this podium who has not attempted to imitate you, Jimmy, because in my view that's all we can do.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Get a hanky ready....this one may bring a little eye moisture.
Hope all enjoy.
There were giants back then.
Wells has “the voice”. Granted, in part from smoking cigars, but it’s a good rich voice.
We could use another of both of these men today, IMHO.
“I’m the only actor on this podium who has not attempted to imitate you, Jimmy, because in my view that’s all we can do.”
So true. He really did bring some class to the roasts, although I have to admit the non-PC Don Rickles kept me in stitches.
You should check out Orson’s roast of Dean Martin.
>>Jimmy Stewart was the absolute best of Hollywierd, and a man of supreme personal character. Where oh where can we find someone to even approach his talent today?<<
I have heard Tom Hanks is the Jimmy Steward of today’s generation (Boomers). I don’t think Hanks is quite of that stature but it is not an unfair comparison.
He retired from the Army Reserves with the rank of brigadier general. His service as a squadron commander flying more than fifty daylight bombing runs over Germany during WWII is truly heroic. The pilots under his command knew he would get them back to England safely. He was a stickler for making sure the planes maintained close formation and the pilots under his command followed his orders. He flew so often and in such horrific anti-aircraft bombing raids that he developed PTSD and was re-assigned to other duty. (Stewart was older than many others in the service; he volunteered for duty.)
Stewart was a direct descendent of a soldier in the American Revolution (Fergus Moorhead) who was the first permanent settler in the Indiana, Pennsylvania, area and captain of the Kittanning militia which Moorhead’s brother founded. Stewart’s ancestors also fought in the Civil War. Indiana, Pa., was Stewart’s birthplace and hometown. There’s a statue of Stewart in Indiana.
Jimmy was a staunch Republican and Presbyterian. He was married to one woman and was faithful to her until her death many years later. Compare this man to the scum now in Hollyweird—anti-American, drugged out crackpots; immoral people of meager talent who are contributing to the pollution of the American culture and its politics. A sad reflection of the decline of this country.
Very enjoyable!
When Jimmy returned from Europe after the war ended he was still a mess. All he could eat was ice cream.
His first movie was Frank Capra's classic It's a Wonderful Life, with Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore. It was Barrymore who supported Jimmy throughout, saying repeatedly that if he could do what he'd done over Germany, then he could do this.
The famous scene in Donna's house with her and Jimmy cheek-to-cheek on the same phone, which none of them thought Jimmy could do, took just a single take. Somehow, he improved and lived several more productive and happy decades.
oh yes....it’s a good one!
For the moment, we at least have James Earl Jones for a voice with gravitas.
Hanks is a liberal pimp who hoped hitlery would be in the White house. Jimmy Stewart was a patriot, a gentleman and a scholar.
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