James Stewart

by Coe Jonathan

in-12, broch, couv. illustre, 207 pp., quelques planches de photos en noir, filmographie. Dos lgrement pass, sinon trs bon tat.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stewart is fascinating. This book is…less so. The biographer is at his best giving mediocre running summaries of Stewart's movies. Mostly he can't get his own political opinions out of the way of the narrative he fails to weave.

[Greg Van Vorhis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a happy man. I had used this book for research when I wrote a lengthy college paper about the portrayal of capitalism in the film It’s a Wonderful Life. I did not read it all at that time, and upon reading it now, I am very angry with Coe.

It's a Wonderful Life, along with several other Stewart films, such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and You Can’t Take it With You, are distinctly American films portraying distinctly American ideals, so it is preposterous (yet intriguing and enlightening) to see Coe, who lives in England, review Stewart and his films.

This book is a quick run-through of Stewart's films, telling few anecdotes about the films, and ignoring most of the rest of his life. The birth of his twin daughters received only a sentence or two. Coe brings up a few good points arguing that the main argument of It's a Wonderful Life and other Stewart-Capra films are flawed. However, I can refute these claims and show how these films DO work under an American ideology.

Coe pans most of Stewart’s films and tosses them off generally as just more half-hearted films that fail in their sentimentality and half-baked scripts. Coe apparently only liked a handful of Stewart’s films, according to what he wrote in his book. A sample sentence on page 188, offering a summary of Stewart’s film career, states “It’s a long time now since he (Stewart) made a film, and an even longer time since he made a really good one.”

My question to Coe is: Wouldn’t it have been more fun for you to write a book about someone who’s work you overall enjoyed, as opposed to someone who’s work you have a hard time finding much good to talk about? This book is worth reading for die-hard Stewart fans, only to get a non-American perspective of Stewart and his films.

Fair warning: Prepare to be angry.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a touching and warm overview of a wonderful actor, military officer, poet and humanitarian. It has tons of photos and leaves you with a warm feeling and good understanding of the public man. It is more of a coffee table book.

[R. G. Nairam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more a collection of summaries and personal opinions of Stewart films (along with, apparently, a disdain for Capra) than a biography. Interesting, but not that much information.

[Gdansk19 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the book I expected. I had hoped to be reading an overview of a well known actor whose career spanned so many years in Hollywood's changing industry. It truly is a sketch summary of his filmography with very little of his personal life and that which presumably influenced him. Instead we're given brief synopses of certain films and their suitability, or lack of, through the political lens of the author.

[Bob Withers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book. The author possesses detailed knowledge about Hollywood in general and Jimmy Stewart in particular but, unfortunately, he regurgitates this information in a bombardment of film names, lists of people, etc. I found the result overwhelming and boring. There were a few interesting antidotes and I did learn a few things but, overall, I don't think my time with this book was well spent.

[Keith Beasley-Topliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice tribute to Jimmy Stewart's life and films (including a chronology of his acting performances)

Jonathan Coe seems to have a thorough knowledge of Stewart's life and work and freely expresses his opinions of the latter. Now I need to find a good (cheap) source for some of the movies I haven't seen yet.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author admits, on his website, that his primary objective in writing this book was to support himself financially while he worked on another (presumably more important to him) project.

It shows.

This book is nothing but a shallow, snide, and contemptuous glance at each of Stewart’s films (about 80 in number). Not only is it unpleasant to read, it’s boring.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Jimmy Stewart Book

This is my third book on Jimmy Stewart and I always think I know him better. I think he would have been a very quiet man to meet in person and I think that would have been fine.

[Mary Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it- was very factual as well as entertaining.Learned a lot about a great guy.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of film reviews rather than details of Jimmy Stewart's life.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Must admit I was disappointed with this book

[David Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Actor, okay book

Seemed to just be a list of his movies with minimum back story. It could have been just a bit better.

[John Breidinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent biography

Mr Coe greatly described a true American hero who was also a great actor. James Stewart is to remembered and revered, and is described perfectly by Mr Coe.

[Jeanne M. Umland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read! Although I thought I have watched many Jimmy Stewart movies, I learned that he made many, many more than the handful that I have seen.

[Lisa Covington · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want Cliff notes on Jimmy Stewart's career this would be the book for you. Mr. Coe was a bit too critical of Mr. Stewart's performances in my opinion but I'm not an expert in cinama.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never had much use for critics as I am of the mind that ultimately the filmgoer decides the fate of actors and movies. The book does an adequate job of going behind the scenes of some of Jimmy Stewart's important films and roles. But in my opinion every once in a while he takes a swipe at Stewart's upbringing and political conservatism. I think it is out of place here and the author should have stuck to his original intention. Learned about "Pie", Stewart's horse in all of his Westerns. The book contains some great candid photographs and film stills.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite actors!

[Laseghi2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book not so much for the biographical info but instead for the photographs, many of which I hadn't seen before! A great photographic trip of a man who truly did have a wonderful life.

[Chrisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really 3.5 stars.

[Apex157x · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but the author tends to be overly negative