The 1950 Western that completely transformed James Stewart’s career and started an 8-film partnership

At the beginning of his career, Hollywood legend Jacob Stewart Was very much seen as a wholesome American everyman – his roles were often very similar, with his character serving as the audience’s relatable perspective in whatever story was being told. However, one western of 1950 completely changed the way that audiences perceived Stewart, sparking a shift in his career and ending the typecasting he was subjected to. Here, in one of James Stewart’s best movies, he plays A much darker and more complex characterwent against almost everything he had done before.

James Stewart’s collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock are the projects for which he is most fondly remembered, but many of his huge successes would not have been possible without the major shift Stewart’s image underwent in the early 1950s. In fact, this transformation was so great that It kickstarted an eight-film streak in Stewart’s career As he played a variety of surprising roles and collaborated with a new filmmaker, Anthony Mann, on several unexpected projects, it would make the Hollywood superstar that Jacob Stewart is remembered as today.

Winchester ’73 showed a different side to James Stewart

Stewart starred in the movie alongside Shelly Winters and Rock Hudson

Winchester ’73 See Stewart play the role of Lynn McAdam, a brutal outlaw in the Old West, who tracks down a group of desperate criminals who stole his precious firearms. It was a much darker, less friendly role for Stewart to play, shedding the everyman persona he had adopted in earlier work and replacing it with a gritty, cynical western coat. The film garnered much attention at the time of its release, not only because of Stewart’s unexpected involvement, but also because of his Overwhelmingly positive critical reception. Even today, the film maintains a 100% rating Rotten tomatoes.

The shift in Stewart’s public image continued throughout the 1950s, allowing the actor to frame himself as A much more complex, malleable character. He began playing more villainous and complex anti-heroes, and his involvement in a project quickly became a clear indicator of his prospective success. It would be until the 60s that Stewart fully cemented himself as a Western star and reunited with genre icons Henry Fonda and John Wayne, but the foundations were still being laid. Winchester ’73.

Winchester ’73 started a run of collaborations between James Stewart and Anthony Mann

Anthony Mann was one of Hollywood’s most prominent directors in the 1950s

After the commercial and critical success of Winchester ’73The director of the film Anthony Mann began to work with James Stewart on several more occasions. Their next project was A cinematic adaptation of Bend of the riverAnother western released by Universal Pictures in search of the next great actor/director combo. It took several attempts for the couple to recreate the success of Winchester ’73And their efforts finally paid off in 1954 when they worked together on their biggest hit, The Glenn Miller Story.

The Glenn Miller Story It closely follows a great band leader named Glenn Miller, from his rise in the industry to his untimely death many years later. It was another role where Jacob Stewart was placed front-and-center, but much like Winchester ’73It was A much more complex role That didn’t depend on him being kind or moral. Stewart and Mann’s collaborators continued for several more years, until the researchers exhausted all the possibilities that presented themselves.

Without Winchester ’73, some of James Stewart’s best movies might not have happened

Would rear window have been made without Winchester ’73?

In addition to the greatness of Winchester ’73 The project itself was also indirectly responsible for many of the best Westerns of the 1950s – many of which involved James Stewart in some capacity. It is unfair to say that Winchester ’73 was The movie that made Stewart a Hollywood star – The honor most likely belongs to Hitchcock string – But he is certainly the one who showed the audience that he doesn’t need to play the lovable, honest protagonist. After that, the actor was given all kinds of roles, where he played complex villains, scene-stealing side characters and standout antagonists.

Even outside the western genre, Winchester ’73 allowing Stewart to implement the new characters in his other works. Films such as Rear window (and his other collaborations with Hitchcock) probably wouldn’t have happened without Anthony Mann’s film coming first and proving to both audiences and studios that Stewart is a perfect fit for the character. He knows how to play to his strengths with charm and charisma, but also when to step back and try something new. This made all his roles unpredictable, which was a key ingredient in Rear windows success.