My wife and stepdaughter are in Lowell, Massachusetts for a student conference. Therefore, I am holding down the fort. This includes keeping the dog fed and the house standing. It also gives me the opportunity to spend some time with my parents.
Tonight, my dad and I watched Bend of the River, a Western starring James Stewart and Rock Hudson in one of his early roles. It is a pretty good movie with a bunch of character actors from the 1950s. Jay C. Flippen, Harry Morgan, Frances Bavier and Royal Dano are just a few. It is also the first time I have ever seen Stepin Fetchit, a comedian who caused controversy by the racial stereotypes of his on-screen persona.
After watching the movie, I decided to look for movie wisdom in the films of James Stewart. After all, I do not have much else to do.
From Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.
Great principles don’t get lost once they come to light.
Don’t miss the wonders that surround you.
From It’s a Wonderful Life
No man is a failure who has friends.
Youth is wasted on the wrong people.
From Rope
We all do strange things in our childhood.
From The Stratton Story
A man has to know where he’s going.
From Broken Arrow
To talk of peace is not hard. To live it is very hard.
You should always wipe your hands on your arm after eating.
It is not easy to change, but sometimes it is required.
From Bend of the River
There’s a difference between men and apples.
Never mix marriage with gambling. Percentage is all against it.
From Rear Window
Nothing has caused the human race so much trouble as intelligence.
Sometimes it’s worse to stay than it is to run.
From The Man from Laramie
Everybody should have a place to remember and feel they belong to.
From Two Rode Together
Sometimes it takes a lot more courage to live than it does to die.
Well, there are some men you just can’t trust to stay where you put ’em.
I can tell when a man walks through that door whether he prefers blondes or brunettes, drinks whiskey or beer, plays blackjack or poker, is a cheapskate or a high roller.
From The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.
Courage can be purchased at yon’ tavern.
From How the West Was Won
There ain’t much glory in trompin’ behind a plow.
It don’t pay to eat too much on an empty stomach.
There ain’t much glory in lookin’ at a man with his guts hanging out.
From Cheyenne Autumn
Now, as I understand it, a mademoiselle is a madam who ain’t quite made it yet – only younger and friskier.
From Shenandoah
When you love a woman without likin’ her, the night can be long and cold, and contempt comes up with the sun.
A man who eats with his hat on is going nowhere in a hurry.
From The Flight of the Phoenix
Insurance companies move in mysterious ways. Much like God… only far less generous.
From The Rare Breed
You cannot live with dreams.
A man in love is neither lord nor master of himself.
While beauty is skin deep, meanness runs all the way through.
From Bandolero!
There things a man ought never do – spit in church, scratch his self in front of his ma, and pick his nose.
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
Great quotes this week and remarkably, I could identify almost all of them, of at least which movie they come from. A couple of those, Garry can run the dialogue line by line. BIG Stewart fan!
He made some great movies. I am sure there are more quotes, but I have not seen all of his films.
Good quotes. Jimmy Stewart is one of my favourite western movie stars. Liberty Valance must surely be in the all time top 10 westerns?
Liberty Valance is definitely one of the all time greats.
Aunt Bee? That Frances Bavier? I’ve never seen her in anything other than the Andy Griffith Show.
Yep, that Frances Bavier. It’s the only other thing I have seen her in, too. I think she did Broadway more than anything.
“The three most exciting sounds in the world: anchor chains, plane motors and train whistles.” – It’s a Wonderful Life
Definitely one of the greatest Western Stars of all time. Just an outright great Actor who could deliver a line.
He was good in any kind of movie.
Stepin Fetchit? How long did his agent spend thinking up that one? And I thought Rip Torn and Slim Pickens had the punny names taken already.
It was controversial. That name conjures up images of a slave following the orders of a master. Step and fetch it.