Why Jimmy Stewart is the ‘Hero That Our Country Needs to Know About’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Movieguide® recently sat down with director/producer Aaron Burns, who shared the incredible story of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE actor Jimmy Stewart, which will be depicted in an upcoming biopic.
“I just stumbled into [Jimmy’s] story and was so so excited,” Burns shared. “I said this is the kind of hero that our country needs to know about today. This is the kind of man that I want my sons and daughters to grow up learning about and so that we can become like him and share his story.”
“I’m excited for an opportunity to work with Kelly Stewart, his daughter, to tell the story,” he said.
Movieguide® reported on the biopic, titled A TRULY WONDERFUL LIFE, on Feb. 9:
A new biopic chronicling the life of Jimmy Stewart is in the works from Burns and Co. Productions.
“I am so honored Kelly and her family are trusting us with their father’s legacy,” Aaron Burns said. “We are excited to take moviegoers on a journey to discover the real Jimmy, and how his father’s prayers and his collaboration with Frank Capra guided him through his darkest hours. Jimmy came to truly embody the characters he played, as husband, father, and citizen.”
Deadline reported, “Burns is a producer and director specializing in family films. He recently directed BIRTHRIGHT OUTLAW, starring Sarah Drew and Lucas Black, for Sony’s Affirm Originals. Joining Burns on the Stewart film are co-producers Sam Juergens and Justin Strawhand.”
Burns detailed Stewart’s life leading up to his memorable role in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
“Everyone is very familiar with perhaps his most famous film, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. What I didn’t know was the back story of Jimmy Stewart’s biography that led into this, and I stumbled across, you know, some articles talking about how he served in World War II, and I thought it very interesting,” he told Movieguide®.
“But unlike a lot of other famous people who enlisted in World War II,” Burns explained, “he actually served on the front lines in combat. [He wound] up staying with the military long after and retired as a brigadier general after Vietnam, but what was so fun is the moment when I realized IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE was the first film he made after his wartime service. So as you start to dig a little deeper, the character arc in Jimmy’s life was so profound and was a story that I just felt compelled to tell.”
Born into a Presbyterian family, Stewart was the son of a hardware store owner in Pennsylvania. He grew up with an interest in airplanes, acting and storytelling.
He eventually became an architect, but the Great Depression limited his work opportunities. So, he packed his bags and headed to Hollywood.
He “quickly rises through the ranks, where, within a number of years, he’s…one of the leading men of Hollywood,” Burns said. “You know, winning an Academy Award playing in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, and kind of at the height of all of that, he starts to realize that he wants to be more than just a tinsel town hero…At the height of his fame, he has a desire inside himself to not just be a fake pretend hero but to do something more.”
“A lot of it was his upbringing in his relationship with his father…encourage[ed] him, remind[ed] him of, you know, his father’s faith and the things that he’d been taught and patriotism and courage and some of these ideals,” Burns continued. “So as Jimmy sees the war clouds on the horizon of everything that, you know, the Nazis are doing, and you know some of his friends are killed and different things, he says, ‘I want to serve my country I want to serve my fellow man.’”
Against the wishes of agents and others in the Hollywood industry, Stewart enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army as a pilot. He wanted to “earn his wings.”
He “works his way up till he becomes a squadron commander,” Burns said. “He earns that rank, but he’s trapped in the States because he’s a famous actor, and they have what’s called a static hold order on his account. [They] said, ‘No, you’re not allowed to go overseas.’ But his leadership and his charisma and his passion wind up winning the day, and he finds a commander who says, ‘We’re going to send you over to Germany as a squadron commander in the 445th bombardment group.'”
“And just before he goes, his dad comes to the airfield to see him off, and Jimmy writes about this in a Guidepost article years later. He said his dad hands him a letter and looks him in the eye and hugs him and says, ‘Jimmy, I love you, and read this as you go.’ He slips the letter into his pocket,” Burns explained. “So on the plane, as he’s heading off to combat, he opens the letter, and it’s a prayer for Jimmy, and his dad says, “I have faith that God will keep you and preserve you, and protect you through this war, and here’s a copy of Psalm 91.”
Stewart kept that letter close. He believed that it was encouragement from his father and the scripture that got him through his difficult years in service.
Burns says his skills in Hollywood actually helped him to be a good squadron commander.
“Everyone knows Jimmy Stewart [as] the kind of everyman character [who] is able to get along well with his men and influence the leaders, and put all these pieces in place,” Burns said.
“So they start doing really well, and they start winning, but the toll that it takes on Jimmy to be a squadron commander…He’s the one who, when they come home from a mission and planes go down, he’s the one who’s writing the letters home to Mom and Dad and [the] wife and child, saying, “We lost your father today. We didn’t see any ‘shoots as the plane went down over Berlin,’ you know, and those kinds of things.”
With the help of Start’s daughter, Kelly, Burns looked at Stewart’s squadron records.
“It’s very moving emotionally when you look at it. He takes notes after every mission that they sent up, and one in February of 1944, he stayed home that mission and sent out the planes, and only of the 28 he sent out, 13 didn’t come back, and that’s ten men per plane. He says, ‘Planes marked with asterisk did not return,’ and you can just imagine him drawing those 13 asterisks on there and the weight he felt as a commander sending these men out.”
Per the Daily Mail, Stewart suffered from immense PTSD after the war. He didn’t return to Hollywood until Frank Capra asked him to take on the role of George Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. He decided to act in the movie after he got some encouragement from his father.
There’s more to Stewart’s story and how the famous Christmas classic tells part of it. It will all be portrayed in A TRULY WONDERFUL LIFE—release date yet to be announced.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
