# What are your Top Five James Stewart Movies?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 18, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533 "2015-07-18T17:16:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/1 "2015-07-18T17:16:44Z")
See [Highest Rated Feature Film Titles With James Stewart](http://www.imdb.com/filmosearch?explore=title_type&role=nm0000071&ref_=filmo_ref_typ&sort=user_rating,desc&mode=detail&page=1&title_type=movie) for a complete listing of his movies, But I have selected these for this thread.
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1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
2. Rear Window (1954)
3. Vertigo (1958)
4. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
5. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
6. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
7. Harvey (1950)
8. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
9. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
10. A Backyard Story (2010)
11. Rope (1948)
12. You Can’t Take It With You (1938)
13. The Mortal Storm (1940)
14. Winchester '73 (1950)
15. Destry Rides Again (1939)
16. The Shootist (1976)
17. After the Thin Man (1936)
18. The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
19. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
20. The Naked Spur (1953)
21. Shenandoah (1965)
22. Bend of the River (1952)
23. The Man from Laramie (1955)
24. Call Northside 777 (1948)
25. Broken Arrow (1950)
26. The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
27. The Far Country (1954)
28. No Highway in the Sky (1951)
29. Vivacious Lady (1938)
30. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
31. How the West Was Won (1962)
32. Rose-Marie (1936)
33. The Stratton Story (1949)
34. Wife vs. Secretary (1936)
35. Come Live with Me (1941)
36. Carbine Williams (1952)
37. It’s a Wonderful World (1939)
38. The Shopworn Angel (1938)
39. Bell Book and Candle (1958)
40. Two Rode Together (1961)
41. Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
42. Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)
43. The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
44. Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
===========================================
Choose your own Top Five and post them. We’ll see what happens! 🙂
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/2 "2015-07-18T17:23:44Z")
1. Vertigo (1958)
2. Rear Window (1954)
3. Broken Arrow (1950)
4. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
5. Bell Book and Candle (1958)
---
### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/3 "2015-07-18T17:27:31Z")
1. Mr Smith Goes to Washington
2. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
3. The Shop Around the Corner
4. Rear Window
5. The Mortal Storm
Honorable mention to Shenendoah and Destry Rides Again. Shenendoah was basically what The Patriot should have been, and Destry Rides Again is just a great movie.
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### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/4 "2015-07-18T17:34:51Z")
Rear Window (1954)
Vertigo (1958)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Winchester '73 (1950)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/5 "2015-07-18T19:00:07Z")
1, 6, 15, 21 and 34
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/6 "2015-07-18T19:14:20Z")
Rear Window
Winchester '73
The Flight of the Phoenix
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Strategic Air Command
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/7 "2015-07-18T20:43:33Z")
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Shop Around the Corner
After the Thin Man
Harvey
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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### Author:  [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/8 "2015-07-18T21:12:57Z")
1. Rear Window (1954)
2. Vertigo (1958)
3. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
4. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
5. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/9 "2015-07-18T21:25:55Z")
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/10 "2015-07-18T22:14:20Z")
Sorry, just can’t get it down to five. I could probably put two or three more in with these:
1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
2. Rear Window (1954)
3. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
4. Harvey (1950)
5. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
6. Shenandoah (1965)
7. Bell Book and Candle (1958)
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### Author:  [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/11 "2015-07-18T22:21:23Z")
Rear Window
Rope
The Man Who Knew Too Much
Vertigo
Anatomy Of A Murder
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/12 "2015-07-19T07:43:07Z")
In no particular order:
It’s a Wonderful Life
Rear Window
Call Northside 777
The Glenn Miller Story
The FBI Story
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### Author:  [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/13 "2015-07-19T09:32:25Z")
Limiting the list to 5 was difficult. Others could also be in another top 5. I’ve added my opinions, which you are welcome to ignore.
[ul]
[li]The FBI Story: Pure cornball eye-popping fiction. Also a sexist movie with ridiculously implausible espionage and father-knows-best sequences. And yet, very entertaining with Stewart compellingly watchable. ([review](http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s2073stew.html))[/li][li]The Shop Around the Corner: A family tradition every Christmas. Stewart and Sullavan again, and the entire cast is tops with a screenplay that is lots of fun. ([review](http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s623shop.html))[/li][li]Destry Rides Again: Dietrich, reason enough. Also a compelling story told succinctly in 94 minutes. ([review](http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/destryridesagain.htm))[/li][li]The Shopworn Angel: Sullavan and Stewart, with innocent Stewart and experienced Sullavan getting to know each other. ([review](http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/70947%7C0/The-Shopworn-Angel.html))[/li][li]Born to Dance: Gob Stewart meets dancer Eleanor Powell. Also Virginia Bruce, Una Merkel, Frances Langford (and Juanita Quigley, who just turned 84 last month). An MGM fantasy of night-club life, with some top Cole Porter songs and a fun script. Powell can also dance. ([review](http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9907E2D6143BE33BBC4D53DFB467838D629EDE))[/li][/ul]7 more…
[ul]
[li]Vivacious Lady (Fun including Ginger Rogers, Beulah Bondi, Charles Coburn, and Franklin Pangborn; [review](http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s4334lady.html))[/li][li]Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (14 years since Jean Arthur was reading Elinor Glyn, and she’s still got It; [review](http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/?p=16392))[/li][li]The Mortal Storm (Sullavan again, she and Stewart are tops; [review](http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/?p=31))[/li][li]Anatomy of a Murder (Lee Remick, Duke Ellington, fish; [review](http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Anatomy-of-a-Murder-Blu-ray/33686/))[/li][li]The Glenn Miller Story (still more insulting fiction, and June Allyson is weepy+helpless, but the music and Stewart make it easy to recommend; [review](http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews10/glenn_miller_story_.htm))[/li][li]The Flight of the Phoenix (Top ensemble cast and story, plus “Senza fine”; [review](http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/flightphoenix.php))[/li][li]The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Dorothy Johnson’s short story, well worth reading, drawn out to epic length during 123 riveting minutes; [review](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance-1962))[/li][/ul]
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### Author:  [@Hiker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hiker)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/14 "2015-07-19T09:37:24Z")
The Philadelphia Story
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Flight of the Phoenix
Rear Window
Vertigo
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### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/15 "2015-07-19T12:17:42Z")
Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation
The Man who Shot Liberty Valance
Rear Window
Bell, Book and Candle
Harvey
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### Author:  [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/16 "2015-07-19T17:00:01Z")
The westerns with Anthony Mann
Winchester '73
Bend of the River
The Naked Spur
The Far Country
The Man from Laramie
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### Author:  [@Tread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tread)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/17 "2015-07-19T20:03:49Z")
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
Rear Window (1954)
Carbine Williams (1952)
Although I love The Shootist (1976), I can’t consider it a James Stewart movie, since he has about 10 minutes screen time.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/18 "2015-07-19T20:52:08Z")
Mr. Smith goes to Washington is definitely number 1. Rear Window is in the top 5. Need to think about the others.
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/19 "2015-07-21T00:58:44Z")
1. Vertigo
2. The Man from Laramie
3. The Shop Around the Corner
4. Rear Window
5. Winchester '73
---
### Author:  [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-top-five-james-stewart-movies/725533/20 "2015-07-21T02:11:15Z")
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
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