Product Description

Preston Sturges was the first prominent screenwriter to direct his own script. He went on an unparalleled creative streak that brought to the screen some of the most beloved films of all time.This collection pays tribute to seven of his finest and funniest films starring cinema's most illustrious screen stars.The Great McGintyAn opportunist (Brian Donlevy) turns corruption into a promising political career but struggles to stay on top when he tries to go honest.Christmas in JulyHope springs eternal when an office clerk (Dick Powell) mistakenly believes he's won a coffee slogan challenge and spends the "prize money".The Lady EveIt's the ultimate battle of the sexes when a wealthy heir (Henry Fonda) falls (literally!) for a con woman (Barbara Stanwyck) with a shady past.Sullivan's TravelsIn this comedic masterpiece a wealthy director (Joel McCrea) wants to find "real" people for his next great film (co-starring Veronica Lake).The Palm Beach StoryMoney makes the world go round or so Gerry (Claudette Colbert) believes when she divorces her struggling husband (McCrea) and supports him by marrying a millionaire.The Great MomentThis stirring biopic follows the fascinating life of W.T.G. Morton (McCrea) a 19th century dentist who successfully develops the first anesthesia.Hail the Conquering HeroA quirky soldier (Eddie Bracken) gets an unexpected homecoming when a group of uproarious Marines decide to "make" a hero out of the comic misfit.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 025193112620 Manufacturer No: 61031126

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3471 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2006-11-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Russian
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 7
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

Amazon.com
Preston Sturges was a 20th-century Renaissance man who, at Paramount Pictures between 1940 and 1943, wrote and directed eight original movies unlike anything before or since. All but one were high-energy, brilliantly detailed, and very, very funny comedies that became instant classics. No one ever dreamed up a more colorful assortment of characters, wrote more lovingly textured dialogue for them, or sent them hurtling and skittering through more outrageous situations, with undertones often darker than most dramatic films. Seven of these pictures comprise this boxed set; The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is missing because it remained with Paramount when most of the studio's pre-1949 inventory was acquired decades ago by Universal/MCA. (It's on DVD via Paramount.) The omission of a single film from the cycle--and one of the very best--is regrettable, but there's plenty here to relish.

Sturges was already an established playwright and screenwriter when he cajoled Paramount into letting him direct one of his own scripts. The Great McGinty won him the 1940 Oscar for best original screenplay, the raffish tale of a bum (Brian Donlevy) who ingratiates himself with the political machine of a heartland city by successfully voting 37 times in one election, then rises to become "reform" candidate for governor. The film is a glowing example of Sturges's penchant for filling the foregrounds as well as backgrounds of his movies with flavorful, mostly nameless character actors and according each of them star status, if only for one world-class line of dialogue. They and Sturges stood by one another throughout the cycle, and the result was a richness variously--and aptly--likened to Dickens or Bruegel.

Christmas in July (1940) followed, a sardonic but big-hearted comedy about a young working-class couple (Dick Powell and Ellen Drew) duped into believing one topsy-turvy afternoon that they've struck it rich by winning a slogan contest. Then came the film widely regarded as Sturges's most side-splitting, The Lady Eve (1941). Barbara Stanwyck is merciless--and breathtakingly sexy--as a second-generation con artist who targets brewing heir Henry Fonda, a clueless amateur herpetologist who has spent entirely too much time up the Amazon.

Then again, there are people who name Sullivan's Travels (1942) among the best films ever made. Joel McCrea plays a successful director of Hollywood comedies who decides he must make a social-consciousness allegory, O Brother Where Art Thou? His exploratory road trip disguised as a hobo, with starlet Veronica Lake for companionship, combines Hollywood satire with starkest drama verging on horror. The film is utterly unique and shatteringly powerful.

The Palm Beach Story (1942), a return to screwball comedy, dances a goofy tarantella on the American obsession with wealth. There are a couple of dozen millionaires at large in this movie, every one of them insane: Robert Dudley as a comic deus-ex-machina ("the Wienie King"), a railroad club car filled with Sturges stalwarts ("the Ale and Quail Club"), and '20s crooner Rudy Vallee ascending to character-actor immortality as the devoted suitor of Joel McCrea's runaway wife, Claudette Colbert. At that point (still in 1942) Sturges embarked on his most tortuous project, Triumph over Pain, the fact-based chronicle of the Boston dentist (Joel McCrea) who discovered the use of ether for anaesthesia. Instead of being canonized, he was destroyed. Sturges, whose 1933 screenplay The Power and the Glory had anticipated the fractured time scheme of Citizen Kane by eight years, tried for even more complicated narrative-in-reverse here--and also studded the tragic story with startling bursts of slapstick humor. Paramount recut the film drastically and changed the title to The Great Moment; the fitful results would not be released till two years later.

Meanwhile, Sturges scored a pair of best-screenplay Oscar nominations in 1944 for The Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero, two small-town comedies starring Eddie Bracken as a nebbish ill-made for heroism yet obliged by wartime circumstance to rise to the occasion. Each of these films is a comic masterpiece, each asking discomfiting questions about cherished, arguably destructive American values, yet finding its own cockeyed way to affirmation. Miracle isn't available here, but Hail the Conquering Hero casts a lingering spell, beyond satire. To quote its last line: "You got no idea." --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

EXCELLENT REMASTERING OF STURGES CLASSICS
With this collection and the addition of "The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek, which was released on DVD by Paramount last year, we have as complete a collection as we can expect from Universal. The mastering of "The Palm Beach Story" here rectifies a very disappointing job from Universal last year, and the new-to-DVD issues of "The Great McGinty," "The Great Moment," "Christmas In July," and the film Sturges thought was his true masterpiece, "Hail The Conquering Hero," make this release as good as it gets. "Unfaithfully Yours," a Fox picture, has been released on Criterion, and "Sullivan's Travels" and "The Lady Eve" are also Criterion issues. I compared this new remastering of "Sullivan" with the Criterion, and despite a slightly to moderately better transfer--especially the soundtrack--from Criterion, Universal has held its own, quite an undertaking by itself against what has always been superior work by Criterion.

So to complete your collection, be sure to purchase "Miracle," because it's the finest transfer of any of Sturges's films. I, too, like another reviewer, would have appreciated a clean copy of "The Sin Of Harold Diddlebock," also known as "Mad Wednesday," as it has languished in the public domain for a long time.

Universal still doesn't believe in extras and that's a shame. We could have used interviews, documentaries, scripts, and perhaps the many feet that were left on the cutting room floor for "The Great Moment." I recommend the three Criterion Sturges films because of the extraordinary special features that are a hallmark of Criterion. But, again, let's give appropriate credit to Universal for doing its best for us fans and Sturges's masterworks. He pioneered the way for other writer-directors like Billy Wilder, and the appreciation of these films, with its witty satirical situations and urbane dialog, deserves to be passed along to the next film generation. Sturges also accomplished something that we don't see very often today: With Sturges, there's no such thing as a "minor" character; they all possess their own distinct personalities and help to create a complete story with each scene and sequence, supporting or balancing the other characters in the film.

A bargain for Sturges fans though there COULD be some decent extras included
Preston Sturges has always had a small following among film fans. That's too bad because he was probably one of the most brilliant writers and directors of his generation. His screwball comedies are brilliant examples of Hollywood filmmaking at their best. The first film I saw by Sturges at UCLA was "Sullivan's Travels" and from that point on nobody could compare to this maverick. This boxed set from Universal collects the rest of Sturges most important work ("Unfaithfully Yours" and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" are also available on DVD). Sturges reign at the top was brief but prolific; he produced most of his best films as a writer/director between 1940 and 1948 when he was at Paramount.

Overall the films in the "Preston Sturges Collection" look quite good although "The Great McGinty" looks a bit gritty at times but still looks quite good. Blacks are pretty solid and the condition of the prints look pretty good with Universal clearly putting digital clean up into some of these films. Keep in mind also that the source material varies in age with the oldest film here being 66 years old. "Sullivan's Travels" compares favorably to the Criterion edition although I'd suggest fans keep that edition since "ST" has no notable extras as part of the package. Audio sounds crisp and clear which is important as Sturges' verbal wit is almost as important as the slapstick comedic set pieces that decorate his films like icing on a cake.

Although this isn't a special feature it is a trend in the right direction for Universal. Many of their "tribute" collections have had as many as five films crammed onto one dual layered dual sided disc. "PSC" keeps it to one film per disc which is a big plus preventing problems during the pressing process that plagued some of their previous releases for some fans.

Sadly all we get are five trailers for the films included. Universal should have ported over some of the Criterion material or, at the very least, put together an hour documentary on Sturges career. It would have been pretty simple to do so in collaboration with his estate which has a website up and running full of biographical and trivia information about the great director. Although I'm not a fan of "Mad Wednesday" Sturges last major film as a director/writer made with Harold Lloyd since it is in the public domain it might have behooved Universal to find a decent print or source element, clean it up and include it as an extra here as well. Commentary tracks would have been welcome as there are a number of bright scholars at UCLA, USC and NYU that would gladly have tackled that here. At the very least having a director that does comedy and appreciates Sturges (or that is stylistically similar) would be great. Although he's not the same type of comedy director Mel Brooks or Buck Henry would have provided great commentary tracks (as would Christopher Guest). Ah the world of missed opportunities. If only I ran Universal's vintage film division.

Keep in mind that three of the seven titles here have been released before two of them in superior editions by Criterion. Still, it's hard to argue with the price for this set. I'd suggest keeping your Criterion titles for the extras since Universal has been stingy with anything worthwhile here.

A collection of terrific films at a great price sans much in the way of extras appears celebrating one of the comedic masterminds of film direction from the 20th century. If Sturges hadn't come along film comedy would have been the poorer for it. His films have had a wide ranging impact on a variety of comedy writers/directors/actors through exposure in revival houses and television. This great collection of some classic (and one not so classic) Sturges films is worthwhile for fans. Between this, the Criterion releases and Paramount the bulk of his best material is available finally on DVD.


Synopsis of the film's plots below (whic don't do their comedy elements justice I might add).

Beginning with Sturges "The Great McGinty" with Brian Donlevy (who reprises the role briefly in "Sullivan's Travels" in an amusing cameo) is one of the best political satires of the era as well. Donlevy plays Daniel McGinty who rises to the top in politics due to his connections and the corruption of the political machine. McGinty eventually becomes Governor but along the way develops a conscience when he falls in love with the woman he married to help propel him to power. Its a brilliant, cynical and dark comedy that makes no apologies nor does it try and take the Capra's more sentimental optimism.

1940 was one of Sturges most prolific periods. He also wrote and directed "Christmas in July" with Dick Powell, Ellen Drew and Sturges regular William Demarest. Adapted from his own play Sturges "Christmas in July" is set during The Depression with Dick Powell playing Jimmy McDonald a naïve character who keeps trying to make his big splash by winning $25,000 in a advertising contest for coffee. He believes he has won and he and girlfriend are offered promotions and become minor celebrities. Of course this is Sturges not Frank Capra so the wit is more cynical.

"The Lady Eve" presented Sturges with a rare opportunity--he gets two top notch stars Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck who take to their comedic roles as if they were born to play them./ Jean Harrington (Stanwyck) just wants to land wealthy shy guy Charles Pike (Fonda) because of the money but ends up falling in love anyway but with a healthy dose of--yes--sly sarcasm at the heart of the film. It's not Sturges most accomplished as its clear the elements of the plot were used before for other screwball comedies but it's more about what Sturges does with the material than the material itself that matters here.

"Sullivan's Travels" has always been my favorite film by Struges. Film director John Sullivan (A very funny Joel McCrea) has had it with making over-the-top comedies. He wants to make SERIOUS films about humanity's plight but has no clue how to as he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. So he becomes a hobo wandering the camps that are occupied by the disenfranchised. What he discovers though is that escape and hope are just as valuable as making films raising social issues. Veronica Lake plays his love interest and with her sweeping hair created a craze. It's brilliant, sarcastic, satirical and a moving drama all within the scope of a comedy. It's one of Sturges' outstanding achievements and definitely still one of the 100 Greatest Films of All Time.

McCrea appears again in "The Palm Beach Story" another of Sturges brilliant great screwball comedies that plays with the conventions of the genre. Tom and Gerry (Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert) are up to their eyeballs in debt. Tom's an inventor with impractical creations. Gerry decides to leave him and find a rich beau John Hackensacker (Rudy Vallee) while Tom tries to collect his wife Hackensacker's sister Centimillia -what a name--(Mary Astor) FALLS for him. It's a rollicking screwball with some of the funniest sequences from any film. Although this wasn't my favorite Sturges comedy for a long time I've come to realize it's probably one of his best.

"The Great Moment" is an odd drama/comedy focusing on a dentist/ inventor (McCrea again) who comes up with anaesthesia during the 19th century. The film chronicles the dentists attempts to protect his invention and profit from it while others push him to release its secret to the public for the greater good. Of course the greater good in this case is for a company to exploit the invention without paying him a penny. It's an odd film and very uneven. We'll never know what Sturges truly intended here as the film was taken away from him and recut by the studio prior to release. It's one of the few Sturges films that I hadn't seen before (I did catch portions of the film on TV though throughout the years but never saw the whole film) and it's not among his best but does have some sparkling passages in it. Needless to say audiences were a bit baffled at the time and the film flopped at the box office.

Finally we have Eddie Bracken as the lead in "Hail the Conquering Hero" the last film that Sturges made for Paramount. Bracken plays Woodrow a man who is forced to masquerade as a hero. Discharged from the military during World War II Woodrow never sees any action and hasn't told anyone back home that he is a civilian again. Convinced by a group of Marines to pretend he served he is greeted as a hero suddenly honored by his home town for his service. Again Sturges uses an absurd situation to act as both social critic and humorists roles that he was born to assume.

Miracle of Morgan's Creek Sold Separately
Let's get the negatives out of the way: 1) Mysteriously, "Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is not included in this set; 2) There are no special features to speak of.
That's one big and one small quibble and now that they're out of the way I am delighted to heartily endorse and cheerfully recommend this most wonderful collection of films.
Preston Sturges (for whom the term mercurial may have been coined) had a short and absolutely brilliant career as a successful writer-director. From "The Great McGinity" (1940) and "The Great Moment" (1944) -- the presence of the adjective "great" in both titles seems appropriate -- Sturges produced the films inthis collection and the one notably excluded. He had a scattering of successes a few years later but his brief brilliantly shining moment had all but flickered.
Be that as it may we do have this absolute treasure of seven films, some available on DVD for the first time. They combine high brow social satire with bawdy slapstick -- not just in the same picture, sometimes in the same scene!
Political corruption in "McGinity" con artists in "The Lady Eve" the role of film in society "Sullivan's Travels" heroism in "Hail the Conquering Hero" and more are all subjects of Sturges' fun. And the stars do come out. Barbara Stanwyck, Joel MCrea, Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake and Brian Donleavy appear along with Sturges' regularly featured ensemble players. And what an ensemble, highlighted by the redoubatle William Demarest.
There's not a clunker in this reasonably priced set. What you get is some of the best films of the early 1940's replete with memorable scenes (Stanwyck seducing Fonda in "Eve" the dialogue between MCrea and his producers at the beginning of "Sullivan's" the Ale and Quail Club in "Palm Beach.) What you don't get...okay so I can't get over the omission of "Morgan's" sue me.
be that as it may we do have this absolute tresure some availbe on DVD for the first time. They combine high brow social satire with bawdy slapstick -- not just in the same picutre, in the same scene!
Political corruption in "McGinity" con artists in "The Lady Eve" the role of film in society "Sullivan's Travels" herois in "Hail the Conquering Hero" and more are all subjects of Sturges fun. And teh stars do come out. barbara Stanwyck, Joel MCrea, Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lakeand Brian Donleavy appear along Sturges' regualry featured ensemable players.
There's not a clunker in this reasonably priced set. What you get is some of the best films of the early 1940's repleete with memorable scences (Stanwyck seducing Fonda in "Eve" the dialogue between MCrea and his producers at the eginning of "Sullivan's" the Ale and Quail Club in "Palm Beach.) What you don't get...okay so I can't get over the ommission of "Morgan's" sue me.