An update to my post on the Jimmy premiere. Christianity Today sat down with director Aaron Burns about the biopic, which hits theaters nationwide ahead of the 75th anniversary of It’s a Wonderful Life.
What’s new
Burns says the project started when he read Stewart’s Guideposts piece about making It’s a Wonderful Life right after WWII. Stewart’s postwar struggles drove him to real prayer on that set, and it helped galvanize his faith as a lifelong Presbyterian. Burns took a treatment to Kelly Stewart-Harcourt, Jimmy’s daughter. She was skeptical at first: accuracy mattered, and she didn’t think her dad would have wanted a movie about himself.
Burns talks about honoring Stewart without worshiping him, and about using the story to inspire faith in others, not just nostalgia for old Hollywood.
My take
The war-to-Wonderful Life arc is the heart of it. Quiet courage and real prayer under pressure still preach. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).
God Bless, and Use the Source!
