James Stewart wasn't the same actor after WWII

In 1941, James Stewart became the first major Hollywood actor to enlist in the military when the United States entered World War II. He joined the Air Force and stayed out of the spotlight for five years. It wasn't until 1946 that he returned to Hollywood to collaborate with his "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" director Frank Capra, who had joined the military and documented the war for the "Why We Were" series of propaganda films. Fight", to do what we now see as a Christmas classic in "It's a Wonderful Life".

Stewart's George Bailey is pushed to the brink of suicide. The pressure comes to him from all corners - family, economic, duty and psychological - making him wish he had never been born. To play this role, James Stewart really had to look deep within to find the parts of himself to connect to these emotions. The horrors of war, no matter how fair you think it is, will stay with the combatants, informing the rest of their lives. Bravely, he allowed himself to tap into that trauma and pain for his performance, especially in the scene where he makes a final appeal to God. Stewart recounted this scene to Guideposts in 1987:

"As I said these words, I felt the loneliness, the despair of people who had nowhere to go, and my eyes filled with tears. I burst into tears. It was not planned at all...Frank, who loved spontaneity in his films, was ecstatic.He wanted a close-up of me saying that prayer, but was sensitive enough to know that my downfall was real and that it was unlikely that I would. repeat in another take."

While not a hit, the film indicated the direction Stewart was headed in as an actor, ready to explore his darker sides.