TMI (Today’s Movie Info)
February: Director’s Month
PRESTON STURGES (1898-1959) is known for writing and directing screwball comedies that feature rapid-fire, sometimes overlapping dialogue. His best known films are The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1942). He won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The Great McGinty (1940). Sturges is regarded as the first successful screenwriter who went on to a successful career directing Hollywood films. As a young man in 1920, he invented a “kiss-proof” lipstick called Red-Red Rouge. The lipstick was used in the films of the era, and had mass consumer appeal. Sturges stated his golden rule for comedies: “A pretty girl is better than a plain one. A leg is better than an arm. A bedroom is better than a living room. An arrival is better than a departure. A birth is better than a death. A chase is better than a chat. A dog is better than a landscape. A kitten is better than a dog. A baby is better than a kitten. A kiss is better than a baby. A pratfall is better than anything.”
Movie Reviews from the Dark 