13. Stewart entertained doubts over his future in Hollywood in 1947
Following the box office performance of It’s A Wonderful Life, which lost over a half-million dollars, Capra’s company went bankrupt. Stewart, dubious about his abilities on film, returned to radio. In July 1947, he was recruited to fill in the lead role of Elwood P. Dowd in the Broadway production of Harvey. The play was a hit from its opening in 1944, and Stewart’s appearance was to allow the star time off for the summer. He received good reviews, and when the lead actor, Frank Fay, returned in August, Stewart agreed to fill the role again the following summer.
Stewart’s only film in 1947 failed to find an audience, though he remained in demand in Hollywood. The following year, he made four feature films. One of them was the first of a collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock. It was filmed on a single set, with continuous long takes averaging just under ten minutes. Ten minutes was the length of film in a single canister. The actors had to be flawless with dialogue and movement. Stewart found the process stressful. The movie, Rope, did not perform well at the box office, and critics found Stewart was miscast. Though two of his 1948 films were successful, the other two were not, adding to his personal doubts.