Ebook: ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges

The first collection of critical essays on Hollywood director and screenwriter Preston Sturges

Read 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 features

• Traces Sturges’ early career and writing process, including the shift from playwright to writer-director as well as screenwriting techniques
• Provides 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 filmmakers

Contributors

• Christopher 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.