“You’ll regret what you’re doing”: the Hollywood mogul who tried to talk James Stewart out of World War II
Not content with being one of ‘Golden Age’ Hollywood’s biggest stars and one of American cinema’s most iconic figures, James Stewart further enhanced his legacy and legendary status by becoming a decorated veteran and war hero.
He didn’t abandon his military duties after the conflict had ended, either, and by the time he officially stepped away from the Army in 1968, he retired as a brigadier general, making him the highest-ranked actor in the history of the American armed forces.
And to think, one industry mogul was so determined not to lose one of the most popular and bankable stars that they went out of their way to persuade him not to enlist. Plenty of present and future silver screen staples fought in World War II, with Mel Brooks, Charles Bronson, Charlton Heston, David Niven, and Christopher Lee among them, with John Wayne the most famous case of those who did not.
He signed up in February 1941, the very same month that he’d been named ‘Best Actor’ at the Academy Awards for his performance in Frank Capra’s Mr Smith Goes to Washington, and he was the first major American movie star to do so. He was at the peak of his career, which is precisely why MGM co-founder Louis B Mayer was so desperate for him to stay put.
“Mayer was just so desperate to say something that would keep me from enlisting,” Stewart recalled. “He even said that America would never be caught up in the war. He told me, ‘You’re just giving up this wonderful screen career you’ve made for yourself, and all you’ll be doing is sitting at some clerk’s desk on a military base somewhere, and then you’ll regret what you’re doing.'”
Of course, that’s not what happened, with Stewart flying 20 combat missions and being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his contributions to the war effort. Mayer was convinced that because he was famous, there was no chance he’d ever find himself in the thick of the action, but his pleas for the star to reconsider his desire to enlist fell on deaf ears.
“After some hour or so arguing the point with me, he threw up his hands and said, ‘You’re just a bull-headed fella from Philadelphia,'” he reflected. “I didn’t want to correct him and say I was from Pennsylvania, so I just said, ‘Mr Mayer, you better believe it.'”
After finally realising he was fighting a losing battle, the studio mogul threw a huge going-away party for Stewart before he departed for the military, which he was very aware “was a big publicity stunt,” with Mayer releasing a statement to the press that MGM couldn’t be prouder of having one of its marquee contract players join the fight, even though that was the opposite of what he said behind closed doors.
At the party, Clark Gable asked him, “You know you’re throwing away your career, don’t you?” Stewart agreed that he was, and he wouldn’t return to the screen until It’s a Wonderful Life, but his mind had long since been made up.
