Episode 42 – Preston Sturges’s THE FRENCH, THEY ARE A FUNNY RACE w/guest Samm Deighan
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I was thrilled to learn that Preston Sturges was to be the subject of your next episode. I’ve been a fan of his work for years & often would begin my Film History courses with a screening of Sullivan’s Travels. I started with Casablanca this semester.
Sturges is one of the truly unique voices in American cinema. His dialogue crackles in a way that no other writers’ do. His mix of slapstick physical comedy & verbose, witty wordplay has definitely influenced contemporary filmmakers like the Coen brothers. Hudsucker Proxy has a direct lineage to Sturges.
There is more humor, heart, & insight in a Sturges movie than all the MCU put together.
I would not characterize him as cynical, but rather as “knowingly clever.” He’s more like a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoon than a sweet Disney animated short.
My 2 favorite filmmakers are Sturges & Woody Allen. Their fingerprints are all over their work & the end results are unmistakably their own. I only wish that Sturges (or Orson Welles) had been given the total artistic control that Woody’s enjoyed for decades. Although his filmography isn’t lengthy, Sturges rates higher than nearly anybody else in my book.
*I’d love to hear a FadeOut episode on Capra sometime!
Great episode… I mean, I count myself a fan of Sturges generally, but Samm namedrops Johnnie To, my favorite Hong Kong director? Keep making episodes just for me, Rob!
My favorite Sturges movie is one he only wrote – Remember the Night, a strong contender for my favorite Christmas movie – but in terms of directorial efforts, The Lady Eve is tops, but Unfaithfully Yours is a close second. I’ve never watched a Sturges film (writer or director) that I didn’t get at least 3.5 stars out of 5 to.
Great episode. I’ve been watching and re-watching Preston Sturges movies for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I heard this conversation that I ever realized that so many of his films are centered around characters who (often unintentionally) pretend to be someone they are not, either through fake identity or background. Now that it has been brought up, I can’t stop thinking about it. Thank you Samm for your insight!