PANTS, SHMANTS

In Kenneth Turan’s otherwise OK assessment of Preston Sturges’ career (“True Wit,” Aug. 16), he made an error critics have been making for years when discussing “Sullivan’s Travels.” He incorrectly refers to the fictional Sullivan-directed comedy as “Ants in Your Pants of 1939.”

It’s actually “Ants in Your Plants of 1939.” That’s how it appears in all drafts of the Sturges script. That’s also how two Paramount producers (played by Robert Warwick and Porter Hall) clearly articulate it on film as they urge Sullivan (Joel McCrea) to direct a picture that’s “light and cheerful,” one that doesn’t “stink with messages.”

So can we finally set the record straight? Besides, “Ants in Your Plants” sounds funnier. And Sturges knew funny.

JIM MULHOLLAND

Encino

*

The first Preston Sturges film I remember seeing was “Unfaithfully Yours,” although I didn’t know it was a Sturges film. I didn’t read the credits then. I was only 9 and it was 1949 at the no-longer-existing Compton Theater, child’s admission nine cents. I loved the film and I never forgot it.

I never saw it again until about 35 years later, when I awoke in the middle of the night after having fallen asleep watching television. I looked at the screen and immediately recognized what was being broadcast. It was exactly like the version I had been replaying in my mind all those years. In my book, anything making that strong an impression must be good.

I have a video of the film now and no matter how many times I watch it, it remains fresh and entertaining. It goes on my Top 10 list.

STEPHEN SCHERTZER

Hawthorne