The performance James Stewart hated so much he did it again: “I wanted to have another go”
James Stewart had that everyman charm that made you feel safe in his cinematic presence, even if he was playing a character that you probably shouldn’t trust.
From the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life to multiple collaborations with iconic filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, including Rope and Vertigo, Stewart dominated the Old Hollywood era. However, despite the acclaim he consistently earned for his performances, Stewart had a tendency to be rather critical of his work.
It’s only natural for an actor to find it hard to watch themselves back and not analyse every move, every choice of line delivery, and every facial expression. We’re all our own worst critics – well, unless you’re armed with a massive ego.
Stewart didn’t seem to have this massive ego screwed onto his head, though, and he often spoke negatively of his early performances on the big screen. It’s easy to let your early attempts at something define your worth, but Stewart kept going until he was an established icon. Still, that feeling of being hypercritical didn’t ever fully go away. In one instance, the actor went as far as performing a part twice so that he could do a better job of it.
In 1950, he appeared in the film Harvey, which saw him play a man who claims his best friend is a great big imaginary rabbit. It’s a strange premise, for sure, but one that Stewart was intrigued by due to its exploration of mental health. The movie, directed by Henry Koster, follows the struggle between Stewart’s Elwood P Dowd and his sister, Veta Louise Simmons, portrayed by Josephine Hull, as she tries to have him committed to a sanatorium.
It made a huge splash in popular culture and has been referenced many times since, with movies ranging from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to A Beautiful Mind alluding to the iconic film. Even though it was evidently an enduring success, Stewart wasn’t convinced by his performance, and he went as far as remaking the movie almost two decades later.
Various television adaptations were made of Harvey, with the first emerging in 1958 with Art Carney in Stewart’s role, but in 1972, Stewart was ready to step back into the shoes of Elwood. He wasn’t the only star of the film to reprise his role – Jesse White came back to play Wilson, too. You might be wondering why this was necessary, but Stewart’s perfectionistic tendencies seemingly encouraged him to have another crack at the character, even though you’d think he would’ve moved on from being dissatisfied with it by this point.
In Jimmy Stewart: The Truth Behind the Legend by Michael Munn, the actor revealed, “I think I played Dowd a little too cutesy, a little too dreamily. I wanted to have another go, so I did years later.” Stewart realised that the story actually worked best in its original form as a play, which it had originated as in 1944, penned by Mary Chase.
“I really discovered during filming that the play was better as a play… not as a film. I’m delighted audiences liked it… and still do. I get remembered for that picture almost as much as I do for It’s a Wonderful Life,” he concluded.
