Like many families, James Stewart’s daughter says viewing the Oscar-nominated “It's a Wonderful Life” was a holiday tradition in their home.
“We watched ‘It's a Wonderful Life’ every Christmas after it came on TV,” Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, an executive producer on the biopic “Jimmy,” tells USA TODAY.
The movie (in theaters now) stars “Riverdale” alum KJ Apa and focuses on Stewart’s time serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, which began in 1941, and the deterioration of his mental health amid his years in gruesome combat. Stewart, who died in 1997 at 89, returned to the States in 1945 and made the 1946 holiday feature shortly after. Though the movie was not a box office success, it became more popular once it started airing on TV in the 1970s.
“It
was always fun seeing Dad watch himself because he was so critical,” Stewart-Harcourt, 75, says. “He would say things like, 'I should have waited longer after saying that.' He was really, really specific about being critical of his performance."
"After many years, Dad finally said the words, 'My favorite movie that I've made is ‘It's a Wonderful Life.’ And it took him a long time to say that," she adds. "I think he saw, more and more, what effect it had on people as the years went by.”
Stewart-Harcourt makes a cameo in “Jimmy.” James (Apa) briefly acknowledges her as he attempts to quickly evade gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (Sarah Drew). The idea for Stewart-Harcourt to appear came from director Aaron Burns, she says.
“It was a very, very, very, very short cameo,” Stewart-Harcourt says. “But it was a hoot. I haven't been on a film set since Dad made ‘[The] Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,’ [in 1962] and so it was really an experience to be in Ireland, be on the film set and everything.”
“It's a Wonderful Life” actress Karolyn Grimes also plays a part. Grimes portrayed George Bailey’s daughter Zuzu in the classic. In George’s arms at the movie’s end, Zuzu points to a ringing bell ornament and delivers one of the feature’s most memorable lines, “Look, Daddy! Teacher says, ‘Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings.’”
In Burns’ film, Grimes introduces Jimmy at a hometown celebration, following the war. At 86, “she is still sharp as a tack and with a very great sense of humor,” says Burns, who delighted in Grimes’ recollections of making the Frank Capra-directed picture.
“One thing that Karolyn talked about is that Jimmy, as much as he was going through PTSD, he took the time to be kind to her and notice her as an individual,” Burns says. “And often, when you have the big stars on sets, the kids come in and they go out, and then there's no real relationship built."
"But she said that Jimmy took the time to really build that relationship," Burns adds, "so you feel that daddy-daughter chemistry in their scenes, and she appreciated that, and she just knew him as a wonderful, kind man.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: James Stewart was 'so critical' of 'It's a Wonderful Life'. Then this changed his mind
