Crooked, but Never Common

The Films of Preston Sturges

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Pub Date 10 Jan 2023 | Archive Date 19 Apr 2023

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Description

In a burst of creativity unmatched in Hollywood history, Preston Sturges directed a string of all-time classic comedies from 1939 through 1948—The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, and The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek among them—all from screenplays he alone had written. Cynical and sophisticated, romantic and sexually frank, crazily breakneck and endlessly witty, his movies continue to influence filmmakers and remain popular to this day. Yet despite this acclaim, Sturges’s achievements remain underappreciated: he is too often categorized as a dialogue writer and plot engineer more than a director, or belittled as an irresponsible spinner of laughs.

In Crooked, but Never Common, Stuart Klawans combines a critic’s insight and a fan’s enthusiasm to offer deeper ways to think about and enjoy Sturges’s work. He provides an in-depth appreciation of all ten of the writer-director’s major movies, presenting Sturges as a filmmaker whose work balanced slapstick and social critique, American and European traditions, and cynicism and affection for his characters. Tugging at loose threads—discontinuities, puzzles, and allusions that have dangled in plain sight—and putting the films into a broader cultural context, Klawans reveals structures, motives, and meanings underlying the uproarious pleasures of Sturges’s movies. In this new light, Sturges emerges at last as one of the truly great filmmakers—and funnier than ever.

About the author: Stuart Klawans was the longtime film critic for The Nation, for which he received a National Magazine Award. He is the author of Film Follies: The Cinema Out of Order (1999) and has contributed to the New York Times, Times Literary Supplement, Film Comment, and Parnassus: Poetry in Review.

In a burst of creativity unmatched in Hollywood history, Preston Sturges directed a string of all-time classic comedies from 1939 through 1948—The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The...


Advance Praise

"From one of our finest critics, an elegant and deftly argued contribution to our appreciation of the great and glorious Preston Sturges. Klawans teases out inspired connections in the culture surrounding the director—the books, paintings and legends that fed the artistry of a man who refused to call himself an artist. The kind of book that makes you want to dive back into the films for fresh stimulation and delight."

—Molly Haskell, film critic and author

"Coming late to the party of Sturgesologists, Stuart Klawans has extended and upended the field with his takes that are as witty and audacious as his subject. One has only to read his wry unpacking of the contradictions in Sullivan's Travels, or his sympathetic dissections of my own favorites, The Lady Eve and Unfaithfully Yours. Klawans really knows these films, has a nuanced understanding of cinema in general, writes beautifully, and is the best, most trustworthy guide imaginable to the genius of Preston Sturges. A triumph."

—Phillip Lopate, author of Totally, Tenderly, Tragically

"From one of our finest critics, an elegant and deftly argued contribution to our appreciation of the great and glorious Preston Sturges. Klawans teases out inspired connections in the culture...


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ISBN 9780231207294
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Featured Reviews

A magnificent introduction and analysis of the works of one of the most talented filmmakers in Hollywood history.
Preston Sturges was a genius when it came to comedies and this delightful monograph allowed me to rewatch 10 priceless jewels from the mid 20th century. An absolute must for all the movie buffs out there. It was simply a fabulous read!

Many thanks to Netgalley and CU for this terrific ARC

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Preston Sturges is a Hollywood icon. In "Crooked, but Never Common," Stuart Klawans offers an in-depth examination of Sturges' work. This is a fascinating work of film criticism which will introduce Sturges to a whole new audience. A must read for fans of film.

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As the author says at the outset, this book is not meant to be an overview or biography of Preston Sturges' life. However, he does a great job weaving aspects about his personal and professional challenges as he dissects each of his films. In the descriptions of each of the films, Klawans gives an incredibly detailed description of what we seen on screen as well as the motivations and drama behind-the-scenes. I now am inspired to watch these films again (I had seen many of them over the years) or for the first time. This book will be a great companion to really seeing what is happening in these films. I recommend this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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