I am embarrassed to admit that I have not seen the movie – another item on this summer’s bucket list, to be sure. I have seen Sturges’ The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek; what genius to write and direct such a story while gingerly working through the concerns coming from the Hays Office and the U.S. Army. Rather than an environment of anything goes, it demonstrates that talent truly shows itself when it can succeed under “restrictions.” Did Robert Frost say that he had no desire to write poetry that doesn’t rhyme because it was like playing tennis without a net?
Of course, Preston Sturges should not be confused with John Sturges (no relation) who started directing feature films a few years later. Film critics of the “auteur” school have generally dismissed the talent of the latter, yet he was in charge of a few wonderfully entertaining movies, e.g., The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven.
You make a good point about artistic restrictions serving as means of inspiration. Frost was right, but also he knew that there simply is not art without the "net." It's not just a boring game, but no game at all. We often think of this when we are watching the old films, and the observation goes the other way around, too. We comment, "They couldn't make such a film now because ... and we fill in the blank with everything that we lack as a culture which once we had so that such films could be made, loved, and, actually attract sufficient audiences to be successful.
I like films like The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven, and the superb Bridge on the River Kwai, too. Not every day, perhaps!!
Thank you, Debra. Very true: it is so difficult - impossible? - for an artist to totally eschew from his works the residue from the culture of which he is a part.
The Bridge on the River Kwai - Alec Guinness, William Holden, etc., - is truly a classic; I would mention two more delightful films from the hand of J. Sturges: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Bad Day at Black Rock.
Sturges really was the most supercalifragi. . . of all time. I always favored Palm Beach Story, as the hero was a crack-brained architect, just like me. And Rudy Vallee as John D. . . . well not Rockefeller exactly. But I remember watching Hail the Conquering Hero decades ago in the MOMA movie theater and being amazed at how all those high-toned serious cineastes were practically falling on the floor laughing at the repeated bits of schtick. If that isn't genius . . .
I am embarrassed to admit that I have not seen the movie – another item on this summer’s bucket list, to be sure. I have seen Sturges’ The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek; what genius to write and direct such a story while gingerly working through the concerns coming from the Hays Office and the U.S. Army. Rather than an environment of anything goes, it demonstrates that talent truly shows itself when it can succeed under “restrictions.” Did Robert Frost say that he had no desire to write poetry that doesn’t rhyme because it was like playing tennis without a net?
Of course, Preston Sturges should not be confused with John Sturges (no relation) who started directing feature films a few years later. Film critics of the “auteur” school have generally dismissed the talent of the latter, yet he was in charge of a few wonderfully entertaining movies, e.g., The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven.
You make a good point about artistic restrictions serving as means of inspiration. Frost was right, but also he knew that there simply is not art without the "net." It's not just a boring game, but no game at all. We often think of this when we are watching the old films, and the observation goes the other way around, too. We comment, "They couldn't make such a film now because ... and we fill in the blank with everything that we lack as a culture which once we had so that such films could be made, loved, and, actually attract sufficient audiences to be successful.
I like films like The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven, and the superb Bridge on the River Kwai, too. Not every day, perhaps!!
Thank you, Debra. Very true: it is so difficult - impossible? - for an artist to totally eschew from his works the residue from the culture of which he is a part.
The Bridge on the River Kwai - Alec Guinness, William Holden, etc., - is truly a classic; I would mention two more delightful films from the hand of J. Sturges: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and Bad Day at Black Rock.
Sturges really was the most supercalifragi. . . of all time. I always favored Palm Beach Story, as the hero was a crack-brained architect, just like me. And Rudy Vallee as John D. . . . well not Rockefeller exactly. But I remember watching Hail the Conquering Hero decades ago in the MOMA movie theater and being amazed at how all those high-toned serious cineastes were practically falling on the floor laughing at the repeated bits of schtick. If that isn't genius . . .
Yep, Sturges was a genius in the comic vein. We've only seen his films on the small screen, but I will bet they an extra hoot on the large screen!
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds.