America’s Character and Jimmy Stewart: Fighting Wanda Skutnick
by Cheryl Felicia Rhoads
Wanda Skutnick is a character in the 1948 movie entitled CALL NORTHSIDE 777. She is an evil woman who lies and doesn’t care that she lies. As a result, she is the cause of an innocent man losing his freedom. Today, I often feel like we are up against Wanda Skutnick in the guise of far-Left extremists. I have feared that their lies may cause us to lose our freedom and lose America itself.
So, I couldn’t sleep the other night, and I turned on the TV and saw this film, CALL NORTHSIDE 777 starring the late Jimmy Stewart. The storyline was very encouraging, as I saw it as an analogy to world events today. And then, another night, in REAR WINDOW, Jimmy Stewart also played a character crusading to prove the truth, when everyone doubts him. Then again, in THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, there too, Stewart is a man obsessed with finding the truth. That’s his theme, a regular person up against the odds. And, in CALL NORTHSIDE 777, he is trying to prove this evil woman, Wanda Skutnick, has lied about a key date when something happened.
Anyway, in the latter film, Jimmy Stewart’s character has a photo that gets blown up with a date on a newspaper. That evidence finally proves the woman is lying. Stewart has been relentless, but even he gets discouraged and at one point, he feels everything is over. He then goes to see the mother of the innocent man that Wanda Skutnick lied about. Stewart tells the mother that it’s over, and there is no hope, and then he leaves. Then, suddenly, she looks at a statue of The Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus and there is also a photo of Jesus adorning her framed family photo on her cabinet. She then says to herself, “They fooled me, sure, I got a friend.”
At that same moment, Jimmy Stewart is riding in a taxi, sad that he’s lost. Then, the cab driver hands him a newspaper that has a story about a new technology to enlarge photos….etc. And, that’s when Stewart gets the idea to have a photo blown up that will prove his case against Wanda.
Meanwhile, off screen, Jimmy Stewart was a Republican, and he was also a pal of Ronald Reagan. I remember seeing Stewart at the 1980 Republican Convention in Detroit, Michigan. The iconic actor suddenly appeared on stage after the delegates were shown a clip from MR.SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, where once again Stewart is one guy alone, fighting corruption. After a key scene, the screen majestically rose, and there stood Stewart – and the convention went wild!
However, Stewart wasn’t just a movie star. This Academy Award winner had also served in battle and was a Brigadier General in World War Two. After, Stewart acted in every film genre…no other actor has ever come close to encompassing the career he had. (Can you imagine an Oscar recipient serving in that manner today?)
So, Jimmy Stewart was a fighter both on and off the screen. And ultimately, to so many in the 20th century, by the time he died in 1997, Stewart’s persona had represented the average American and what truly made America great. https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196679/brig-gen-james-m-stewart/
And yet, I have also often felt that Jimmy Stewart’s films and characters were also like America, when we are all exhausted by challenges. In another one of his great films, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE….Stewart is tired by life’s unrelenting trials and tribulations. What’s more, he is bitter, because he isn’t getting the help he needs. Even so, he prays one more time, and he comes back with the help of Clarence the angel.
So, during these difficult times in our country, we still have angels in our lives. Yet, it is most important, to know that Jesus is our friend, when no one else is. For there will always be Wanda Skutnicks, and we mustn’t think we are done. That’s wrong, we have a friend left.
Editor’s Note: Cheryl Felicia Rhoads is an actress, who currently stars as Liberty The Eagle in STAR SPANGLED ADVENTURES. The latter is an educational animation series on the history of The United States for Dr. Ben Carson’s American Cornerstone Institute.
