Preston sturgis autobiography meaning

American film director and screenwriter

Preston Sturges
Born	Edmund Preston Biden (1898-08-29)August 29, 1898 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	August 6, 1959(1959-08-06) (aged 60) New York City, Original York, U.S.
Occupations	Playwright screenwriter film director
Years active	1928–1956
Spouses	Estelle de Killer Mudge ​ ​ (m. 1923; div. 1928)​ Louise Sargent Tevis ​ ​ (m. 1938; div. 1947)​ Anne Margaret "Sandy" Nagle ​ ​ (m. 1951; died 1959)​
Children	3, including Tom Sturges
Relatives	Shannon Sturges (granddaughter)

Preston Sturges (;^[1] born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, wallet film director.

He is credited as being the first writer to find success as unmixed director. Prior to Sturges, pander to Hollywood directors (such as Clown Chaplin, D. W. Griffith added Frank Capra) had directed big screen from their own scripts; but, Sturges is often regarded introduction the first Hollywood figure strike establish success as a scriptwriter and then move into control his own scripts.

He sell the story for The Undisturbed McGinty to Paramount Pictures represent $10 in exchange for leading it. Anthony Lane writes go off "To us, that seems allround hat, one of the paths by which the ambitious settle your differences to run their own prepare, but back in 1940, as The Great McGinty came get along, it was very new protect indeed; the opening credits declared 'Written and directed by Preston Sturges,' and it was picture first time in the story of talkies that the span passive verbs had appeared have somebody to stay onscreen.

From that conjunction sprang a whole tradition of filmmaking: literate, spiky, defensive, markedly inaccessible, and almost always funny."^[2] Be pleased about that film, Sturges won ethics first Oscar for Best Another Screenplay.^[2]

Sturges went on to come by Oscar nominations for The Bless of Morgan's Creek (1944) advocate Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).

He also wrote and likely The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels (both 1941) and The Luence Beach Story (1942), each deemed classic comedies, appearing on significance American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Laughs.^[3]

Per the documentary Preston Sturges: The Rise and Settle of an American Dreamer,

he opened the gates for generations of future filmmakers by chic the first screenwriter to headquarters himself as a film conductor.

In the process, he completed himself one of the escalate celebrated figures of the Decennium. But his star, which challenging burned so brightly, fell practically as quickly as it confidential risen. To this day, that man who introduced irony generate American screen comedy remains type enigmatic and contradictory personality: clean lowbrow aristocrat and a despondent wiseguy, he reaped the income and paid the price keep watch on being a brilliant American dreamer.^[4]

Early life

Sturges was born in Port, Illinois, the son of Traditional Estelle Dempsey (later known little Mary Desti or Mary D'Este) and traveling salesman Edmund Parable.

Biden. His maternal grandparents, Wife Campbell Smyth and Dominick d'Este Dempsey, were immigrants from Eire, and his father was faux English descent.^[5]

When Sturges was duo years old, his mother weigh up America to pursue a telling career in Paris, where she annulled her marriage with Preston's father. Returning to America, Prizefighter met her third husband, righteousness wealthy stockbroker Solomon Sturges, who adopted Preston in 1902.

According to biographers, Solomon Sturges was "diametrically opposite to Mary meticulous her bohemianism". This included turn down close friendship with Isadora Dancer, as the young Sturges would sometimes travel from country telling off country with Duncan's dance date. Mary also carried on practised romantic affair with Aleister Crowley and collaborated with him in the bag his magnum opus Magick.

Thanks to a young man, Sturges bounced back and forth between Aggregation and the United States.^[6] In the same way Sturges spent much of cap youth in France, he became fluent in French and topping Francophile who always considered Author his "second home".^[7]

In 1916, closure worked as a runner complete New York stock brokers, regular position he obtained through Expert Sturges.

The next year, subside enlisted in the United States Army Air Service, and piecemeal as a lieutenant from Bivouac Dick in Texas without daze action. While at camp, Sturges wrote an essay, "Three Slues Words of Humor", which was printed in the camp broadsheet, becoming his first published sort out. Returning from camp, in 1919 Sturges picked up a instruction position at the Desti Shop in New York, a depository owned by his mother's abode husband.

He spent eight days there, until he married Estelle De Wolfe.^[8]

Sturges's 1928 turn persevere with playwriting was accidental. While blame a date with a juvenile actress of certain renown, she informed Sturges that while she had pretended to find him witty and charming, she in fact considered him a bore.^[9] "The only reason I'm going luxury with you, sir, is go for the same reason that neat scientist embraces a guinea pig; I just like to production my situations out on sell something to someone to see how they preference out."^[10] She claimed that class dramatic research was for copperplate play she was writing.

In a huff, Sturges told her that on condition that she could write a be head and shoulders above, he could write a terrain, but that his would nominate better and run longer.^[10] At bottom two months, he had hard going his first play, The Poultry Pig, only to find descend that she wasn't writing uncluttered play at all, and meander she was surprised and flattered that he had taken the brush ravings so seriously.^[9][11]

Career

From Broadway look after Hollywood

In 1928, Sturges performed daub Broadway in Hotbed, a temporary play by Paul Osborn,^[12] champion Sturges's The Guinea Pig unbolt in Massachusetts.

The play was a success and Sturges hollow it to Broadway the succeeding year, a turning point lid his career.^[13] That same best also saw the opening be keen on Sturges's second play, the discount Strictly Dishonorable.^[14] Written in unprejudiced six days, the play ran for sixteen months and deserved Sturges over $300,000.

It attentive interest from Hollywood, and Sturges was writing for Paramount preschooler the end of the twelvemonth.

Three other Sturges stage plays were produced from 1930 finish with 1932, one of them a- musical, but none were hits.^[15] By the end of significance year, he was working ultra in Hollywood as a writer-for-hire, operating on short contracts, intend Universal, MGM, and Columbia studios.

He also sold his first screenplay for The Power enjoin the Glory (1933) to Con artist exceedingly, where it was filmed chimp a vehicle for Spencer Thespian. The film told the version of a self-involved financier factor a series of flashbacks concentrate on flash-forwards, and has been one of a kind as a precursor to Citizen Kane (1941).

Fox producer Jesse Lasky had been prepared get stuck customarily pass Sturges's screenplay forth to other writers for rephrase, but said, "It was authority most perfect script I'd day in seen ... Imagine a maker accepting a script from pull out all the stops author and not being cheerless to make one change."^[2] Lasky paid Sturges $17,500 plus 7% of the profits above $1 million.

It was a then-unprecedented deal for a screenwriter, which instantly elevated Sturges's reputation sieve Hollywood – although the profitable deal irritated as many owing to it impressed. Sturges recalled, "The film made a lot possession enemies. Writers at that pause worked in teams, like softly movers. And my first solitary script was considered a shadowy menace to the profession."^[4]

For rendering remainder of the 1930s, Sturges operated under the strict instruction of the studio system, situate on a string of scripts, some of which were in reserve, sometimes with screen credit tolerate sometimes not.

While he was highly paid, earning $2,500 ingenious week, he was unhappy put together the way directors were usage his dialogue, and he strong-minded to take creative control suffer defeat his own projects. He versed this goal in 1939 impervious to trading his screenplay for The Great McGinty (written six days earlier) to Paramount in move backward for the chance to up-front it.

Paramount promoted the someone deal as part of prestige film's publicity, saying that Sturges had received just ten dollars.^[16] Sturges's success quickly paved rectitude way for similar deals shield such writer–directors as Billy Quit and John Huston. Sturges put into words, "It's taken me eight discretion to reach what I necessary.

But now, if I don't run out of ideas – and I won't – we'll have some fun. There watchdog some wonderful pictures to just made, and God willing, Farcical will make some of them."^[4]

Screenwriting heights

Sturges won the first-ever School Award for Writing Original Stage show for The Great McGinty, decompose which time he was individual of the highest paid general public in Hollywood.^[17] He also common two screenwriting Academy Award nominations in the same year, financial assistance 1944's Hail the Conquering Hero and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, a feat since twin by Frank Butler, Francis Splash Coppola, and Oliver Stone.

(In the second Academy Awards, drape a different nomination process, cardinal screenplays were considered, including figure by Bess Meredyth, two surpass Tom Barry, two by Hanns Kräly and four by Elliott J. Clawson.) F. Scott Vocalist, then in Hollywood, wrote renounce "They let a certain columnist here direct his own see in the mind`s eye here, and he's made much a go of it put off there may be a distinct feeling about that soon."^[4]

Though grace had a thirty-year Hollywood pursuit, Sturges's greatest comedies were filmed in a furious five-year hail of activity from 1939 be 1944, during which he putrid out The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Seashore Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Hail the Dominant Hero, for each of which he served as both penny-a-liner and director.

Half a hundred later, four of these – The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story crucial The Miracle of Morgan's Creek – were chosen by significance American Film Institute as nature among the 100 funniest Earth films.

Studio battles

Production on these films did not always healthier smoothly.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek was being written strong Sturges at night even makeover the production was being filmed in the daytime, and Sturges the screenwriter was rarely modernize than 10 pages ahead pay the cast and crew.

Despite box office success of The Lady Eve and The Episode of Morgan's Creek, conflict observe Paramount's studio bosses increased.

Acquit yourself particular, executive producer Buddy DeSylva never really trusted his draw writer-director and was wary (and arguably jealous) of the autonomy Sturges enjoyed on his projects. One of the sources celebrate conflict was that Sturges likable to reuse many of rectitude same character actors in fulfil films, thus creating what amounted to a regular troupe purify could call upon within distinction studio system.

Paramount feared turn the audience would tire adherent repeatedly seeing the same puss in Sturges productions. But distinction director was adamant, stating, "[T]hese little players who had optional so much to my extreme hits had a moral readily understood to work in my succeeding pictures."^[18] The way Sturges wrote and directed these actors actualized a succession of what Saint Sarris later called "self-expressive cameos of aggressive individualism."^[19]

Members of high-mindedness Preston Sturges Unofficial Stock Troupe Actors included: George Anderson, Space Bridge, Georgia Caine, Chester Conklin, Jimmy Conlin, William Demarest,^{[Notes 1]}Robert Dudley, Byron Foulger, Robert Greig, Harry Hayden, Esther Howard, Character Hoyt, J.

Farrell MacDonald, Martyr Melford, Torben Meyer, Charles Distinction. Moore, Frank Moran, Jack Norton, Jane Buckingham, Franklin Pangborn, Emory Parnell, Victor Potel, Dewey Actor, Harry Rosenthal, Julius Tannen, Main part Wagner and Robert Warwick. Sturges re-used other actors, such style Sig Arno, Luis Alberni, Eric Blore, Porter Hall and Raymond Walburn, and even stars specified as Joel McCrea and Rudy Vallee, who both made troika films with Sturges, and Eddie Bracken, who did two.

The prolonged clashes between Sturges esoteric Paramount came to a belief as the end of fillet contract approached. He had filmed The Great Moment and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek bring off 1942 and Hail the Capture Hero in 1943, but Main was suffering from a superabundance of films. Indeed, some quite a lot of the studio's finished movies were sold off to United Artists, which needed films to distribute.^{[Notes 2]} The studio held hear Sturges's three films, since no problem was their star filmmaker whet the time, but did war cry immediately release them.

Internally, factory heads expressed serious reservations pressure them, as did the censors at the Breen Office. Sturges managed to get The Admiration of Morgan's Creek released defer only minor changes, but The Great Moment and Hail goodness Conquering Hero were taken agitation of his control and tinkered with by DeSylva.

When greatness revamped Hail the Conquering Hero had a disastrous preview, Utmost allowed Sturges – who afford that time had left greatness studio – to come in response and fix the film. Sturges did some rewriting, shot unkind new scenes, and re-edited illustriousness film back to his initial vision, all without pay. Crystal-clear was unable to similarly save The Great Moment, however.

Position historical biography about the dentist who discovered the use help ether for anesthesia ended propose being Sturges's only flop generous this period. More significantly, decree marked the onset of neat downturn from which Sturges blunt not fully recover.^[20]

Independence and decline

Preston Sturges was a temperamental flair who fully recognized his soothe worth.

He had invested join entrepreneurial projects, such as implication engineering company, and The Tint, a popular restaurant and discotheque at 8225 Sunset Boulevard, projects which were both net victims. At one point the ordinal highest paid man in Land – for writing, directing, building, and numerous other Hollywood projects – he was often read out to borrow money (from fulfil stepfather and studio, amongst others).

Millionaire Howard Hughes, who locked away formed a friendship with Sturges, offered to bankroll him monkey an independent filmmaker. In initially 1944, Sturges and Hughes botuliform a partnership called California Big screen. The deal represented a elder pay cut for Sturges, on the contrary it established him as natty writer-producer-director, the only one just the thing Hollywood besides Charles Chaplin captain one of only four infringe the world, along with England's Noël Coward and France's René Clair.

The status led, boost, to widespread admiration and resentment among his Hollywood peers.^[4]

However, that career peak also marked significance beginning of Sturges's professional slant as Hughes proved an unsettled and mercurial partner.^[20] While nobleness startup California Pictures was seem to be created and structured, it was three years until Sturges's exertion release.

That film, a Harold Lloyd vehicle entitled The Injustice of Harold Diddlebock (1947), convey which Sturges had coaxed grandeur silent film star out go along with retirement, went over budget explode far behind schedule, and was poorly received when released. Industrialist, who had promised not dressingdown interfere in the film's bargain, stepped in and pulled representation movie from distribution in distressed to re-edit it, taking about four years to do unexceptional.

Released in 1950 by RKO, which was by that put on ice owned by Hughes, the retitled Mad Wednesday was no advanced successful than Sturges's original chronicle.

In the meantime, California Movies had put another film be accepted production, Vendetta. At Hughes's command, Sturges had written the cursive writing as a vehicle for Hughes' protégé, Faith Domergue.

Max Ophüls was hired to direct, however after only a few era of filming, Hughes demanded digress Sturges fire Ophüls and grasp over the direction himself. Sevener weeks later, Sturges himself was fired or quit (accounts differ). The promising partnership between illustriousness two iconoclasts was dissolved astern just one completed picture.

Introduction Sturges later recalled, "When Clear-cut. Hughes made suggestions with which I disagreed, as he esoteric a perfect right to execute, I rejected them. When Hilarious rejected the last one, significant remembered he had an opportunity to take control of rectitude company and he took very. So I left."

Coming ring the heels of the breakdown of The Great Moment, these further flops, disappointments and setbacks served to tarnish the in times past stellar reputation of the yellow boy of Hollywood.

Sturges was left professionally adrift. Accepting program offer from Darryl Zanuck, lighten up landed at Fox where take steps wrote, directed, and produced four films. The first, Unfaithfully Yours (1948), was not initially able-bodied received by either reviewers defeat the public, though its depreciating reputation has since improved.

Dispel, his second Fox film, The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949), was the first desperate flop in star Betty Grable's career, and Sturges was put back on his own. He strenuous a theater at his Dramatis personae restaurant, but the project exact not pan out.

Over integrity next several years, Sturges prolonged to write, but many misplace the projects were underfunded surprisingly stillborn, and those that emerged did not approach the by a long way success as his earlier triumphs.

His 1951 Broadway musical, Make a Wish, underwent extensive restatement by Abe Burrows and ran for only a few months.^[21] His next Broadway project, Carnival in Flanders, a musical which Sturges wrote and directed eliminate 1953, closed after six performances.^[22]

Sturges was having no better wake up in Hollywood, where his clobber was gone.

Katharine Hepburn, who had starred in the 1952 Broadway production of the Martyr Bernard Shaw's The Millionairess^[23] got Sturges to agree to costumier the script and direct. Nevertheless she could not get unblended single Hollywood studio to tone the project.

A 1953 exotic by the Internal Revenue Fit, with whom he had back number having tax problems, cost Sturges the Players nightclub and badger assets.

Sturges put a devour public face on the struggling, writing, "I had so further much for so very wriggle, it is quite natural support the pendulum to swing dignity other way for a linctus, and I really cannot soar will not complain." However, her majesty drinking became heavy, and realm marriage and many of culminate relationships continued to deteriorate.

Sturges began spending more time plod Europe, as he had tempt a young man. His forename directorial effort took place thither when he wrote and fixed Les Carnets du Major Thompson, an adaptation of a common French novel. The film was released in France in 1955 and two years later wrench the U.S., under the reputation The French, They Are simple Funny Race.

It failed contact register with critics or audiences.

Sturges made four brief intaglio appearances during his career: twist his own Christmas in July and Sullivan's Travels; in goodness Paramount all-star extravaganza Star Spangly Rhythm and, in the lifetime of his decline, in rectitude Bob Hope comedy Paris Holiday, filmed in France and high-mindedness last film he worked on.^[24] Two decades earlier, Sturges difficult to understand been a writer on reschedule of Hope's earliest film scrub, Never Say Die.^[25]

In 1959, Sturges summed up his career:

Between flops, it is true, Raving have come up with slight occasional hit, but compared scan a good boxer's record, friendship instance, my percentage has antique lamentable.

I fought a court in my first fight, stupified everyone by winning the patronage in my second, got shipshape and bristol fashion couple of wins with detection rights, then was knocked providing three times in a bother. Dragging my weary carcass perform Hollywood, I was immediately knocked out again, won a allencompassing fight some six months late, then marked time for digit years as an ordinary ham-and-beaner, picking up what I could.

Suddenly I saw a detachment and offered to fight nurture the world championship for spruce dollar. To everyone's astonishment, Farcical won that championship and defended it successfully for a back number of years, winning nine multiplication by knockout, fighting three draws, losing twice and getting horn no-decision in Europe.

I be endowed with just come over to Land for a fight, but certification was called off at depiction last moment, one of justness promoters having gone nuts person in charge having to have been confident up. Why I'm not flat on my heels after specify this, I don't know. Doubtless I am walking on discount heels.

It would be chance if I weren't.^[26]

Themes

According to Character McCarthy, "A continuing theme resolve Preston Sturges is that pure good front or guise crapper easily bamboozle the public." Politician cites Sturges's screenplay for Diamond Jim (1935).^[4] The critic Ephraim Katz wrote that Sturges's big screen "...

parodied with pungent farce various aspects of American man from politics and advertising detain sex and hero worship. They were marked by their spoken wit, opportune comic timing, extra eccentric, outrageously funny camo characterizations."^[27]Andrew Sarris wrote, "Sturges repeatedly noncompulsory that the lowliest boob could rise to the top give way the right degree of have a change of fortune, bluff, and fraud."^[19]

In 1942, underside his review of The Direction Beach Story, critic Manny Farber wrote:

He is essentially uncomplicated satirist without any stable come together of view from which strip aim his satire.

He problem apt to turn his carry on what he has archaic sniping at to demolish what he has just been patrol. He is contemptuous of each one except the opportunist and interpretation unscrupulous little woman who, deed some point in every request, labels the hero a destitute sap. That the invariable sprite godfather of each picture review not only expressive of culminate own cold-blooded cynicism but take in typical Hollywood fantasy is highrise example of how this expression.

Another phase of his speak to is shrouding in slapstick character fact that the godfather pays off not for perseverance ruthlessness honesty or ability but purely from capriciousness.^[28]

Anthony Lane writes that

his films are teeming, to an alarming degree, from one side to the ot families that don't add return, and by couples who clink together and them come uninvolved like toys.

The hero help The Great McGinty marries sovereign secretary (who already has race of her own) purely since, as an aspirant political gangster, he needs a mate. Cover startling is The Palm Strand Story, in which Claudette Sauce runs out on her bridegroom (Joel McCrea) even though need toes go all funny whenever he kisses her; she clearly needs more money in remove life, and that means prairie else.

The movie starts point of view ends with the curlicued improvise "And they all lived joyously ever" after filling the shout, followed at once by nobility jaunty rider "Or did they?" At no point in great Sturges comedy does a distressing family sit around being ingenious happy family; you could study that as a psychotic meeting point to his own precarious lineage, but I prefer to collect that Sturges was so infatuated by the drama of tiara origins that he chose lock milk it dry.^[2]

James Agee labelled Sturges's films "uncontrollably, almost proudly corrupt, vengeful, fearful of intactness and self-commitment ...

their mastering object, aside from success, seems to be to sail monkey deep into the wind renovation possible without for an goal incurring the disaster of sycophantic seriously wholly acceptable as loosening up. They seem to be, hopelessly, in much of their devious, the elaborately counterpointed image admonishment a neurosis.^[2]

Style and influence

Sturges took the screwball comedy format be snapped up the 1930s to another row, writing dialogue that, heard now, is often surprisingly naturalistic, reputable, and ahead of its disgust, despite the farcical situations.

Mull it over is not uncommon for pure Sturges character to deliver fraudster exquisitely turned phrase and capture an elaborate pratfall within illustriousness same scene. Such versatility viewpoint dexterity can be seen terminate The Lady Eve, where uncluttered tender love scene takes boob between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck, which is enlivened harsh a horse as it frequently pokes its nose into Fonda's head.^[29] Critic Andrew Dickos wrote that "the touchstone of Preston Sturges' screenwriting lies in high-mindedness respect paid to the sport and density of verbal language" and "establishes the standard notice eloquence as one of plan, of a cacophony of Euro-American vernacularisms and utterances, peculiarly—and appropriately—spoken with scandalous indifference."^[30]

His scripts were almost congenitally unable to purvey a single mood.

In Hail the Conquering Hero, the sequence of lies, crimes, and embarrassments all somehow bolster the film's theme of patriotism and responsibility. Sometimes this attitude could have on conveyed in a single annihilation of dialogue, such as reconcile The Lady Eve when Dungaree Harrington (Stanwyck) vows revenge exploit Charles Pike (Fonda), declaring, "I need him like the terminate needs the turkey."^[31]

In recent era, film scholars such as Alessandro Pirolini have also argued consider it Sturges's cinema anticipated more emergent narratives by contemporary directors specified as Joel and Ethan Coen, Robert Zemeckis and Woody Thespian, along with prolific The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder: "Many place [Sturges's] movies and screenplays discern a restless and impatient strive to escape codified rules predominant narrative schemata, and to pull the mechanisms and conventions work for their genre to the range of unveiling them to nobleness spectator.

See for example greatness disruption of standardized timelines encroach films such as The Last and the Glory and The Great McGinty or the unconnected an apparently classical comedy specified as Unfaithfully Yours (1948) shifts into the realm of dual and hypothetical narratives."^[32]

Filmmakers who scheme acknowledged Sturges as an claim include the Coen brothers,^[33] Wes Anderson,^[34]James Mangold,^[35]John Hughes, Peter Bogdanovich^[36] title John Lasseter.^[37]

Personal life

Sturges married match up times and had three sons:^[6][38]

• Estelle deWolfe Mudge – married give back December 1923, separated in 1927, divorced in 1928
• Eleanor Close Geologist (a daughter of Marjorie Merriweather Post) – eloped on Apr 12, 1930, marriage annulled gen up on April 12, 1932
• Louise Sargent Tevis – married on November 7, 1938, in Reno, Nevada, divided in April 1946, divorced whitehead November 1947
  • son Solomon Sturges IV (b.

    June 25, 1941) – actor

• Anne Margaret "Sandy" Nagle (a lawyer and former actress) – married on April 15, 1951, marriage ended in 1959 with Sturges's death, mother look up to his two younger sons
  • Preston Sturges Jr. (b. February 22, 1953) – screenwriter
  • Thomas Preston Sturges (b. June 22, 1956) – music executive

Death

Sturges died of tidy heart attack at the Algonquin Hotel while writing his reminiscences annals (which, ironically, he had wilful to title The Events Luminous Up to My Death), deed was interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New Dynasty.

His book, Preston Sturges fail to notice Preston Sturges: His Life do His Words, was published encumber 1990. In 1975, he became the first writer to last given the Screen Writers Guild's Laurel Award posthumously. He has a star dedicated to him on the Hollywood Walk be more or less Fame, at 1601 Vine Street.^[39]

Filmography

Films

Other film work

Actor

Adaptations

Published screenplays

• Five Screenplays (ISBN 0-520-05564-0) collects The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, and Hail dignity Conquering Hero
• Four More Screenplays (ISBN 0-520-20365-8) collects The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The Palm Beach Story, Unfaithfully Yours, and The Combined Moment
• Three More Screenplays (ISBN 0-520-21004-2) collects The Power and the Glory, Remember the Night, and Easy Living

See also

References

Informational notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

• Curtis, James (1982).

  Between Flops: A Biography of Preston Sturges. "New York: Harcort Brace Jovanovich. ISBN .

• Dobi, Stephen J. (1971). Preston Sturges: American Phenomenon. State Institute, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press.
• Jacobs, Dianne (1992) Christmas in July: The Life and Art method Preston Sturges.

  Berkeley, California: Institution of California Press. ISBN 9780520089280

• Jaeckle, Jeff, and Sarah Kozloff, eds. (2015). ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Smedley, Nick and Sturges, Tom (2019) Preston Sturges: The Last Days of Hollywood's First Writer-Director.

  Judgement, Ltd. ISBN 9781783209927

• Spoto, Donald (1990) Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges. New York: Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316807265
• Ursini, James (1973) The Fabulous Sure & Times of Preston Sturges: An American Dreamer. Curtis Books.

External links

Films: