Five Screenplays by Preston Sturges

By Preston Sturges

Book Overview

Here are five comic masterpieces by Preston Sturges, who has been called "Hollywood's greatest writer-director, with emphasis on the former." The scripts are drawn from the great period between 1939 and 1944, which Andrew Sarris called "one of the most brilliant and most bizarre bursts of creation in the history of cinema."

They are astonishingly readable and deliciously funny. Brian Henderson's introduction provides an overview of Sturges criticism and brief biographical material. Each script is preceded by a prefatory essay discussing its evolution. The insights provided by this volume will be useful to film students and aspiring screenwriters, and fascinating to anyone interested in screen comedy. Virtually all the illustrations, showing Sturges at work, are published here for the first time.

The collection includes The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, and Hail the Conquering Hero.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520055640
• ISBN13: 9780520055643
• Release Date: June 1985
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 848 Pages
• Weight: 2.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Titles

Preston Sturges stands out among the writer/directors of the 30's and 40's (how many others were there? I can think only of John Huston) for his wittily jaded takes on politics, the battle of the sexes, art and patriotism. But if you're looking at this review, you're a fan already, so I'll just tell you the titles in this volume: * The Great McGinty * Christmas in July * The Lady Eve * Sullivan's Travels * Hail the Conquering Hero Good films all, and the last two classics.

The master of witty dialogue

These screenplays contain some of the wittiest lines ever written. To my taste, Preston Sturges wrote better dialogue than Shakespeare. This volume contains the screenplay to one of my favorite films, "Christmas in July" -- one of the warmest and funniest fims ever made. Puts Shakespeare back with the shipping news.

brilliant

Sturges was brilliantly funny, and these scripts are beautifully constructed. Make a point to see HAIL, THE CONQUERING HERO; it's his best film, and includes arguably his funniest scene (the mayor dictates a speech to his son then his secretary).