Jimmy Stewart - Starr Smith

In March 1941, James Maitland 'Jimmy' Stewart left Hollywood and a burgeoning career in film (he'd just won an Oscar) behind and joined the US Army as a private. Going from a salary of thousands to a humble $21 a month. On December 7th whilst the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour he was a corporal on guard duty at a California airbase. Graduating as a pilot in January of 1942 he shipped out as a second lieutenant to a B-24 bomber base in East Anglia, returning at wars end a full colonel with 20 combat missions under his belt and the DFC and Croix de Guerre on his uniform.

Now Stewart wasn't the only one of Hollywood's elite to join the war effort, far from it, but he was one of the few - along with David Niven and Douglas Fairbanks junior - who actively insisted on going on combat operations; against the wishes both of the Army (fearing the PR disaster if he got captured or killed) and the redoubtable Sam Goldwyn, his boss at MGM. Such pressures had kept men like Errol Flynn and Clark Gable away from the front but Stewart was not to be denied; what is striking is that all his promotions and decorations were earned on merit. And the roles that he had - command pilot, co-pilot, operations officer, squadron commander, squadron ops officer, group ops officer and wing commander - demonstrated clearly to anyone who cared to look that he wasn't just a celebrity in uniform, content to be safe at the back.

Jimmy Stewart wanted front line combat in the tradition of his family (father and grandfather had both served in their time), so much so that the Eighth Air Force eventually barred him from flying, terrified at what might happen to him. Or as one of his men in the 445th Bomb Group recalled:

The brass just couldn't keep him out of the cockpit, no matter what they tried.

This also resulted in Stewart entering the Air Force Reserve at the end of WW2 and becoming a Brigadier General in time for Vietnam.

Starr Smith was an intelligence officer for the Mighty Eighth during the war and worked with the quiet star for some time, building up quite a rapport with him. This is evident in the warm, affectionate, sometimes emotional, but always accurate way that he portrays this legendary Hollywood colossus and it makes him the perfect biographer. The empathy between fighting men of whatever creed is a strong one and this shared ethos helps to form and guide the reader through a side of Stewart that he for one never talked much about after it was all over. What is clear is that he had an unassuming way of connecting with people and getting them to perform at their best; probably because he relied on his actions and natural authority instead of dazzling them with reputation.
Smith presents an engaging 300 page portrait of a man who wanted to do what he saw as his duty despite the barriers put in his way, even those by officious hotel managers, as Charlton Heston recalled:

The Ritz in Madrid was one of those very particular hotels that barred actors from staying due to their insistence on maintaining standards. So when Jimmy turned up in full uniform for his month of service at the airbase nearby, the manager was put out of kilter;

'Ahh, Senor Stewart. Yes, I'm honoured to meet you but...ahhh...you are an actor. We don't cater to actors you see.'

Jimmy looked coolly at him.

'Zat so? Waaal, lemmme tell ya; For the next four weeks I'm Brigadier-Gen'ral James Stewart, United States Air Force.'
He picked up his keys and turned for the elevator.

Or as Jimmy Doolittle, commander of the Eighth commented:

If the war {WW2} had gone on for another month, we'd have made him a Group Commander

An entertaining book, worth a read.

5 and a half out of 10