Olympic Fan
06-10-2009, 05:56 PM
Pardon my enthusiasm, but if there are any film buffs out there, I thought I'd make sure you knew that Turner Classic Movies is doing a five-film Preston Sturges marathon tonight from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
For those of you who love films but aren't familiar with Sturges' work, he is a successful screenwriter who became a director in the early '40s. Working from his own scripts, he turned out 6-to-8 of the greatest comedies in American cinematic history in a five-year period before his career came to an abrupt end -- somewhat due to burnout and somewhat due to his battles with the studios.
At his best, Sturges could combine sophisticated verbal humor with the crudest slapstick -- often in the same scene.
TCM's marathon starts with 1941's The Lady Eve. It's his third film, but his first A Movie, starring Barbara Stanwyck (as a very lovely con artist) and Henry Fonda (as a snake scientist and the son of a wealthy beer manufactor that she's out to skin). As always in a Sturges film, some of the great moments come from the supporting cast -- in this case, brilliant performances from William Demerest as Muggsy, Forda's bodyguard/companion; Eugene Pallette as Forda's father; and Charles Coburn as Stanwick's con-man father. It's always been my contention that Demerest's final words are the second-greatest closing line in screen history.
At 10 p.m., TCM has Sullivan's Travels, rated by most critics as Sturges' masterpiece. It's about a successful Hollywood director played by Joel McCrea who is the master of light comedy, but dreams of making a great melodrama (O Brother Where Aret Thou .. the title the Coen Brothers stole a half-century later). To learn what life is really all about, he tries to take to the road as a hobo, where he meets Veronica Lake (her greatest role) and another great cast of supporting players -- including Walt Disney's Pluto!
At Midnight, it's Palm Beach Story with McCrea and Claudette Colbert. The highlight is Colbert's train trip, where she first meets the Ale and Quayle Club (which contains a good number of Sturges' stock company, including William Demerest again), then Rudy Vallee, playing a thinly disguised version of John D. Rockefeller.
At 2 a.m., it's The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, a film Sturges shot in 1942, but didn't release until 44, thanks to censorship battles. It's about a smalltown girl named Trudy Knockenlocker who gets drunk at a party (as a sop to the censors, Sturges throws out the possibility that instead of alchohol, she hit her head on a spinning disco-like ball) and wakes up the next morning with vague memories of a wedding ... and soon learns she's pregnant. Most of the film involves her and her little sister (a great performance by Diana Lynn) trying to rope clueless Eddie Bracken into marraige. The way it all works out IS a miracle. Great performance by William Demerest as Hutton's explosive father. For those of you who don't know the Sturges film, the governor who hears the story is Brian Donlevy, the governor of The Great McGinty, Sturges first big hit.
The first four films are all A movies that were recently voted among the 100 Funniest American Films by the AFI. The fifth and final film at 4 a.m. is different.
It's a B movie, shot in 1947 after Sturges had fallen from studio favor. But I would argue that it's his most brilliant film.
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock starts with an amazing five-minute segment from Harold Lloyd's silent masterpiece "The Freshman". It shows what happens to the waterboy who became a football hero ... and picks up 20-some years later when Harold Lloyd, a nothing clerk, is fired from his job. The next three days are somewhat tumultuous ... great scene with bartender Edgar Kennedy mixing up a drink known as "The Diddlebock" and when Lloyd negotiates with banker Rudy Vallee to finance his circus (don't ask). Great parody of Lloyd's famous clock hanging scene from Safety Last.
Note: This film was later re-cut and released as Mad Wednesday ... I think this is the far superior original version.
Not suggesting anybody stay up all night to see these films, but if you can Tivo, DVR or VHS them, you won't be sorry.
Since Sturges' career was so short, this is a substantial chunk of his legend. I just wish they had added Hail the Conquering Hero (my personal favorite of the Sturges oeuvre). Not many films have the guts to make fun of patriotism and mother love in the middle of World War II.
For those of you who love films but aren't familiar with Sturges' work, he is a successful screenwriter who became a director in the early '40s. Working from his own scripts, he turned out 6-to-8 of the greatest comedies in American cinematic history in a five-year period before his career came to an abrupt end -- somewhat due to burnout and somewhat due to his battles with the studios.
At his best, Sturges could combine sophisticated verbal humor with the crudest slapstick -- often in the same scene.
TCM's marathon starts with 1941's The Lady Eve. It's his third film, but his first A Movie, starring Barbara Stanwyck (as a very lovely con artist) and Henry Fonda (as a snake scientist and the son of a wealthy beer manufactor that she's out to skin). As always in a Sturges film, some of the great moments come from the supporting cast -- in this case, brilliant performances from William Demerest as Muggsy, Forda's bodyguard/companion; Eugene Pallette as Forda's father; and Charles Coburn as Stanwick's con-man father. It's always been my contention that Demerest's final words are the second-greatest closing line in screen history.
At 10 p.m., TCM has Sullivan's Travels, rated by most critics as Sturges' masterpiece. It's about a successful Hollywood director played by Joel McCrea who is the master of light comedy, but dreams of making a great melodrama (O Brother Where Aret Thou .. the title the Coen Brothers stole a half-century later). To learn what life is really all about, he tries to take to the road as a hobo, where he meets Veronica Lake (her greatest role) and another great cast of supporting players -- including Walt Disney's Pluto!
At Midnight, it's Palm Beach Story with McCrea and Claudette Colbert. The highlight is Colbert's train trip, where she first meets the Ale and Quayle Club (which contains a good number of Sturges' stock company, including William Demerest again), then Rudy Vallee, playing a thinly disguised version of John D. Rockefeller.
At 2 a.m., it's The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, a film Sturges shot in 1942, but didn't release until 44, thanks to censorship battles. It's about a smalltown girl named Trudy Knockenlocker who gets drunk at a party (as a sop to the censors, Sturges throws out the possibility that instead of alchohol, she hit her head on a spinning disco-like ball) and wakes up the next morning with vague memories of a wedding ... and soon learns she's pregnant. Most of the film involves her and her little sister (a great performance by Diana Lynn) trying to rope clueless Eddie Bracken into marraige. The way it all works out IS a miracle. Great performance by William Demerest as Hutton's explosive father. For those of you who don't know the Sturges film, the governor who hears the story is Brian Donlevy, the governor of The Great McGinty, Sturges first big hit.
The first four films are all A movies that were recently voted among the 100 Funniest American Films by the AFI. The fifth and final film at 4 a.m. is different.
It's a B movie, shot in 1947 after Sturges had fallen from studio favor. But I would argue that it's his most brilliant film.
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock starts with an amazing five-minute segment from Harold Lloyd's silent masterpiece "The Freshman". It shows what happens to the waterboy who became a football hero ... and picks up 20-some years later when Harold Lloyd, a nothing clerk, is fired from his job. The next three days are somewhat tumultuous ... great scene with bartender Edgar Kennedy mixing up a drink known as "The Diddlebock" and when Lloyd negotiates with banker Rudy Vallee to finance his circus (don't ask). Great parody of Lloyd's famous clock hanging scene from Safety Last.
Note: This film was later re-cut and released as Mad Wednesday ... I think this is the far superior original version.
Not suggesting anybody stay up all night to see these films, but if you can Tivo, DVR or VHS them, you won't be sorry.
Since Sturges' career was so short, this is a substantial chunk of his legend. I just wish they had added Hail the Conquering Hero (my personal favorite of the Sturges oeuvre). Not many films have the guts to make fun of patriotism and mother love in the middle of World War II.