Overview

Throughout his career, Preston Sturges (1898--1959) was known for bringing sophistication and wit to the genre of comedy, establishing himself as one of the most valuable writer-directors in 1940s Hollywood. Today, more than fifty years after they were originally produced, his films have lost little of their edge and remain extremely popular. Intrepid Laughter is an essential guide to the life and work of this luminary of the stage and screen, following Sturges from his unusual childhood, to his early success as a Broadway playwright, to his whirlwind career in Hollywood.

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9780813141947

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Reviews

Preston Sturges wrote and directed... some of the best comedies Hollywood ever produced. His movies were noted for their sophisticated and razor-sharp dialogue, usually delivered at a lightning pace by actors such as Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and Sturges's regular company of great character actors, a group unrivaled in Hollywood. Andrew Dickos has done an outstanding job of covering Sturges's life and career and examining each of his movies. -- Coast Book Review Service --

It was time that the director of such notable films as The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and Hail the Conquering Hero had a full-length study of his work, and this neat book... offers a concise but very adequate survey. -- Film Review Annual --

<p> It was time that the director of such notable films as The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and Hail the Conquering Hero had a full-length study of his work, and this neat book... offers a concise but very adequate survey. -- Film Review Annual --

--It was time that the director of such notable films as The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and Hail the Conquering Hero had a full-length study of his work, and this neat book... offers a concise but very adequate survey.- -- Film Review Annual- -- --Preston Sturges wrote and directed... some of the best comedies Hollywood ever produced. His movies were noted for their sophisticated and razor-sharp dialogue, usually delivered at a lightning pace by actors such as Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and Sturges's regular company of great character actors, a group unrivaled in Hollywood. Andrew Dickos has done an outstanding job of covering Sturges's life and career and examining each of his movies.- -- Coast Book Review Service- -- --Andrew Dickos knowingly defines [Sturges's] particular brand of humor, clarifying the link between the verbal dexterity of Sturges's screenplays and the visual sureness of his directorial style.- -- American Cinematographer- -- --Just as Sturges lived at a fast pace, so does Dickos's book move quickly. He handles the difficulty of covering a complex man with a highly varied body of work with a wise selection of materials.- -- Classic Images- -- It was time that the director of such notable films as The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and Hail the Conquering Hero had a full-length study of his work, and this neat book... offers a concise but very adequate survey. -- Film Review Annual -- Preston Sturges wrote and directed... some of the best comedies Hollywood ever produced. His movies were noted for their sophisticated and razor-sharp dialogue, usually delivered at a lightning pace by actors such as Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and Sturges's regular company of great character actors, a group unrivaled in Hollywood. Andrew Dickos has done an outstanding job of covering Sturges's life and career and examining each of his movies. -- Coast Book Review Service -- Andrew Dickos knowingly defines [Sturges's] particular brand of humor, clarifying the link between the verbal dexterity of Sturges's screenplays and the visual sureness of his directorial style. -- American Cinematographer -- Just as Sturges lived at a fast pace, so does Dickos's book move quickly. He handles the difficulty of covering a complex man with a highly varied body of work with a wise selection of materials. -- Classic Images -- It was time that the director of such notable films as The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and Hail the Conquering Hero had a full-length study of his work, and this neat book... offers a concise but very adequate survey. -- Film Review Annual -- Preston Sturges wrote and directed... some of the best comedies Hollywood ever produced. His movies were noted for their sophisticated and razor-sharp dialogue, usually delivered at a lightning pace by actors such as Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake, and Sturges's regular company of great character actors, a group unrivaled in Hollywood. Andrew Dickos has done an outstanding job of covering Sturges's life and career and examining each of his movies. -- Coast Book Review Service -- Andrew Dickos knowingly defines [Sturges's] particular brand of humor, clarifying the link between the verbal dexterity of Sturges's screenplays and the visual sureness of his directorial style. -- American Cinematographer -- Just as Sturges lived at a fast pace, so does Dickos's book move quickly. He handles the difficulty of covering a complex man with a highly varied body of work with a wise selection of materials. -- Classic Images --

Author Information

Andrew Dickos is the editor of Abraham Polonsky: Interviews and the author of Intrepid Laughter: Preston Sturges and the Movies. He is also a commentator on Paramount Home Entertainment's DVD of Preston Sturges's The Miracle of Morgan's Creek.

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