On Video: Classics, Rarities--and a Stinker or Two

Besides the retrospective at LACMA and a birthday tribute on cable’s American Movie Classics, the majority of films by Preston Sturges are available on video.

STURGES AS DIRECTOR

Sturges made his directorial debut in 1940 with the political satire “The Great McGinty” (Universal, $15), for which he won an Oscar for his original screenplay. Brian Donlevy, in his first starring role, plays a bribe-friendly bum who makes his way to the governor’s mansion thanks to the crooked political machine, only to lose it all when he decides to become honest. Akim Tamiroff is the corrupt political boss.

That same year, Sturges wrote and directed the sweet comedy “Christmas in July” (Universal, $15). Dick Powell is perfectly cast as a young working man who thinks he’s won a big slogan contest and goes on a shopping spree. Unbeknown to him, though, it’s all been a practical joke. Ellen Drew and the always wonderful William Demarest and Franklin Pangborn also star.

The year 1941 was a banner one for Sturges, who released his two greatest comedies: “Sullivan’s Travels” and “The Lady Eve” (both Universal, $15 each).

“Sullivan’s Travels” is a marvelously inspired comedy--and a delightful jab at the socially conscious films of the ‘30s--starring Joel McCrea as a successful director of entertainment films who decides to direct a “serious” movie. He dresses himself up as a hobo and sets out on the road to learn about poverty and despair. McCrea is wonderful and so is Veronica Lake as the young woman who accompanies him. The great supporting cast features such Sturges regulars as Demarest and Pangborn.

“The Lady Eve” is a near perfect comedy. Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Coburn play two con artists who get more than they bargain for when they try to fleece a wealthy but naive beer tycoon (a charming Henry Fonda).

Sturges and McCrea teamed up again for 1942’s screwy romantic comedy “The Palm Beach Story” (Universal, $15), which features such colorful characters as the Wienie King and the members of the Ale & Quail Club. Claudette Colbert has a field day as McCrea’s wife who decides to divorce him and find a wealthy new husband so she can finance McCrea’s inventions. Rudy Vallee steals the film as an eccentric Palm Beach millionaire. Mary Astor also stars.

It’s best to avoid the next Sturges and McCrea collaboration, the 1944 clunker “The Great Moment” (Universal, $15). The movie was taken out of Sturges’ hands and reedited. It’s a clumsy, offbeat biopic about a Boston dentist who discovers that ether could be used as an anesthetic. This not-so-great “Moment” wavers uncomfortably between comedy and drama. Betty Field, Demarest and Pangborn also star.

Sturges, though, rebounded quickly that year with the terrific, biting satire “Hail the Conquering Hero” (Universal, $15). Eddie Bracken plays a frail young man--the son of his small town’s greatest World War I hero--who is discharged from the Marines because of hay fever. When he returns home, though, the town believes he’s a big war hero. Demarest steals the show as a fast-talking sergeant. Sturges received an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay.

The same year, he received another Oscar nomination for his screenplay for the equally riotous skewering of American values, “Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” (Universal, $15). Betty Hutton gives her best performance as a small-town girl who gets drunk at a party, marries a soldier on leave and returns home the next morning. Trouble ensues when she discovers she’s pregnant and can’t remember her husband’s name. To avoid a scandal--she’s expecting sextuplets--she tries to get a local nerd (Bracken) to marry her. The film’s release was delayed a year due to censorship problems. Diana Lynn, Donlevy, Tamiroff and Demarest also star.

Silent-comedy great Harold Lloyd came out of retirement for the misguided 1947 Sturges’ vehicle “The Sin of Harold Diddlebock” (Nostalgia, not sell-through), which is a sequel to Lloyd’s wonderful 1925 “The Freshman.” This time around, Lloyd’s staid bookkeeper goes on a drinking binge after he’s fired from his job and ends up the new owner of a traveling circus. Lloyd, then in his 50s, did all of his own stunts.

“Unfaithfully Yours” (Fox, not sell-through) from 1948, oozes with sophistication and hilarious, rapid-fire one-liners. When it was released, though, it laid an egg with both critics and audiences. Gaining in reputation over the years, it’s now considered one of Sturges’ masterworks. Rex Harrison is delightful as a pompous orchestra conductor who believes his beautiful wife (Linda Darnell) is having an affair. He devises ways to punish her--including murder--while conducting three different pieces of music. When he tries out his “flawless” plans in real life, everything backfires. Vallee and Edgar Kennedy provide a lot of the laughs.

Though not vintage Sturges, the 1949 box-office flop “The Beautiful Blonde of Bashful Bend” (Fox, $20) has its moments. Betty Grable plays a saloon gal who is mistaken for a schoolmarm. Cesar Romero, Vallee and a scene-stealing Hugh Herbert also star.

STURGES AS WRITER

Sturges (uncredited) adapted Fannie Hurst’s weepy “Imitation of Life” (Universal, $15) in 1934. Nominated for the best film Oscar, it is well-produced hokum starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers as two women--one white and one black--who go into business together.

Much more enjoyable is the zany 1937 comedy “Easy Living” (Universal, $15), which Sturges wrote. Jean Arthur sparkles as a Manhattan working girl whose life changes when a tycoon (Edward Arnold) throws a sable coat out the window and it lands on her head. Ray Milland plays Arnold’s son who falls for Arthur. Handsomely directed by Mitchell Leisen.

Sturges also penned the lively 1938 period romance “If I Were King” (Universal, $15), starring the always splendid Ronald Colman as the infamous French poet/rascal Francois Villon. The sly Basil Rathbone received a best supporting Oscar nomination as the oily Louis XI. Frances Dee is the lady-in-waiting with whom Villon falls in love.

Bob Hope and Martha Raye star in the amusing 1939 comedy “Never Say Die” (Universal, $15). Sturges co-wrote the farce set in a Swiss health spa with Frank Butler and Don Hartman.

Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray star in a gem of a comedy-drama, “Remember the Night” (Universal, $15), from 1940. Sturges wrote this wonderful film about a prosecutor (MacMurray) who winds up falling in love with a shoplifter (Stanwyck) when he takes her home during the Christmas court recess. Mitchell Leisen directed.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LACMA’s Sturges Retrospective Thursday: “The Great McGinty,” “Strictly Dishonorable”

Friday: “Remember the Night,” “Christmas in July”

Saturday: “The Lady Eve,” “The Good Fairy”

Aug. 27: “The Power and the Glory,” “Diamond Jim”

Aug. 28: “Sullivan’s Travels,” “Mad Wednesday” (aka “The Sin of Harold Diddlebock”)

Aug. 29: “Hail the Conquering Hero,” “If I Were King”

Sept. 4: “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek,” “Unfaithfully Yours”

Sept. 5: “The Palm Beach Story,” “Easy Living”

Screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Bing Theater, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. $4-$6. Information: (213) 857-6010 or Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232.