The Bountiful Career of Jimmy Stewart

He was a lanky, cool drink of water. The boy next door. The tortured protagonist of several Alfred Hitchcock films. The rugged western hero. And everyone’s favorite dad.

James Stewart, who died Wednesday at age 89, was one of the greatest, most beloved actors. Thankfully, most of his films are available on video. Here’s a few worth a look:

In “After the Thin Man” (MGM, $20), the Indiana, Pa., native has a small but pivotal part as a San Francisco society blueblood who turns murderer in this 1936 entry in the popular detective series.

That same year, he played Jeanette MacDonald’s brother on the lam with a murder charge in the popular operetta “Rose Marie” (MGM, $20). Nelson Eddy stars as the Mountie out to get Stewart.

He more than holds his own in the 1936 romantic “Wife Versus Secretary” (MGM, $20), opposite such established stars as Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy.

In 1936’s pleasant musical “Born to Dance” (MGM, $20), Stewart introduces the Cole Porter standard “Easy to Love.”

“Navy Blue and Gold” (MGM, $30), a corny but entertaining 1937 drama, finds Stewart playing a midshipman at Annapolis who is suspended when it’s discovered he registered under an assumed name.

In 1938, Stewart made the appealing romantic comedy “Vivacious Lady” (Turner, $20). Stewart plays a mild-mannered college professor who marries a chorus girl (Ginger Rogers).

Stewart is perfectly cast in the lighthearted 1939 western comedy “Destry Rides Again” (MCA, $15), as an unarmed lawman who whips a lawless town into shape. This movie also revived the sagging fortunes of Marlene Dietrich, who plays the barroom singer Frenchy.

He received his first Oscar nomination for his endearing performance in 1939’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (Columbia TriStar, $20), as an idealistic young man who is chosen to fill in in Congress for an ailing senator. Stewart’s filibuster scene is still a knockout. Frank Capra directed.

Stewart made several films with Margaret Sullavan, and the 1940 Ernst Lubitsch-directed romantic comedy “The Shop Around the Corner” (MGM, $20) is their best. Stewart plays a lonely shop clerk who falls in love with his pen pal, who, unbeknown to him works in the same shop.

After losing out on the Oscar for “Mr. Smith,” Stewart copped the best actor Academy Award for his crackerjack comedic turn in the sophisticated 1940 romantic comedy “The Philadelphia Story” (MGM, $20). He plays a reporter sent to cover the marriage of a spoiled but beautiful society woman (Katharine Hepburn).

After serving in World War II, Stewart returned to films in Frank Capra’s treasured Christmas drama “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Republic, $15). Stewart received an Oscar nomination for his best-known role as George Bailey, a man who learns what the world would have been like had he never been born.

He goes dramatic with good results in 1948’s “Call Northside 777” (Fox, $20), a compelling docudrama based on a true story about a Chicago reporter who becomes involved in a decade-old murder case.

Stewart teamed up with director Alfred Hitchcock for the first time in the 1948 thriller “Rope” (Universal, $15), which also was Hitch’s first color film. Stewart plays the former professor of two college friends (John Dall and Farley Granger) who discovers that they have killed a former classmate.

He hits all the right notes in 1950’s “Harvey” (Universal, $15), the sweet adaptation of Mary Chase’s comedy about a friendly drunk with a 6-foot-tall imaginary rabbit as his best friend. Stewart received a best actor nomination.

The seminal 1950 western “Winchester ‘73” (Universal, $15) marks the first teaming of Stewart and director Anthony Mann. The duo made several acclaimed films together in the ‘50s. Stewart is at his laconic best in this entry about a cowpoke trying to track down his stolen rifle as it passes through various hands.

One of the best Stewart-Mann pairings was the rugged 1953 western “The Naked Spur” (MGM, $20). Stewart plays a relentless bounty hunter who tracks down a charismatic killer (Robert Ryan) and his girlfriend (Janet Leigh).

Stewart and Mann took a break from westerns to make the sentimental 1954 bio-pic “The Glenn Miller Story” (Universal, $20). Stewart gives a warm performance as the famed bandleader.

He’s sexy and fun in Alfred Hitchcock’s landmark 1954 suspense thriller “Rear Window” (Paramount). Stewart plays a news photographer, stranded in his apartment with a broken leg, who believes a neighbor (Raymond Burr) has killed his wife. Grace Kelly also stars. A must-see.

Stewart gives a masterful, brave performance in Hitchcock’s haunting 1958 psychological thriller “Vertigo” (Universal, $20). Stewart plays a San Francisco detective forced to retire because of vertigo who becomes obsessed with the troubled woman (Kim Novak) he is hired to follow. Bernard Herrmann’s score is as remarkable as the film.

He received his final Oscar nomination for his gritty performance in the wonderful 1959 courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Murder” (Columbia TriStar, $20). Stewart plays a small-town lawyer hired to defend an Army officer who killed the man he believed was his wife’s rapist. Otto Preminger directed.

John Ford directed the entertaining 1962 western “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (Paramount, $15). Stewart is an idealistic lawyer who teams up with a cowboy (John Wayne) to thwart the dreaded outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin).

Stewart headlines the suspenseful 1966 action-adventure “The Flight of the Phoenix” (Fox, $20) as the pilot of plane that crashes in the Arabian desert. Robert Aldrich directed.