MovieChat Forums > Night Passage (1957) Discussion > Sad and ironic

Sad and ironic

posted 16 years ago by schappe1
4 replies | jump to latest

That Jimmy Stewart and Anthony Mann made so many good pictures together and had such a disagreement over this film that they never even spoke again. I've even heard that Stewart refused to discuss Mann or the films they had made together following this.

Ironically, Stewart's friend Henry Fonda took what would have been Stewart's role in Mann's next film, "The Tin Star", (fortunately Jimmy didn't stop talking to Hank). It's doubly ironic because Fonda had had a disagreement with John Ford, who had made many great films with Fonda, during the making of Mr. Roberts a couple of eyars before and never made another film with him. Ford hired Stewart for "Two Rode Together", (1960). One wonders if Fonda might have played that role had there been no disagreement.

One wonders how people who have collaborated so successfully so many times can allow such things to happen.

[–] timmy_501 15 years ago

But what was the disagreement about?

My cat's breath smells like cat food

[–] misspaddylee 15 years ago

I believe I read that they had a disagreement regarding Jimmy playing his beloved accordion.

"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency."

[–] bbpictures 15 years ago

One part of this legend is untrue. Jimmy Stewart didn't refuse to talk about his films with Mann, at least not Winchester 73. In the early 1990s he recorded a commentary for that movie's laserdisc, a commentary/interview that has been included on the DVD. So whether or not he harbored ill will, I don't know, but he apparently wasn't as extreme about it as the legend would suggest.

[–] mazaldivar 12 years ago

Nearly half a century had past at that time though. I actually heard that the Mann and Stewart split was due to Mann hiring Gary Cooper for MAN OF THE WEST.

Stewart mentioned Mann briefly in this interview...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H9Suf4zVsk