Monday, January 11, 2010

'Sullivan's Travels' & 'The Lady Eve'

Two films directed by Preston Sturges, in probably what is considered the man's heyday.

Some fun facts about Sturges:

1. Married four times -- two divorces, an annullment and a death (his).

2. His mother, Mary, was a bit of a bohemian. She, too, married four times and allegedly had a fling with noted occultist Alester Crowley, who called young Preston "a most god-forsaken lout."

3. One of the first men in Hollywood to get rights to direct his own screenplays.

4. Actually won the first ever Oscar for original screenplay in 1944. He was nominated three times.

5. Both "The Lady Eve" and "Sullivan's Travels" were released in 1941, Sturges' peak period where four of his films (including the aforementioned) were named as part of the 100 funniest according to the AFI.

6. Sturges also pissed off studio execs by basically having a roving cast of bit players in essentially of his films. The list runs to about 20 with bigger names starring in three or more of his films, including "Sullivan's" Joel McCrea. This is not unlike what Wes Anderson and Judd Apatow do today.

7. Williams Demarest was one of Sturges' regulars. Yes, Uncle Charlie.

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