“It was just embarrassing”: the only way World War II made a mockery of James Stewart
Having enlisted as a movie star and returned as a decorated veteran and hero, it’s fair to assume that there was no way his service in World War II could have possibly embarrassed James Stewart.
And yet, it did, and to make matters worse, there was nothing he could do about it. Hollywood was sad and sorry to see him go, with one studio mogul trying to talk him out of fighting for his country, but the industry didn’t quite let go of the actor completely, much to his chagrin.
Stewart was aware that his fame and status may have led to special treatment, but he didn’t want it. He was determined to do whatever was required to aid the United States in the war effort, and he flew 20 combat missions in Nazi-occupied Europe as a bomber pilot.
He was the first of Tinseltown’s household names to sign up, and even though he was on the other side of the world, he still maintained a presence in the business. Well, he didn’t really, since he had absolutely nothing to do with it, but since when has cinema let the facts get in the way of a good story?
Naturally, the press wanted to hear from the Academy Award winner about his wartime experiences, but he wasn’t interested. He was focused solely on the task at hand, not that MGM’s publicity department cared, with the studio dispatching articles to newspapers and magazines in the summer of 1941 that were purportedly penned by Stewart himself.
Obviously, they weren’t, and he wasn’t happy about it. “It was just embarrassing to have my name on articles, writing about what it was like being a movie star, having to live off a meagre salary and training for war,” he lamented. Under the terms of his still-valid contract, though, he couldn’t prevent it.
“I tried to have it stopped,” Stewart explained. “But it was in my contract that the publicity department could write anything they liked and put my name to it. It made me realise that when I came out of the Air Force, if I went back to being an actor, there would be some changes in my contract.”
The one that got under his skin the most involved ‘Golden Age’ starlet and singer Deanna Durbin, who was also an MGM contract player. According to the studio, a subject of much debate in Stewart’s barracks was whether or not her new husband, Vaughn Paul, who she’d married in 1941, was the right match.
“Apparently, I told my army pals that we can all be sure her husband was certainly worthy of her,” Stewart sighed, knowing full well that the story had been planted as his MGM-approved endorsement of Durbin, despite the Rear Window star having never said anything of the sort. Even in war, he was at the mercy of the publicity machine.
