Stewart's first postwar role was as George Bailey in Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). Although it earned him an Oscar nomination, the film was not a big success at first. It has increased in popularity since its release, and is considered a Christmas classic and one of Stewart's most famous performances. In the 1950s, Stewart played darker, more morally ambiguous characters in movies directed by Anthony Mann, including "Winchester '73" (1950), "The Glenn Miller Story" (1954) and "The Naked Spur" (1953), and by Alfred Hitchcock in "Rope" (1948), "Rear Window" (1954), "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1956), and "Vertigo" (1958). "Vertigo" was ignored by critics upon release, but is now recognized as an American cinematic masterpiece. His other films in the 1950s included the Broadway adaptation "Harvey" (1950) and the courtroom drama "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959), both of which landed him Academy Award nominations. He was one of the most popular film stars of the decade, with most of his films becoming box office successes.