ReFocus : : The Films of Preston Sturges / / Jeff Jaeckle, Sarah Kozloff.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Jaeckle, Jeff,; Kozloff, Sarah,
• MitwirkendeR: Beach, Christopher,; Bernstein, Matthew H.,; Carson, Diane,; Gabbard, Krin,; Grindon, Leger,; Jaeckle, Jeff,; Karnick, Kristine Brunovska,; Kozloff, Sarah,; Marks, Martin,; McElhaney, Joe,; Poe, G. Tom,; Viviani, Christian,; Wexman, Virginia Wright,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Series: ReFocus: The American Directors Series : RFADS
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (336 p.) :; 30 B/W illustrations

The first collection of critical essays on Hollywood director and screenwriter Preston SturgesRead and download the introduction for free here (pdf)Director, screenwriter and comic genius, Preston Sturges has been an influence on filmmakers ranging from Orson Welles to the Coen brothers. The first person to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, he wrote and directed some of the most bizarre, controversial and downright hilarious comedies of the 1940s, including Sullivan’s Travels and Hail the Conquering Hero. He may be the most talented Hollywood filmmaker yet to receive the critical recognition he deserves.The Films of Preston Sturges is a pioneering collection of essays by world-famous scholars that chart Sturges’ contributions to Hollywood cinema, revealing his pivotal status as an early writer-director, exploring his inimitable style and making a bold case for his ongoing influence today. Reawakening interest in this filmmaker’s life and works, this book will remind readers why Sturges’ movies remain not only immensely enjoyable, but of great cultural significance as well.Key featuresTraces Sturges’ early career and writing process, including the shift from playwright to writer-director as well as screenwriting techniquesProvides cultural contexts for Sturges’ films, including representations of class, gender and race Assesses the rises and falls of Sturges’ critical reputation and popularity, including his influence on contemporary filmmakersContributorsChristopher Beach teaches film in the English Department of Williams College.Matthew H. Bernstein, Professor of Film and Media Studies at Emory University.Diane Carson, Professor Emerita at St Louis Community College and former UFVA president (2008–10.Krin Gabbard is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at Stony Brook University.Leger Grindon is the Walter J. Cerf Distinguished Professor of Film Studies at Middlebury College in Vermont.Jeff Jaeckle is the editor of Film Dialogue (2013). Kristine Brunovska Karnick is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Sarah Kozloff is Professor of Film on the William R. Kenan, Jr. Chair at Vassar College. Martin Marks, Senior Lecturer in Music and Theater Arts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Joe McElhaney is Professor of Film Studies at Hunter College/City University of New York. G. Tom Poe, Associate Professor of Film and Media Arts at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.Christian Viviani is Professor at Université de Caen-Basse Normandie and coordinator and co-editor of Positif.Virginia Wright Wexman is Professor Emerita of English and Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Notes on Contributors -- Introduction: An Agile Mind—The Many Stands of Preston Sturges -- Part 1 Contexts: Genre, Studio, Authorship -- 1 Preston Sturges and Screwball Comedy -- 2 Preston Sturges, Sullivan’s Travels, and Film Authorship in Hollywood, 1941 -- 3 To Write and Not Direct -- 4 “The Edge of Unacceptability”: Preston Sturges and the PCA -- Part 2 Cultural Commentary: History and Identity -- 5 Sturges’s Many Mothers -- 6 “These Are Troublous Times”: Social Class in the Comedies of Preston Sturges -- 7 “They Always Get the Best of You Somehow”: Preston Sturges in Black and White -- 8 Falling Hard: The Sin of Harold Diddlebock -- Part 3 Technique: Scripting, Performance, Music -- 9 The Unheard Song of Joy -- 10 The Eye of the Storm: Preston Sturges and Performance -- 11 Presto(n) con Spirito: Comedies with Music, Sturges-style -- Part 4 Impact: Reception/Reputation -- 12 Thrust with a Rapier and Run: The Critics and Preston Sturges -- 13 Hail the Conquering Auteur: Preston Sturges in La Revue du cinéma (1946–1949) -- 14 O Preston, Where Art Thou? -- Index