On this day in 1908, James Stewart, one of the iconic leading men of Hollywood’s Golden Age, was born. He is most remembered now for a movie that wasn’t a hit at the time, that tribute to small-town life and small-town heroes, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Stewart portrayed George Bailey so well not only because he was a great actor — and, in fact, a good man — but because he himself came from a small town. And to millions of Americans during an age of transition to our modern fractured, divided world, where people move all over the country instead of forming lifelong communities, Stewart, in his famed Christmas movie and so many others, appealed to the nostalgia and homesickness of people who longed for the hometown of their youth. It’s a longing fewer people have today, unfortunately, as broken families, the technology-fueled isolation crisis, and other factors break up communities.
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Stewart once talked about the importance of his hometown in his life, though he had left to pursue a career:
After serving as a pilot in the U.S. Army during WWII, Stewart returned home to work through his trauma from the war and decide if he wanted to return to acting. It was “It’s a Wonderful Life” that helped him work through his trauma. But it was also vital that he had that hometown base and family to go to whenever he needed it.Through the years Indiana [PA] has been something of tremendous importance in my life. It's true there is something special about the place where you were raised--your hometown. I have found through the years during the times when I've been here in Indiana that almost every direction I look, and so many faces I see, immediately cause a picture to be formed of an event, a happening in my life that I remember well. I think the main thing that has kept Indiana so close to my heart is the fact that Indiana has been, and still is, the headquarters of Mr. Alex Stewart and his family.
As Stewart reflected:
That’s the feeling so many people have lost now. I was very fortunate to have parents as dedicated as Alex Stewart was to keeping our family connected, no matter where we live, but many young people I know were not so fortunate. It’s a sad reality. So many young people now are thrilled when they can move not just out of the house — which is healthy and normal — but as far away from home as possible. That is sad.My father has been almost fanatical in his determination to keep our family together—and he has done it. Time and distance haven't seemed to have affected this headquarters in Indiana. I've settled down three thousand miles from Indiana. I've traveled to points in the world three times that distance. At times I've stayed away several years at a stretch, but I somehow have never felt that I was very far from here ... somehow I don't feel that I have ever been away.
If we could return to the mentality where we value relationships and communities, and work at building families and neighborhoods, that would be an excellent thing for America.
