Classic Movie Actresses Tourney 2013

Classic Movie Actresses Tourney 2013

Monday, November 1, 2010

Who doesn't love James Stewart?

I noticed I've been getting a bit lazy lately with the blog, haha, so I thought I'd talk a little about Roz and Jimmy Stewart. They may have starred in only one movie together [No Time For Comedy (1940)], but they had amazing chemistry and rapport, not to mention a lifelong friendship off screen.

They met in radio around 1936 or so. For the life of me, I can't remember the name of the radio show, but this was the first time they acted together. They costarred in several more radio shows as well, and as the newspapers said, they already sounded like a great acting duo.

 According to some gossip column items in the late 30s (about 1938-1939), Rosalind and James dated quite often. Of course, Jimmy was dating several other women, too, because he was quite an eligible bachelor at the time. Then again, Roz had already been dubbed "Number One Bachelor Girl" several years before. Fate intervened in 1939 when Roz met her future husband, Frederick Brisson by way of their mutual friend Cary Grant.



By the way, the other couple with them is John Hall and Lana Turner :)

Jimmy and Roz did make that film "No Time For Comedy" finally in 1940 and they are both great in it, despite a not-so-great script. I always loved Jimmy's characters on screen, with their polite demeanor and oh-so-cute awkwardness. I like to think he was polite off the screen as well, but I have no idea, of course. :) 
 
Jimmy and Roz stayed friends until her death in 1976. He and his wife, Gloria, gave a party in her honor just three months before she died. At the party, she said this, comparing life to a rope: "It is tied with lots of knots, and it goes straight up. I have been climbing that rope, and each knot I come to is one of you. And then I climb to the next. And to the next. I'm still holding on," referring to her battle with cancer.
 
At her funeral, Jimmy was one of a few actors who gave eulogies, which included Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra.  At the end of his eulogy, he said these words: 

"Thank you, God, for giving her to us. Take care of her...We sent you our best this time."
 




 That's gossip columnist Louella Parsons on the far left.

 



6 comments:

  1. Jimmy is adorable, I don't think there is anyone who doesn't like him, he's everybody's sweetheart.

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  2. he should be!!! hence the title of the blog post ;)

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  3. Aw, that last part of Jimmy's eulogy is really touching :') I wonder what Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra said...well, it must have been wonderful. She deserved the best. RIP.

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  4. Sinatra said "I think God woke up on (whatever day it was) and said "We'd better send for Roz. She's suffered enough."

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