Ahhhhh, well, not really, I guess.
I like that show LOVE.
And, they mean a lot to some people, I guess.
Maybe I was joking.
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I’m a Howard Hawks man myself, but Sullivan’s Travels is truly tremendous.
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Sturges is god.
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[I think it’s actually Ants in Your Plants. Part of the underlying joke, I think, is that the title doesn’t quite make sense.]
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The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (or Mad Wednesday, starting the legendary Harold Lloyd) starts great, ends a little weak but is up for free on You Tube and the Internet archive.
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@TobinL, @Eric_Mittleman
You’re both pretty right.
"Prior to Sturges, other figures in Hollywood (such as Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Frank Capra had directed films from their own scripts, however Sturges is often regarded as the first Hollywood figure to establish success as a screenwriter and then move into directing his own scripts, at a time when those roles were separate. Sturges famously sold the story for The Great McGinty to Paramount Pictures for $1, in return for being allowed to direct the film; the sum was quietly raised to $10 by the studio for legal reasons."
(Copypasta from Jimbopedia, but accurate.)
Shortly after seeing that the writer/director experiment with Sturges was a success, Paramount let another of their writers become a writer/director: Billy Wilder.
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Ha! Thanks for the chance to watch this bit again. Indeed it is:
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“They had to change the wallpaper.”
Such fun they had with the censors back then.
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You’re in for a treat when you do. Not only are they expertly crafted, they’re also good-hearted and funny despite the dark undercurrents of the plots (and the casual racism and sexism of the times). Looked at that way he’s a quintessentially American artist.
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Palm Beach Story is my favorite too; I was so glad when it came out on DVD. Sturgess combines wacky comedy with sharp wit so perfectly!
Princess Centimillia is probably my favorite character in the film, but who could forget the Weenie King? “Cold are the hands of time that creep along relentlessly, destroying slowly but without pity that which yesterday was young. Alone our memories resist this disintegration and grow more lovely with the passing years. Heh! That’s hard to say with false teeth!”
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In this order: Sullivan’s Travels, The Lady Eve, The Great McGinty, Palm Beach Story, the Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend.
I didn’t care for Hail the Conquering Hero (too serious) or Unfaithfully Yours (weak domestic comedy). It’s true that he’s somewhat sexist. Bashful Bend requires a whole lot of patience & The Lady Eve is paranoid about scheming women. But then she is a professional conwoman.
As for Apatow: Freaks & Geeks, This is Forty, & his books (especially the one of interviews with comedians). And his Larry Sanders documentary was pretty great. Bridesmaids was OK, mostly for the strong female performances. More slapstick than screwball. Made me laugh, I have to admit.
Sadly, I’ve run out of screwball movie comedies to watch. Luckily, there’s a lot of great screwball TV around. High Maintenance, The Comeback, Insecure, Better Things, Master of None, Atlanta all have that quirky-eccentrics-with-a-side-of-dead-serious vibe.
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I did a search on my local library’s website and four of his films turned up. I’ve placed them on hold and look forward to watching them.
Oh? Why not?
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I like it a lot but it’s not as lighthearted as the other films in his ouevre. If your library has it you should add it to your list.
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They do; I did.
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I’m not sure “sexist” is quite the right word; in most of his movies the women are smart and alert and acerbic. Film directors who portray men that way are called “typical film directors”. For sure Sturges did not portray women as sugar and spice and everything nice.
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I would describe it as a jumbled mess of ideas. Some good ideas, but still a mess. Also, Eddie Bracken.
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No disrespect meant. I just went back to watch some clips & that scene with Stanwyck & the compact mirror is great in every way. I’m not saying Sturges was sometimes sexist because his women are gloriously nasty, self-directed & sometimes violent. It’s just that once in a while he fell into the stereotype of portraying women’s bodies as objects. Far less than other directors of his time, & you’re right, his female characters are some of the best around.
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