Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart are two of my all-time favorite actors. So HANK AND JIM: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart, by Scott Eyman? What a great holiday present for movie fans.

Eyman, who specializes in biographies on some of Hollywood’s greatest figures --- John Ford, Cecil B. DeMille and John Wayne, to name just a few --- does a sweet job in portraying how these two icons came to their profession, contrary to the desires of their fathers (who eventually came around).

In the movies, one might describe the circumstances of Fonda’s and Stewart’s as “meeting cute.” They were introduced as twenty-somethings following a performance by the former. They were taken with each other, and their similarities formed the basis of that half-century relationship.

"Eyman...does a sweet job in portraying how these two icons came to their profession, contrary to the desires of their fathers (who eventually came around)."

What makes this relatively unusual were their differences. Fonda was married several times, while Stewart was a one-woman husband. Fonda’s relationship with his children was strained, while Stewart doted on his, twins by his wife Gloria’s previous spouse and their own twin sons. Then there’s the politics: Stewart was a staunch Republican, while Fonda was a liberal Democrat. As good friends often do, they agreed to disagree about that and never spoke about this aspect of their lives.

Both actors enjoyed great success before and after World War II. Much has been written about Stewart’s service as a bomber pilot, but there’s been comparatively little when it comes to Fonda’s stint in the Navy. Like his friend, though, Fonda was a decorated serviceman who took his work seriously, not wanting special treatment or duty because of his celebrity status.

Their war experiences impacted their work upon returning to civilian life. As Eyman writes, “Like millions of other returning veterans of the war, Stewart remembered he was emotionally exhausted and professionally unsure.” He no longer wanted to do lighthearted fare as he did in such films as Born to Dance, The Ice Follies of 1939 and It’s a Wonderful World (as opposed to It’s a Wonderful Life, one of his signature films), and his later work included darker themes in Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Winchester ‘73, where he displayed various neuroses more in line with someone who had seen the horrors of war.

Fonda, too, wanted to do more “serious” work. He complained about the film version of Mister Roberts --- one of his most famous roles and one that he played in the theater (another difference between the two pals) --- as being too funny.

While many film buffs enjoy their favorite performers, they rarely look beyond what they see on the screen. They don’t understand --- either by choice or by simple ignorance --- that they are people with anxieties, worrying about how they will be perceived in a given role and what the future holds, especially as they grow older and parts they had played in the past are no longer age-appropriate (Stewart portrayed Charles Lindbergh in The Spirit of St. Louis, even though he was some 20 years older than Lucky Lindy when he made his historic non-stop flight over the Atlantic). Eyman also does an excellent job in offering the friction between Stewart and Fonda with writers and directors over various artistic differences.

There’s relatively little gossip in HANK AND JIM, which may delight or disappoint, depending on the reader. While they may have gone through long periods where they didn’t have contact with each other, there’s was a friendship in which words weren’t necessary. They could sit together for hours at a time with barely a word exchanged.

The end for both men was, of necessity, sad as illness sapped them of their loved ones and their own lives; Gloria Stewart predeceased her husband by several years, leaving him depressed and rudderless. But that’s part of the story. Not every ending is a happy one.