Jimmy Stewart Characters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Navy Blue and Gold

Jimmy Stewart's film debut was in 'The Murder Man' (1935), but his first billed role came in 1936, playing Christopher Tyler in 'Next Time We Love', one of eight films he completed that were released that year, including 'Speed', in which he had his first starring role. In the 1937 film 'Navy Blue and Gold' he starred with Robert Young and Lionel Barrymore.

Dick Gates (Tom Brown), Roger Ash (Robert Young) and "Truck" Cross (Jimmy Stewart), midshipmen at the US Naval Academy, are roommates with a shared love of football. Roger was a star at a previous university, and the others manage to earn their places on the team. The movie follows them through multiple misadventures, during the course of which they are assisted by the former football coach Captain "Skinny" Dawes (Lionel Barrymore). The film culminates in a triumphant victory in the traditional Army-Navy football game.

Answer: The Shopworn Angel

This 1938 film saw James Stewart starring with Margaret Sullavan, with whom he had also appeared in 'The Next Time We Love' (1936). This time, she plays Daisy, a Broadway star whose chauffeured car knocks down Bill Pettigrew (Stewart), a young soldier preparing to go to war in 1917. They develop a friendship, but she is really in love with Sam (Walter Pidgeon), and just allowing the apparent rivalry. When Bill's unit is notified that they are about to leave, he proposes to Daisy, who accepts so that he can have something to keep himself positive while fighting. It is not clear exactly how she plans to extricate herself from the marriage on his return, as a letter from the War Department, containing his dog tags, arrives while she is in the middle of a performance, which she bravely finishes.

Sullavan and Stewart were costars again in the 1940 film 'The Shop Around the Corner', playing two co-workers in a Budapest shop who dislike each other, but fall in love with each other through their correspondence. Sound familiar? in the 1949 musical film 'In the Good Old summertime', starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson, the setting is Chicago. The 1963 Broadway musical 'She Loves Me' moved the setting back to Budapest, while the 1998 movie 'You've Got Mail', starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, was set in New York City.

Answer: You Can't Take It With You

This was the first of several films that starred Stewart under the direction of Frank Capra. Tony Kirby's father is a real estate mogul who wants to get hold of the house inhabited by the Sycamore family, and Tony just happens to be in love with the daughter of the family, Alice (Jean Arthur).

This is an example of the classic screwball comedy, with many eccentric characters contributing to the mayhem that ensues as the families meet, and realise that their differences involve more than just social status. Need I say that the boy gets the girl, the family keeps their house, and the real estate mogul realises there is more to life than money?

Answer: It's A Wonderful World

This movie was made seven years before 'It's A Wonderful Life' and is not related in any way, other than by the presence of Jimmy Stewart. 'It's A Wonderful World' was a light-hearted 1939 comedy about a writer (Claudette Colbert) and a murder suspect (Stewart) who join together as he seeks to exonerate himself and the client for whom he had been working - a client who was framed by a money-hungry wife seeking to grab his millions.

It all gets sorted.

Answer: The Philadelphia Story

This movie won Stewart a Best Actor Oscar, the only he ever received. His character, known to his friends as Mike, was a reporter assigned to cover the marriage of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) a wealthy Philadelphia socialite, to a man her family considers more suitable than her first husband, Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), from whom she was divorced two years earlier. Mike engages Dexter as his assistant for the job and - you can guess where this is heading - the marriage doesn't happen, Tracy and Dexter reunite, and Mike is left possibly a bit brokenhearted, but with a loving camera girl ready to console him.

Katharine Hepburn had played her role on Broadway, in a part written specifically for her. For the film, she wanted Clark Gable to play Dexter Haven and Spencer Tracy to play Mike Connor, but neither was available. This was certainly a lucky break for James Stewart, who won a Best Actor Oscar - an award he felt was a compensation for the fact the he had missed out the year before when nominated for 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington', a far more memorable role.

Answer: It's a Wonderful Life

If you didn't know that Jimmy Stewart played George Bailey in the 1946 classic 'It's a Wonderful Life', you probably really struggled with some of the other roles, as this is one of his most famous characters. George is a man who is contemplating suicide, having given up his own dreams over and over, only to see everything falling apart, leaving him feeling like a foolish failure. When guardian angel second class Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers) is allocated the task of saving his life, this is accomplished by way of a series of flashbacks showing the various critical decisions George has made, and how different life would be for those he loves had he acted differently.

This being a Frank Capra film, the townspeople have rallied to his support, raising enough money to stave off the financial ruin (caused through no fault of his own, just the greed of the nasty old Mr Potter, played by Lionel Barrymore, taking advantage of an unfortunate accident) and proclaim George to be the richest man in Bedford Falls, because of all the love he has generated. George celebrates with his wife Mary (Donna Reed) and Clarence gets his wings.

Answer: Rope

'Rope', released in 1948, was the first of the four Hitchcock movies that Stewart starred in. The other three were 'Rear Window' (1954) as Lionel Jefferies, 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' (1956) as Dr Ben McKenna, and 'Vertigo' (1958) as Detective Scottie Ferguson.

'Rope' was based on a 1929 play of the same name, which was said to have been inspired by the real-life murder committed by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in 1924. The movie centers on two young men, Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger), who murder a former classmate as an exercise in proving their intellectual superiority. Rupert Cadell, their former housemaster who had discussed with them Neitzsche's concept of the Superman, is one of the guests at a dinner party during which the two killers attempt to demonstrate their superiority. He is horrified to discover what they have done, and to realise his role in giving them the justification for their actions.

Answer: The Greatest Show On Earth

This 1952 film is set in a circus, managed by Brad Braden (Charlton Heston) in which Buttons performs as a clown who, mysteriously, never removes his makeup. This is because he is on the run, wanted for having euthanised his wife. Buttons saves the life of a trapeze artist who has a serious fall, thereby revealing his medical knowledge. A grateful Brad tips Buttons off that the FBI agents searching for him are going to fingerprint everyone in the next town, giving Buttons a chance to escape. However, before he can flee Brad is badly injured in a train crash, and Buttons stay on the scene to save his life - following which the FBI agent arrests him. Since the focus is on the circus, which has just been saved, the film ends with a triumphant performance by the troupe; viewers are left to hope that the justice system will recognise Buttons's heroism and his desire to help people, rather than to harm them.

Filming took place in Florida, when the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was encamped between tours, and a large number of performers from that circus appeared in the movie, with the owner, John Ringling North, appearing as himself. Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde, who played the two trapeze artists whose competition to be featured in the centre ring drives much of the plot, both had to learn to do some trapeze work themselves, but also had stunt doubles for the really spectacular stuff.

Answer: The Man From Laramie

'The Man From Laramie' was the fifth (and final) Western in which James Stewart starred under the direction of Anthony Mann. The earlier films were 'Winchester '73' (1950), 'Bend of the River' (1952), 'The Naked Spur' (1953) and 'The Far Country' (1954). (As I am not a fan of the genre, I find these characters less memorable than many of his other roles, but the body of work does represent a significant stage of his career.)

Will Lockhart is on his way from Laramie, Wyoming to Coronado, California when he comes across the remains of a cavalry unit (of which his brother was a member) which had been ambushed by Native Americans who had been armed illegally - and vows to get vengeance on those responsible for the sale of the weapons. In Coronado, there is a bunch of shooting, Native Americans are shown in a pretty poor light, and Lockhart succeeds in tracking down the man responsible (in his mind) for his brother's death. Then he heads back to Laramie.

Answer: The Spirit of St. Louis

This match may not have required familiarity with the movie, since Charles Lindbergh famously flew a plane called The Spirit of St. Louis in his historic 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. His 1953 account of the flight, which won the Pulitzer Prize, was the basis for the screenplay, which ends with actual black-and-white newsreel footage of the New York ticker tape parade that celebrated his feat.

The film focuses, of course, on the flight, but after starting by showing his sleepless anticipation the day before the flight, it goes back to look at the events that led up to this moment then follows him on the flight, showing some of the most memorable events before he successfully touches down in Paris.

James Stewart had been angling for the role for a few years before he actually landed it - the fact that he was nearly 20 years older than the character he was to portray was seen as an obstacle by the producers, and commented on by some reviewers. However, the review in 'Time' magazine was kinder:
"Stewart, for all his professional, 48-year-old boyishness, succeeds almost continuously in suggesting what all the world sensed at the time: that Lindbergh's flight was not the mere physical adventure of a rash young 'flying fool' but rather a journey of the spirit, in which, as in the pattern of all progress, one brave man proved himself for all mankind as the paraclete of a new possibility."

Answer: Bell, Book, and Candle

Have you noticed how often James Stewart's character is known by an affectionate nickname? It just goes with his on-screen persona. In the 1958 film 'Bell, Book, and Candle' Shep Henderson's neighbour Gillian (Kim Novak) is a witch who casts a romance spell on him, making him fall madly in love with her. This film is generally listed as his last romantic lead, as Hollywood tends to consider romance to be a young person's game.

'Bell, Book, and Candle' is also one of the inspirations for the television series 'Bewitched' (1964-1972), which starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch married to a mortal man with a career in advertising. In this case, however, the witch loses her powers when she falls in love, which means her still-magical aunt must disenchant Shep so that he can realise he actually loves Gillian, and is not just a slave to her magical powers.

Answer: Anatomy of a Murder

James Stewart's portrayal of Paul Biegler in the 1957 film 'Anatomy of a Murder' won him several acting awards, including a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, and nominations for an Oscar (as Best Actor) and a BAAFTA (as Best Foreign Actor). The film was based on a real-life trial, and has been listed multiple times as one of the top legal procedural films to come from Hollywood, despite its (for the time) explicit language and controversial subject matter.

Paul Biegler is engaged to defend a man who admits committing a murder, but claims he was provoked by the victim having raped his wife. The defence mounts a case for temporary insanity (technically irresistible impulse), and the man is acquitted - before skipping town and leaving behind a message saying that his departure was an irresistible impulse, which casts more than a little doubt on events. Actually, both sides of the case are shown engaging in questionable tactics - from suggesting that the defendant might like to change his story to fit in with the insanity plea to encouraging prosecution witnesses to provide desired testimony by offering plea bargains.

Answer: The FBI Story

This is the second of James' Stewarts's 1959 films to be based on historical events. In this case, Chip Hardesty is a (fictional) retiring FBI agent whose farewell lecture to members of the agency is shown as a series of flashbacks covering events from his career.

It starts in 1924, when a young agent is inspired by the new director, J. Edgar Hoover (who was closely involved in the production, making sure the FBI was shown in an appropriate light at all times). Reflecting on his career, he is recounts a series of notable events including the Osage Indian murders, the arrest of Baby Face Nelson and assorted other notorious gangsters, monitoring internment camps in World War II, and the uncovering of a communist spy after the war.

Answer: Bandolero!

Mace Bishop rescues his brother Dee (Dean Martin) from hanging at the start of this 1968 western. Dee is the the leader of an outlaw gang, and the lead role - not only does he direct his men as they cross the border into Mexican territory (where both brothers end up dying in a shootout with the bandoleros who want to kill all gringos), but he also gets the girl, with Raquel Welch playing the part of the woman they take hostage along the way, after Dee's gang had killed her husband at the start of the film.

Jimmy Stewart does not, as a rule, portray bad guys, and Mace is no exception. He frees his brother with some good acting and persuasive suggestions, no guns required. After freeing Dee by posing as the hangman, he encourages his younger brother to give up crime, and go straight, espousing the joys to be found by settling down in Montana. Yeah, then he robs the bank on his way out of town, but a man need some cash.

Answer: Airport '77

The third instalment of the 'Airport' series of films has a typically outlandish premise: a private jet chock full of priceless works of art and VIPs invited to attend the opening display of Philip Stevens's art collection is hijacked, then crashes and sinks in shallow water within the Bermuda Triangle. Philip Stevens is the wealthy philanthropist who owns the jet, and whose estranged daughter is on board. The co-pilot (the only hijacker to survive) has taken the plane well off course, so any rescuers will not be looking in the right place, the air in the sunken plane is limited, things are looking desperate - but don't worry, it will all work out. And Philip's estranged daughter will be reconciled with him, so he can enjoy his grandson for the short time until his imminent death.

Like the other films in this series, the cast is full of celebrities in major and minor roles: Jack Lemmon is the captain of the plane, who plays a major role in rescuing them all; Lee Grant is the wife of a professional diver trying to save them - he dies first, she dies later; Brenda Vaccaro is Philip's assistant, who is saved at the last minute; Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland, George Kennedy, Darren McGavin, Christopher Lee and Monte Markham can also be spotted in the thick of the action.