

Product Description James Stewart: Signature Collection, The (DVD) (5-Pack) .com Few Hollywood stars have the reservoir of goodwill that James Stewart enjoys; even in his so-so vehicles he's delightfully worth watching. That premise is tested by James Stewart: The Signature Collection which, with one exception, contains none of Stewart's really important pictures. The box does present a collection of movies mostly new to DVD, which gives the set whatever urgency it has from an otherwise mixed bag. The one important Stewart title is The Naked Spur, arguably the best of the superb series of Westerns the actor made in collaboration with director Anthony Mann in the 1950s (which also include Winchester 73 and The Man from Laramie). The nervous, hard character who emerged in those films is perfected in Stewart's amazingly raw performance in The Naked Spur. He plays an embittered bounty hunter attempting to bring captured outlaw Robert Ryan to the authorities while also dealing with Ryan's companion (Janet Leigh) and two associates who want in on the reward (Ralph Meeker and Millard Mitchell). Mann's command of locations that reflect the emotional lives of the characters is unerring, and Stewart goes all the way with a performance that suggests he is as unbalanced as his villainous quarry. Two other Westerns are included, both teaming Stewart with Henry Fonda: Firecreek, a grim 1968 High Noon imitator with Jimmy as a small-town farmer defending the place from Hank's band of desperadoes; and The Cheyenne Social Club, a comedy that has Stewart inheriting a bordello, as saddle pal Fonda tags along for the laughs. If director Gene Kelly's approach weren't so crass, the movie might be a lot funnier than it is. The Stratton Story, a big hit from 1949, casts Stewart in the true tale of pitcher Monty Stratton, who enjoyed some big-league success before a hunting accident cost him his leg. The cornball script is rife with baseball nostalgia, and audiences loved the gee-whiz chemistry of lanky Stewart and tiny, indomitably perky June Allyson. Equally square is The FBI Story, an account of the Bureau's growth from the 1920s onward, with especially lavish reverence for J. Edgar Hoover (who appears in a cameo). Stewart is the agent through whose eyes we see the decades roll by. The Spirit of St. Louis is one of the most atypical titles in Billy Wilder's career, standing as a straightforward account of Charles Lindbergh's legendary solo flight from the U.S. to Europe. Stewart may have been apt casting for the Lone Eagle in some ways, but he looked far too old to play the young aviator in this 1957 picture. The film has some nagging storytelling problems, but the aviation footage--especially Lindbergh's thrilling liftoff for his record flight--is beautifully shot. Taken together, this set does provide different angles on James Stewart's American Hero (a more complex personality than he's usually given credit for). But it's not his top-drawer work. --Robert Horton
V**X
Great Value
If you're tired of new movies, there's always the classic movies to enjoy. James Stewart was a great Actor and I miss his humor.
L**E
Perfect
Videos arrived a little early in my mailbox, which was a nice treat.Movies are as I remember them. . .awesome
K**I
Great Movies
Great movies from a legendary actor! Well worth it!
K**N
Decent collection
Nice collection of Stewart movies. Wish though it had included "Vertigo."
N**U
Some great movies in this collection!
Price was right, packaging was satisfactory, shipping was speedy. Movie quality was excellent with no noticeable flaws, sounded great on our home theater even though these are older movies. Cast was great as you would expect. Everyone loves James Stewart, the man can act!Cheyenne Social Club was the only bad movie out of the bunch. We didn't appreciate the nudity etc.Alot to like here if your a Stewart fan!
R**N
James Stewart- The Sig Collection is great!
I don't know what the other viewers were complaining about when it came to the video quality of The Naked Spur and The Cheyenne Social Club I found them to be just fine. I almost didn't buy it for those reasons, but I am very glad I did. I am still a young man and just recently became more than just a casual fan of Jimmy Stewart and other great Classic Movies,actors and actresses in general. I have flat out fallen in love to the point of collecting every movie I can get my hands on from Hollywood's Golden era. I have been passing on my love for these great movies to my son 12 and daughter 9 who also have a growing interest for the Classic's. For example, when I was watching The Naked Spur my daughter was hooked from the start and sat watched the entire movie and said she loved it. It's nice to hear them say can we watch a Stewart movie or a Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Cary Grant, James Cagney, Glenn Ford and to many other great actors and actresses to mention, but like I said they love it and are now passing it on to their cousins and to their friends. Bob
W**T
All films have great image quality and formats are perfectly respected
All my compliments for delivering the movies pack so fast. All films have great image quality and formats are perfectly respected; 3 films have never been relased in France: The Stratton Story, The FBI Story and The Cheyenne Social Club. You can imagine the joy of a James Stewart's Fan watching these films for the first time. I owned yet The Spirit of Saint Louis, The Naked Spur, and Firecreek, but it doesn't matter,to my point of view, it's a great movie collection with english and french subtitles, that every passionnate collector should own . Thank you very much to the Amazon organisation making that opportunity possible. I'm 100% satisfied. Best wishes.PS: I'm interested too with: Steve mcQueen, Burt Lancater, Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark, Anthony Quinn, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Jack Palance, John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Cary Grant, Peter Sellers, Jack Lemmon, Jack Palance,etc; with french and english subtitles. Don't hesitate to contact me.
D**P
3 Defective movies so far
I bought the Warner Home Video production of this box set and so far three of the videos are bad. The Stratton Story and the Spirit of St Louis glitched halfway through the movie an jumped to the end. Neither of them had any scratches or obvious defects. The Naked Spur wasn't even recognized as a DVD. So far only Firecreek has played perfectly, and maybe The Cheyenne Social Club will as well, since it's on the same DVD, but I can't recommend buying the "James Stewart - The Signature Collection" boxed set. Amazon's service did refund immediately so kudos to them.
D**D
making them easy to organise in my large collection
Previous "Signature Collections" that I've bought had each DVD in a separate thin-case, making them easy to organise in my large collection.This 5-pack is in a folding case which inevitably breaks and cannot be replaced. Very disappointing.Apart from that the movies are fine.
T**M
Happy with my purchase!
I was happy with my purchase. No problems at all!
M**L
Nice Collection
It's not necessarily his best work, but James Stewart is one of my favorite actors, and these selections show him as a great performer who could make any role work for him.
Trustpilot
2 weeks ago
3 weeks ago