Preston Sturges Introduction

Known for his string of sassy, delightful and sharp-witted social satires in the early-to-mid 1940’s, Preston Sturges was not only a daring writer of zingy dialogue and rapid plot mechanics, but an undervalued director – a masterful composer of actors, actresses and the unabashed joy in making people laugh.

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In many ways, Sturges’ fundamental formula consisted of riotously breaking down the barriers of taboo middle-class values – pre-marital sex, infidelity, divorce – so much so that it’s still a wonder how films like “The Palm Beach Story” (1942) and “The Miracle at Morgan’s Creek” (1944) ever saw the light of the day.

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Clearly he was a man who understood the various hypocrisies of life – prodding and stabbing at everything from marriage to the movie industry. Yet this base understanding and recognition of the inanity of it all didn’t register cynically or apocalyptically in the eyes of Mr. Sturges – who optimistically punctuates all of his films with an ironic twist of fate – suggesting integrity and moral righteousness at the end of life’s absurd, illogical and yes, laughable dishonesty. 

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Over the course of the next week or so (hopefully just a week), I’ll be discussing at length the various films of Preston Sturges, from “The Great McGinty” (1940) to “Unfaithfully Yours” (1948) and damn-near everything in-between that I could get my hands on.

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Once again, as with all of these things, I’m not only looking at each film individually, but how it fits into Mr. Sturges filmography on the whole. So without further ado, the fun – as Sturges would have it – begins on Sunday.