Preston Sturges on DVD

[souvenir]

Amazon's page for The Miracle of Morgan's Creek has two apparent featurettes listed: "Preston Sturges and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and "Censorship: Morgan's Creek vs. the Production Code"

Hopefully these are more than two-minute fluff pieces.

[antnield]

DVD Times reviews of Universal's boxed set can be found here.

[devlinnn]

Amazon's page for The Miracle of Morgan's Creek has two apparent featurettes listed: "Preston Sturges and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and "Censorship: Morgan's Creek vs. the Production Code"

Hopefully these are more than two-minute fluff pieces.

These two featurettes (half-hour total) provide a decent backstory to the production, while the feature itself looks to be a very good print. Congrats to Paramount (and damn Universal for natural reasons).

[jesus the mexican boi]

The Sturges box looks so cool

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=58143

Region 2 ONLY damn it. Wish I could get it. Looks mighty pricey too, and with so little here in the US I wouldnt mind doubledipping for the already released titles.

I sure would like to see Christmas in July get a stateside release. Criterion?

[filmfan]

Amazon's page for The Miracle of Morgan's Creek has two apparent featurettes listed: "Preston Sturges and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and "Censorship: Morgan's Creek vs. the Production Code"

Hopefully these are more than two-minute fluff pieces.

To top it off, these experts sound like they are peeling potatoes, they are so uninterested in what they are talking about ! D-U-L-L !

[Jaime_Weinman]

One thing that occurs to me about Sturges is that from today's vantage point, it seems very unusual and surprising that a director of comedies could get a (well-deserved) reputation as a genius. This also applies to Lubitsch and Chaplin and to some extent Billy Wilder (though early on he did as many dramas as comedies), guys who became not only successful but incredibly well-respected for making comedies. Nowadays, with some exceptions, we take it for granted that people who specialize in romantic comedies usually aren't quite A-listers, or that directors will stop making comedies once they become famous and internationally respected (e.g. Bergman, Stevens, and other directors who stopped making comedies once they got famous).

By the way, when Eddie Bracken appeared on TVOntario's "Saturday Night at the Movies" some years ago to discuss his work with Sturges (with our semi-beloved local host Elwy Yost), he claimed that he directed the scene in Miracle where Trudy and Norval meet up again after Trudy's big night. He said he tried to do it in Sturges' style and came up with the idea of panning down to the "Just Married" sign, to mimic Sturges' preference for doing things in one take. I have no idea if this is a true story or not. He didn't tell that story on the DVD interview, or if he did they didn't include it.

[justeleblanc]

Nowadays, with some exceptions, we take it for granted that people who specialize in romantic comedies usually aren't quite A-listers, or that directors will stop making comedies once they become famous and internationally respected (e.g. Bergman, Stevens, and other directors who stopped making comedies once they got famous).

I couldn't agree more. Today, in order to be an A-list director you have to have some sort of visual style to flash at the audience, regardless of the fact that you might be flushing literacy down he toilet. As much as I admire the French New Wave, I can't say I've looked forward to watching their followers: the film school generation of "A-list" directors that have virtually no interest--or no competance--in directing a decent romantic comedy. Four Weddings & A Funeral comes to mind as maybe being the closest we've seen in a while to a Preston Sturges film... and that was 10 years ago.[/b]

[tryavna]

the film school generation of "A-list" directors that have virtually no interest--or no competance--in directing a decent romantic comedy. Four Weddings & A Funeral comes to mind as maybe being the closest we've seen in a while to a Preston Sturges film... and that was 10 years ago.

I don't know. I really like Alexander Payne's films. For some reason, Election has always struck me as the kind of film that Sturges would direct if he had a 1990's sensibility. That's not to say that I think Payne equals Sturges or Lubitsch yet, but he seems to me to be the finest practitioner of comedy in American cinema today.

[justeleblanc]

edit: double post

[justeleblanc]

I have word from a friend that Universal will release McGinty and Christmas in July in mid 2006 in a box set.

[justeleblanc]

And on a completely unrelated topic, does anyone else feel that season one of gilmore girls is very similar to a sturges comedy?

[djali999]

I have word from a friend that Universal will release McGinty and Christmas in July in mid 2006 in a box set.

It'll probably come in the "Laff Out Loud Franchise Collection". Yipe.

Actually I've often thought Universal could take home quite a profit and decent notices if they'd put together "Franchise Collections" for Sturges and Wilder. Their disc of Palm Beach Story last year was fine and priced right - spun it five or six times after I got it, and I'd kill for certain Wilder movies on DVD with decent transfers in any way, shape, or form (Major and the Minor, anybody?).

[Andre Jurieu]

And on a completely unrelated topic, does anyone else feel that season one of gilmore girls is very similar to a sturges comedy?

Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino are huge Sturges fans. They've spoken openly about making their next project/series an hour-long Tracy-Hepburn-esque comedy so that they can do their nods to Lubitsch, Sturges, Wilder more openly. It might work, since they can occasionally imitate the dialogue fairly well, but when Gilmore Girls is bad, it's really mind-numbingly, spirit-crushingly bad.

[justeleblanc]

And on a completely unrelated topic, does anyone else feel that season one of gilmore girls is very similar to a sturges comedy?

Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino are huge Sturges fans. They've spoken openly about making their next project/series an hour-long Tracy-Hepburn-esque comedy so that they can do their nods to Lubitsch, Sturges, Wilder more openly. It might work, since they can occasionally imitate the dialogue fairly well, but when Gilmore Girls is bad, it's really mind-numbingly, spirit-crushingly bad.

I've only watched the first two seasons and there hasn't been too many mind-numbing moments, save for Rory's love interests.

[Andre Jurieu]

I've only watched the first two seasons and there hasn't been too many mind-numbing moments, save for Rory's love interests.

When Daniel takes over writing duties in later seasons for certain episodes there are some rather painful moments where I'm actually glad that Sturges, Lubitsch, and Wilder have passed away, since it means they would not have to be subjected to someone imitating their efforts.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino are huge Sturges fans. They've spoken openly about making their next project/series an hour-long Tracy-Hepburn-esque comedy so that they can do their nods to Lubitsch, Sturges, Wilder more openly. It might work, since they can occasionally imitate the dialogue fairly well, but when Gilmore Girls is bad, it's really mind-numbingly, spirit-crushingly bad.

I'd even heard they were looking to make a Thin Man TV series.

[Cobalt60]

Has anyone gotten that UK Sturges box? I have been meaning to pick up for a while but I haven't had the chance. I'm pretty sure that all the discs are pretty bare but it does include several films not available in the states.

[justeleblanc]

Has anyone gotten that UK Sturges box? I have been meaning to pick up for a while but I haven't had the chance. I'm pretty sure that all the discs are pretty bare but it does include several films not available in the states.

If I were to speculate (and why not) I'd guess that the box set would include The Great Moment and Hail The Hero, but I'm not sure. There are rumors that this box set will have 9 films total. How many films that were only penned by Sturges are owned by Universal? This set could contain Easy Living and his other pre McGinty gems.

But going back to Sherman-Palladino, I kind of wish they didn't have to be tied to one show for 6 years -- I feel like the Gilmore bone is out of meat and I would much rather then see what new shows they come up with.

[justeleblanc]

DVD boxset will contain:

The Great McGinty
Christmas in July
The Lady Eve
Sullivan's Travels
The Palm Beach Story
The Great Moment
Hail The Conquering Hero

edit:
This must be just a replication of the R2 box.

[Gordon]

I hope that these will all be available seperately? The Great McGinty; Christmas in July; and The Great Moment are not available individually in the UK - Hail The Conquering Hero is, though, but I waited to see if any of them would be released by Criterion, so I held off buying them.

The UK edition of Sullivan has a commentary by Terry Jones.

. . .

[Jeff]

I hope that these will all be available seperately?

I hope so too, Gordon, but I really doubt it. This is Universal we're talking about. Even their newest Hitchcock collection doesn't have the discs available separately. I fear that this will end up looking like their Marx Bros. or W.C. Fields collections -- compressed onto four or five discs and thrown into one big digipack.

I wonder too, if they will ask Criterion to take The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels out of print, like they did with The Bank Dick when their Fields set came out.

[denti alligator]

I wonder too, if they will ask Criterion to take The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels out of print, like they did with The Bank Dick when their Fields set came out.

Shit, they better give us advance warning, 'cus these are on my to-buy list and I'm out of funds right now.

[otis]

This must be just a replication of the R2 box.

They are quite good without being as stellar as the Criterion or Universal R1 releases.

David
Can you see any difference between the R2 Palm Beach Story and the R1 (caps at the Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... hstory.htm) in terms of image quality? I've been holding off on the R2 box set, even though Amazon have it on sale for £35. Perhaps you could contact Gary and offer your newly acquired screen capping abilities to do a comparison...
Universal UK seems like a pretty slipshod organisation. Haven't they just rereleased the old versions of the Hitchcock films (fullframe Birds and Marnie included)? I'd really hope an R1 Sturges box would be an improvement over the R2 version.

[Gordon]

I wonder too, if they will ask Criterion to take The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels out of print, like they did with The Bank Dick when their Fields set came out.

Shit, they better give us advance warning, 'cus these are on my to-buy list and I'm out of funds right now.

Fans can't be with out Todd McCarthy and Kenneth Bowser's, 76-minute documentary, Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer, featured on Criterion's Sullivan's Travels DVD. It's one of the best profiles of a filmmaker you'll ever see.

The commentary by Noah Baumbach, Kenneth Bowser, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean is also a hoot, as are recordings of Sturges singing his songs! It's an amazing package; definitely one of Criterion's best 1-disc special editions.

Buy now!

[Cobalt60]

I've been holding off on the R2 box set, even though Amazon have it on sale for £35.

FYI, when you go to check out the price drops to £30.61