Sam Juergens producer brings Jimmy Stewart’s untold story to theaters

Dad? Jim, I see in the paper you won some kind of award. That's good, right? Oh, it's real good. Thank you. They've already spotted U-boats off of New Jersey. The war's coming to us, Jim, whether we like it or not. I'm drafted. One snap, that letter is forgotten. I don't know. Sir, don't I have the right to serve my country just like anyone else does? America can't afford to lose Jimmy Stewart. Jim, you're just not cut out for it. Make peace with the fact that you are what you are. Well, Jimmy Stewart went from Hollywood star to World War II combat pilot and back again. Now a new film reveals the untold story behind the man who brought us It's a Wonderful Life. So executive producer and Columbian native Sam Jurgens is here with a look at Jimmy in theaters November 6th. So it's so good to have you here, Sam. Welcome. Thank you. It's great to be here. Of course. So this is your baby. Wow. A lot has gone into this. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you. It's been a lot of hard work by a lot of people and we're thrilled I'm thrilled to share it with the world this week. So let's talk about it. Let's, you know, for those maybe not really familiar with Jimmy Stewart's story, take us back to the height of his career. I mean, deciding to put acting on hold to join the Army? Yes. Wow. He just won the Oscar for Philadelphia Story. And he comes from a long line of lineage from his dad served, his grandfather served, and he wanted to serve. And, uh, And... Studio heads, they didn't want to lose their star at MGM, so they tried to keep him back from being on the front lines, but through his persistence, he just always had a strong duty to serve the country, his patriotism, and he just wanted to serve, and so eventually he went over to England. And flew 20 missions. Incredible. Yeah. Absolutely incredible. That's what I was going to say. Didn't just serve. He became a combat pilot on top of all this. The 20 missions rose to the rank of colonel. Yeah. I mean, an incredible military career that he had following his Hollywood career. What was it about his story, though, that made you say, you know, I want to take this beyond what's just a story and put this on the screen? So initially, I had the idea to, I wanted to, I'm originally from Pennsylvania, and this kind of started as a love letter to Pennsylvania. And I wanted to, so I started kind of to put this together actually during the middle of COVID. And I, my wife just had a kid. And so all these things were like, what kind of stories do I want to tell? And I wanted to tell something inspirational, something that, you know, was about a hero. And he's from small town USA. Yeah. And I was just like, the more and more I read, I was like, I have to. At least try to tell this story. And so we had an awesome team, producers and cast and crew is phenomenal. It was a joy to be on this project. Well, it's, you know, it's telling every part of the story. So it's, you know, everything that comes along with it, like the part about him returning home. I mean, the film says he was he was broken. He he was disheartened, as one would be right when you return home from a war. So how did the war change him? And what are some of the things he was struggling with? So when he came back, his daughter, Kelly, said it best previously. She said when dad came home, he didn't know if he was an out-of-work pilot or an out-of-work actor. Wow. So he was a little... His identity, like, and when he came back, he wasn't sure if he wanted to be an actor anymore. It's like, what's this all for? And, but, you know, so Frank Capra, the director of It's a Wonderful Life, came to him and said, no one else can do this role but you. And, you know, America needs Jimmy Stewart. And through this, it was kind of like a therapeutic process for him. Thank you. And... So, yeah, we touched a little bit on that in the film as well. Well, I think that's what's so wild about this is I never knew that the man I was watching in It's a Wonderful Life had this kind of a story. I mean, that's it's incredible. Why hadn't the story been told yet? It's that amazing of a story. Yeah. Yeah. If you know Jimmy Stewart, you either know him as the military man or the actor. Right. Not together. Not together. One and the same. Yeah. So that's what we really try to embrace and showcase in this film. What are you most proud of? I mean, you mentioned to me to me behind the scenes that you you took this idea to to his family to Jimmy's family and and they trusted you to to tell the story so I can imagine that's something that you're proud of as well. Yeah it's anytime you do something like this it's a lot of hard work by a lot of people and I think what so we filmed this in Ireland and what impressed me the most or not really It didn't really surprise me, but I was, I guess, Overjoyed of how much embrace that like the Irish crew and people embrace this film and they're like no we love this like we love this film and and what the story's about and even during filming like they were all about no one was checking their phones or like everybody was locked in 24-7 every day on set it was yeah in and of itself that's pretty incredible yeah yeah it was uh because they just love this story and and yeah we're just thrilled uh To share it with the world this Friday. I was going to say, November 6th, this Friday is when you have the opportunity to see this. We've got executive producer and a guy who lives in Coming now, Sam Juergens, to talk all about it. So again, Sam, congratulations on this. Thank you. Yeah, looks incredible. A lot to be proud of here. Thanks. All right, there you have it. So Jimmy hits theaters this Friday. Looks like this is one the whole family can enjoy as well. Yeah, absolutely.