Building on existing biographies and published screenplays, this book assesses Preston Sturges’s entire career, paying particular attention to four areas: contexts (genre, studio, authorship), cultural commentaries (race, gender, class, satire), technique (dialogue, performance, music), and impacts (critical reception and ongoing influence). Each chapter blends close analyses of the films with insights drawn from film history and cultural studies to demonstrate that Sturges revolutionized film comedy in the 1940s and that his films continue to influence Hollywood cinema. The contributors asses ... More

Building on existing biographies and published screenplays, this book assesses Preston Sturges’s entire career, paying particular attention to four areas: contexts (genre, studio, authorship), cultural commentaries (race, gender, class, satire), technique (dialogue, performance, music), and impacts (critical reception and ongoing influence). Each chapter blends close analyses of the films with insights drawn from film history and cultural studies to demonstrate that Sturges revolutionized film comedy in the 1940s and that his films continue to influence Hollywood cinema. The contributors assess Sturges’s main strengths as a filmmaker—dialogue, plotting, collaborations with actors, and uses of satire—as well as his creative shortcomings, such as his stereotyping of characters based on race and ethnicity. As such, the book provides thorough accounts of the highs and lows of Sturges’s career, including why he initially proved so successful before falling into relative obscurity.