RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Jimmy Stewart was an American icon. I won't say I enjoyed every movie he was in but I always enjoyed his performance. Some good ones: "Destry Rides Again", "Harvey", "It's a Wonderful Life", all his work for Hitchcock, and most every western he was part of.

I loved James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life and Harvey. I liked his acting style. He seemed like he could be the guy next door. In Harvey he did a great job playing Elwood P. Dowd the kindly man who had an invisible pooka {rabbit form} for a friend. he was also great as the man named Jeff confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg and watches the rear window neighbors and swears he sees a murder in Rear Window. one of my favorite classic actors.

My mouth's bleedin', Burt! My mouth's bleedin'!

Stewart was one of the greatest classic actors. Everyone knew who he was and what he was in. He was a great actor.

The "best" actor ever....tough one....kind of like best guitar player...but Jimmy might just be the best ever to grace the silver screen.

Top of the heap! He probably is in the top five actors of all time. He probably was the most beloved actor from the classical era.

Iunderstand why he's the highest rated actor on this website. Very poignant, powerful actor, very expressive in his emotions. Not only is he very emotional but intelligent dialogue can be written for him as well. And although he doesn't portray a wide array of personalities, his roles can vary a lot from that of a city denizen...to cowboy...to anything in between. Very charismatic individual too.

The best. A class act. How could you not like this guy? Well, he was a staunch Republican... I read somewhere that he hated all of the usual Hollywood trappings. He lived in a moderate sized house, drove around in a Dodge Dart and bought his suits at JC Penny's. He gave tons of money away to charitable organizations and was just an all around good guy. He was also a pretty good actor, even if he got to where he kind of played the same type of character in most of his movies after about 1960. Nevertheless, they just don't make 'em like Jimmy Stewart anymore.

One of the best ever! I could go on about his roles, quality perfomances... but the last thing I remember is an appearance on the The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He read a poem that he wrote after his dog died. Very moving, bittersweet and the audience along with Johnny - was clearly moved as well. The poem was no major work of art, but the emotion and sincerity couldn't be missed.

If there is nothing else said about this Prince Of Hollywood. It may be said that he made so many fine good quality films for families. That this alone should give him a 5.0. But he was one of my favorite actors. I do not know where to start. So here is just a few that I remember. The truly greatest family picture especially around the Holidays is Its A Wonderful LIfe. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington(Loved It), Destry Rides Again(Loved It), The Mortal Storm a picture about a breakup of a family in Europe because of Nazism. It came out in the 40s when the World was in chaos. It was important film as to the dangers and what and why we were fighting against(hatred of races)!!! Another *unique film* was called Rope, see it if you can. It takes place in one room all movie. It about the far Superior Mind and how warped it can get when murder is superiority's only reason. I'd keep going but since I have seen about 45 of his movies and never was rarely disappointed in the enjoyment of his movies. Since his death in the late 90s. Here's one fan who will truly miss him.

he's a good actor

For an actor with such distinct mannerisms and voice, James "Jimmy" Stewart surprisingly had a varied acting a career (e.g. westerns, thrillers, and drama), and his avoidance of being typecast is really a testament to his acting talents. When a part called for Stewart, there really was no substitute. The bottom line is that if Jimmy Stewart doesn't deserve five stars as a "classic" actor, who does?

Jimmy Stewart has always been one of my favorite actors. He has had many roles in some of the best movies ever made. And those movies were the best in large part because he was in them. We need more actors like him today. The only one that even comes close is Tom Hanks, another favorite of mine.

Dig a little and there are some surprising roles that go beyong the typical all American nice guy persona that he is famous for. In fact you don't even have to look any further than the films he made with Alfred Hitchcock.

Sort of the Tom Hanks of his day, although Stewart was always in far superior movies than Hanks...

This is my favorite American actor. I identified with his characters, he played them so well. He was clumsy, he stuttered, but he meant good, and eventually he got there. That's basically the story of a whole lot of his films, and that's what I love about his work. Mr Smith goes to Washington, Liberty Valance, The flight of the Phoenix: from the 30's to the 60's Stewart played men that were no heroes, but still did heroic things because they felt the moral obligation to do so. James Stewart played human's and he was an expert at it.

He's the best... George C. Scott is next.

Stewart played the simple honest American in his films- but he never really varied his style from one film to the next. I liked him in the 'FBI Story' and 'Strategic Air Command'. He was also rather in interesting in Hitchcocks 'Vertigo' and 'The Rear Window.

Stewart played an 'ordinary American' in most of his films- which was fine. However his range was rather narrow, and that is the reason I give him 3 stars. I enjoyed him in 'The Rear Window' 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' 'SAC' and 'It's a Wonderful Life'. And his work in 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington' was one of the best films of 1939. But thats it. 'The FBI story' are 'Vertigo' are enjoyable- but he seems stiff and bored.

An all time great actor.

One of my very favorites!

America's favorite movie good guy and one of the best western actors ever. Too many movies to list but Winchester 73 and It's a Wonderful life are two of my favorites. A great actor.

An American treasure to both stage and screen. Bravo!

I like James Stuart but his acting abilities weren't all that great. He played the same stammering guy all the time. One of my all time favorite movies though corny is It's a Wonderful Life. I can't miss it at Christmas every year. All in all I give Jimmy Stuart a 5 for personality, a 2 for acting ability and a 3 for over all.

If Hollywood sought one actor who could captivate his audiences with his sincere portrayals, it was James Stewart. To watch this man in all his glory in such legendary movies as 'Mr. Smith Goes To Washington' and 'It's A Wonderful Life' is to watch a master thespian working his craft to the hilt. Moreover, Jimmy Stewart was a man of great moral courage as he volunteered himself for service in the military during World War II for defense of the nation he so loved and cherished. Simply, Stewart was first a great American, and then a great actor.

2nd only to the Duke. Great personality and great actor.

A class act with tremendous range and depth...truly one of the all-time greats.

I first saw him in the black and white version of It's a Wonderful Life... 2am Christmas morning. Wow. Developed a HUGE crush on him! He just screams goodness but also has a sensuality to him that's sexay.

OK, I'll give James Stewart a 5 rating because he deserves it. But, in all my opinion Humphrey Bogart is the best.

Class act all the way. He did it all comedy, drama & western and did it well. He was also a great talk show guest; remember the times on the Carson Show. What a HOOT!! Miss him; will never be another to replace him.

Jimmy was great! Period!!! His role in Its A Wonderful Life was unforgetable.

Not my personal favorite but a great actor, no doubt about that.

He came across so well on screen because he was a rare man of integrity in real life. Hollywood needs many more like him.

Excellent job in Rear Window.

James Stewart was a really good actor. Sure his image is that of the good midwestern aw shucks shy kind of guy, but Stewart was more than that image. He could pull off complicated, and challenging roles and yes play the good guys that we all love. Just watch him in It's a Wonderful Life, Vertigo, Rear Window, Mr Smith Goes to Washington and even The Philadelphia Story each movie is different, each character is different but these are just a sample of movies that will show Stewart's range.

The General is a great one.

If there are people foolish enough to think Jimmy Stewart was bland, they have NOT watched enough of his vast array of films...and they know very little of his life. I agree with the person who said that few in Hollywood have been willing to lay it on the line like he did. This man was a TRUE American Hero...and not just a screen hero. He actually served to protect his country...not like a vast majority of the Hollywood wimps out there today.

As another fellow reviewer said, just not very impressed over here. Bland, bland, bland !

I've never been hellishly impressed.

Jimmy always cracked me up with his expressions and voice. Especially in It's a Wonderful Life. I love that movie and I watch it every Christmas with my parents. He was a brillient actor. And I wish he was still around.

Sweet and wholesome, the quintessential Everyman.

Always adored Jimmy, especially in Harvey and the Glen Miller Story. Jimmy was a good man who was devoted to doing what he felt was right. Very un-Hollywood, which made him so likable.

No one better!

A heartwarming and just good person, Jimmy Stewart is the best actor ever. It was like he didn't read the script and was just saying what was on his mind. His movies convey a lot of emotion because you don't want to see anything bad happen to his character, because he makes you feel for them.

one of the best. seemed like such a nice man with a lot of class. loved him in Harvey and It's a Wonderful Life. Very likeable

Jimmy Stewart - one of the greatest actors of all time. He's had amazing roles in some of the best movies of all time: Mr Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Harvey, Rear Window, and Vertigo, the film in which I believe he gives his best performance.

He is typical of Hollywood actors of his time in that he tended to play the same role again and again (the aw-shucks good guy), especially in comedies, but he did a real fine job in those dark westerns he appeared in after WWII. I tend to like him more in dramatic roles, but he did well in "Harvey" and "Mr. Smith..." He oozed intelligence and sensitivity, but his acting doesn't strike one as being necessarily modern. Alas, he did hang in there too long and ended up making some junk in the later stages of his career, most notably in the Glenn Miller biopic, the Strategic Air Command piece of propaganda and that dreadful FBI movie, but on the whole, his body of work is among the best. However, his politics really sucked, and that gung-ho American superpatriot crap was really heavy-handed, unnecessary, square and nauseatingly goody-goody, especially when you consider he was airing out that nonsense during the Viet Nam era. Kinda out-of-step during one of the darkest periods of American history, a time when one should have been ashamed of simplistic, reductive military answers to complex geopoltiical problems instead of insisting this was A-OK, bombs away. History proved that Jimmy was on the wrong side of the issue, but that does not take anything away from his work as an actor. It's interesting to note that rightwingers are always trashing liberal Hollywood types for voicing their opinions on the issues, but set up conservative Hollywood types who do the same as icons of What's Right With America. Actually, each is just as bad as the other, and it's disingenuous for people to get into that game.

Never cared for his acting and especially the way he talked. He probably was a good guy but the only film I ever saw that I liked him in was Wonderful Life.

An American Classic and original who was a very good man as well.

He just doesn't do it for me. Too much of himself in every role. When his character is the goal that's fine.

As far as I am concerned, Jimmy Stewart is the greatest actor of all time...yes, I am more than a bit prejudiced. Actors of today would do well to emulate him. He was a hero on and off the screen. One thing I admire most about him is that he treated his fans with such IMMENSE respect. The same thing cannot be said of many of today's celebrities (there are very few STARS these days.) This was and IS a man worth admiring.

Tough call in this category, but James Stewart is probably the best of the bunch--humorous, serious, very witty, down to earth, and a straight from the hip kind of guy. We sorely miss his great talent!

This guy cannot be compared to anyone, especially Nicholas Cage (somebody on this opinion board did that). Anyway, he had neverending charm and wit and a little factoid for you people who like useless trivia: he's the only actor to hold the highest rank of any branch of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General of the U.S. Air Force. "It's A Wonderful Life" will always be a wonderful film.

this man was one of the best very classy I think his acting skills were so good

Jimmy Stewart was one of a kind. Every single part that he played could only be played by the great James Stewart. He was one of a kind and could never be replaced by anyone.

I love It's a Wonderful Life. It's a Christmas tradition at my house.

James Stewart is my favorite movie actor of all time. He was so natural that it didn't seem at all like he was acting. He could be very funny and then be so serious that it made your eyes watery. More often than not, he played the part of an everyday good guy and did it very convincingly. It is always good to discover that the people you admire in movies are also great people in real life. This turns out to be true of Jimmy Stewart. From everything I've read and heard, he was a decent man of integrity, much like many of the characters he portrayed. Some of my favorite James Stewart films: It's A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Harvey, Rear Window, The Shop Around The Corner, Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation, Winchester 73.

I would have to say james is one of the greatest actors of all time. At his best in Harvey. An extremely lovable guy who acts so innocently. deserves nbumber 2 of all time. under bogart.

James Stewart mastered his "everyman" roles with a rare brilliance. His lines never sounded rehearsed. In real life he was known as a genuinely nice person. My stepfather, a airplane mechanic in California at the time, remembered Stewart, whose plane he worked on from time to time, as polite and personable and never condescending to the workers. My favorite Jimmy Stewart films are Harvey and Mr. Hobb's Vacation.

Great actor and great guy. He was a true origional.

Few actors have such a long list of great films and great performances to their names as James Stewart. He exuded warmth and humanity. "It's A Wonderful Life" was perhaps his greatest achievement.

Jimmy Stewart is my all time favorite actor. His acting is superb in ever movie I have ever seen him in, such as It's A Wonderful Life, The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance, just to name a few. Acting seems so natural to him. His facial expressions are the icing on the cake. He is truly an original.

Right winged bastard. Great actor though.

Total man here. Anyone with lesser balls wouldn't have dared to star in "Harvey".

One of the best actors of all time. His image transmits carisma and personality.

There will never be another like him. Nick Cage comes close.

Mr. Stewart, one of the most talented actors of all time. He is forever my all time favorite. His list of movies are long and everyone that I've watched has been great. I love his sense of humor and his ability for drama also. One of the best!!!!!