Preston Sturges

[Gold Trumpet]

have you seen it?

This was in reference to Palm Beach Story and actually, I just saw this movie. Having had seen only The Lady Eve previously, I went into this one expecting to be their best because thats what I had heard. I liked it, but I kept thinking I was suppose to like it more. I really liked The Lady Eve. Thats a fun movie, but there's something more to it. I think Barbara Stanywck and Henry Fonda being in the cast is the gold mine that really made me like it so much. This is just a gut shot reaction, though. Someone challenge me to thought and I'm sure I could write some ridiciously extended sentences and paragraphs in defense.

[modage]

see Sullivans Travels.  thats my favorite so far, and there's a lot more to it.

[Gold Trumpet]

see Sullivans Travels.  thats my favorite so far, and there's a lot more to it.

That's next for me. I should see it sometime this week. And I'll see The Miracle of Morgan's Creek as well. Plus, with Unfaithfully Yours being released by Criterion this summer, I'll amass a pretty nice Sturges collection.

[Weak2ndAct]

'Unfaithfully Yours' is amazing, just checked out the Criterion dvd.  It's truly a brilliantly structured film: 30 mins. of setup, 30 mins. of fantasies skewing that setup, and 30 mins of payoffs.  Rex Harrison is hysterical, and his dialogue about Russian Roulette makes me giddy just thinking about it.  

It blows my mind how ahead of his time Sturges was.  The filmmaking is so tight, the observations so sharp (Harrison's stroll through a hotel room is so perfectly played, it hurts).  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.  If I wasn't shit-ass broke, I'd buy this right now.  Or maybe I'll just 'Stefen' it.

[Gold Trumpet]

Rex Harrison

I've been doing good lately in not buying Criterions, but the realization Rex Harrison is in it and excellent may make this one worth buying. Sturges just doesn't hold as much flavor with me as I'd hoped.

[modage]

you're not supposed to eat him.

[SiliasRuby]

Just saw Sullivan's Travels, fucking hilarious. I loved it a lot. Can't wait to the other ones.

[Pubrick]

Can't wait to the other ones.

what did you mean here, did you mean "Can't wait to bump heaps of other threads for no reason"?

[Ravi]

Miracle of Morgan's Creek is surprisingly frank for a film from the 1940s.  Sturges creatively got around the Hayes Code here.  The clever dialogue is relentless, and different characters often overlap each other.  The climax in particular is hilarious.  Sturges was ahead of his time with this film.  More of his films on DVD, please. 

[Ravi]

http://homevideo.universalstudios.com/details.php?childId=36544

Preston Sturges: The Filmmaker Collection
Release Date: 11/21/2006

The films:

The Great McGinty
Christmas in July
The Lady Eve
Sullivan's Travel
The Palm Beach Story
The Great Moment
Hail the Conquering Hero

All are presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame with English Mono sound and optional English SDH and French subtitles.

[modage]

wow great.  i want to see mcginty and christmas.  i thought criterion was doing one/both of those?  these versions probably wont be the best transfers and stuff but its still better than not having them on dvd at all.  lets hope they dont get pushed back a year or two like the double indemnity dvd that was on universals website forever ago and is still not quite released.

[Ravi]

I'm currently working my way through the Preston Sturges box set.

The Great McGinty is honest about politics and corruption.  The way McGinty rises to major political office is just as relevant today as it was in the days of political "bosses."  Since the film starts at the end of the story, its clear that the tone is going to be cynical.  McGinty is tending bar in a nightclub in some foreign country, possibly Cuba, and he tells his story in flashback.  Clearly this is not a Frank Capra film with an uplifting ending.  The film has some very funny moments, but overall its a mix of comedy and drama.

SPOILER

McGinty eventually tries to go honest as governor of an unnamed state, but this backfires on him and he's ruined.

END SPOILER

Christmas in July is a minor work by Sturges.  Its not uproariously funny, nor is it extremely insightful.  In fact its more like an episode of a sitcom.  But it is a charming film nonetheless.  Jimmy MacDonald pins his hopes and dreams on winning a Maxford House (yes, Maxford) slogan contest.  A few of his co-workers pull a prank on him by sending him a fake telegram saying he won.  Jimmy goes on a shopping spree, buying gifts for everyone in his neighborhood.  Of course, we know that he really wasn't the winner.  Happy ending aside, the film has themes on consumerism and capitalism.  Christmas in July was released in 1940, so America was still in the throes of the Great Depression.  Having nice things and being able to provide nice things for one's family and friends was quite an accomplishment.  Jimmy works as an accountant(?) in a rival coffee company and is promoted to the ad department.  The president of the company has a speech towards the end in which he explains that he hired Jimmy because he won the Maxford House contest and that he wouldn't have taken a chance on him without that validation.

Christmas in July is never overly sentimental but it lacks the bite of other Sturges films.  The lead characters are likeable but rather bland, and the idea of someone thinking he has hit the jackpot is quite intriguing, but the film doesn't add up to much.

Sturges' sense of the ridiculous is on display in a few scenes, most notably in the Maxford House jury room where one juror holds up the "verdict" with as much passion as Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men.  These scenes hint at what Sturges was comedically capable of.