The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, December 5, 2011 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, December 5, 2D11 - 5A
Celebrating Sturges
Among the filmmakers of
early Hollywood, one in
particular stands out:
Preston Sturges, whose legacy
comprises just 10 films he made
between 1940
and 1948,
had a career
remark-
able for its
brilliance,
brevity and
peerless inno-
® vation. In his PHILIP
time, Stur- CONKLIN
ges's body
of work was
groundbreaking, and his films,
which remain vibrant and fresh,
should not be missed.
Sturges began his career as a
Hollywood screenwriter in 1930,
and for 10 years was one of the
most successful writers in the
industry. In a time when writers
were largely marginalized and
disrespected, Sturges became
the first-ever Hollywood screen-
writer to become a director,
when he famously sold his script
"The Great McGinty" (1940) for
one dollar on the condition he
be allowed to direct. And thus
began an amazing run of bril-
liant films.
The best place to start with
Sturges is "Sullivan's Trav-
els"(1941) and "The Lady Eve"
(1941), two of his best films, and
also his most accessible. "The
Lady Eve" - about a rich but
unsophisticated scientist (Henry
Fonda, "12 Angry Men") who
falls in, then out, then back in
love with a beautiful con artist
(Barbara Stanwyck, "Double
Indemnity") - showcases every-
thing that makes a Sturges film
great: broad comedy, clever dia-
logue and elegant romance. "Sul-
livan's Travels," about a director
of comedy films who tries to
live as a hobo as research for a
social commentary film about
the downtrodden masses, is as
delightful as "The Lady Eve,"
but even more sophisticated - it
contains some lyrical scenes of
staggering beauty, and is one of
Sturges's most affecting films.
Equally great is "Palm Beach
Story," (1942) Sturges's most
iomantic film. The film follows
a young wife who leaves her
husband for Palm Beach to try
to marry a millionaire. It's an
intricately detailed film, one that
reveals new pleasures on each
viewing. "Hail the Conquering
Hero" (1944) is another Stur-
ges gem, and often overlooked.
After being discharged from
the military before even seeing
action, a young private meets a
group of Marines that helps him
return home under the guise of
a war hero. "Conquering Hero"
shows the director at the top of
his game - it's a hilarious, inven-
tive, continually surprising film
that's also one of Sturges's most
touching.
Sturges wrote some of the
funniest, cleverest scripts of the
studio era, and his films abound
with visual beauty. He operated
inside the conventions of the
screwball comedies of the time,
but elevated them to new heights
with unflagging wit and complex
narratives. But what makes Stur-
ges's films even more impres-
sive is he had complete artistic
control over his films - he had
sole writing and directing credit,
which was unprecedented. And
this was at a time when Holly-
wood was ruled by giant studios
and their powerful producers.
Sturges is one of the original
American auteurs, and certainly
the first one in the Hollywood
studio system.
But Sturges's defying of stu-
dio practices put him on thin
ice and he often clashed with
studio heads. In 1944 he made a
film called "The Great Moment"
aboutthe dentist who pioneered
the use of anesthesia, and his
struggles in the medical commu-
nity. The movie, a straight-ahead
drama, is a real departure for
Sturges and, though still a good
film, flopped at the box office,
causing a falling out with his stu-
dio. This led to Sturges forming
a partnership with millionaire
Howard Hughes, who helped
Sturges form his own studio,
California Pictures, where, as
writer, director and producer,
Sturges had even more creative
control over his films.
However, this turned out to be
the beginning of Sturges's pro-
fessional decline. He made just
one film with Hughes, "The Sin
of Harold Diddlebock" (1947).
Though nominated for the
Grand Prize at the Cannes Film
Festival, it was a flop. Hughes
meddled with the film's produc-
tion, and the result is a film that,
while very funny, doesn't quite
hold together like Sturges's pre-
vious work. When the film failed,
Hughes fired Sturges from the
studio.
After this, Sturges moved to
Fox Studios, where, though his
reputation had been irrevocably
sullied, he made his best film,
"Unfaithfully Yours" (1948).
The film is a pitch-black comedy
about a conductor who suspects
his wife of infidelity and, while
conducting a symphony perfor-
mance, imagines several revenge
scenarios. Part psychological
drama, part slapstick comedy
and part romance, the film is an
adroit satire, and Sturges's most
compelling and mature film. It
A director's
rise and fall in a
volatile industry.
flopped with both critics and
audiences in its time, but is high-
ly regarded among film scholars
today.
Sturges made two more films
after this, one in Hollywood
and one in France, neither one
successful. His improbable
meteoric rise into film stardom
was followed by an even quicker
fall into obscurity. But Sturges's
effect on the modern movie
industry cannot be overplayed.
He broke away from the system
at a time when the system was all
there was, and paved the way for
countless innovators in cinema.
His career was an anomaly - he
was an auteur before auteur
theory, and managed to be one of
the most successful filmmakers
in Hollywood while breaking all
of its rules - and his films still
feel modern and fresh today.
Conklin wants toset up a movie
studio with Howard Hughes. To
pitch in, e-mail conklin@umich.edu.
'Paradise' out loud
at annual reading
Fans gather to some people acted is if they read and Brice Harris, who stayed for
the entire "Paradise Lost" every the entire reading, described the
recite Milton's epic Saturday morning. When asked apples as their favorite part of
the significance of reading "Par- the reading experience.
in 10-hour run adise Lost" aloud, Trevor noted "It was super loud - while
that Milton was blind when he somebody was reading,
By KATIE STEEN wrote the poem. you would continually hear
Daily Arts Writer "Think in terms of the com- (chomp)," Harris explained, bit-
position of the poem," Trevor ing into an imaginary apple to
While most University stu- said. "In the early morning, one demonstrate.
dents were sleeping off their or two of (Milton's) former stu- The students admitted it was
Friday night festivities, a par- dents would come by his house difficult to stay for the entire
ticularly brave group arrived at and he'd recite 30 or 50 lines or reading, particularly toward the
Angell Hall at 8 a.m. Saturday so each morning and they would end of the poem when it began to
morning to read John Milton's read back those lines that he had seem "epilogue-ish," as Stefadu
epic poem "Paradise Lost" - yes, composed the day before. It was described it. While a substan-
the entire thing - in one sitting. a poem that was largely com- tial number of people stayed the
This was the second year the posed orally." entire time, the size of the group
University's English depart- Gregerson also shared a few varied throughout the day.
ment held a reading of "Para- benefits of oral reading; she "It's funny because when it
dise Lost." Headed by English said that since "Paradise Lost" was the 'fall of man,' the room
Profs. Linda Gregerson and is filled with speeches, it's won- was full," Stefadu said. "People
Doug Trevor, the reading was derful to givea voice to the char- seemed to know when tocome to
conducted in a round robin fash- acters. She also explained that a the interesting parts and I don't
ion, as participants took turns lot of her students read poetry know how that happened."
reading the poem in a "circle." out loud in order to understand Round robin attendees varied
In reality, the readers situated it best. greatly, including one woman
themselves in an amorphous "I think all poetry should be who brought her elementary-age
blob shape, but all the benefits read out loud," Gregerson said. son (who preferred to silently
of a round robin reading were "In an ideal world, we'd meet munch on a bagel and observe).
certainly still present. Greger- every Saturday and read poet- Some people stayed for 20 min-
son described the first "Para- ry." utes while others stood and
dise Lost" reading as having Of course, reading for 10 stretched against the wall, com-
a diverse group of people, and hours every weekend would plaining of body aches after the
stressed that anyone and every- become a bit taxing. Prior to the reading was complete.
one was welcome to come read reading, Trevor had offered the The poem's finish was met
for this round as well. participants some advice. with clapping in a seemingly
"It's wonderful to hear a vari- "Drink lots of water," he said. mixed reaction of enjoyment of
ety of voices, not where we're The department provided the experience and sheer relief
sort of center-staging anybody," food and beverages to maintain it was over. In the end, however,
Gregerson said. "We don't assign participants' energy - or at least the unanimous response was
roles; people don't come and to prevent accidental nodding one of satisfaction.
read Satan for the day." off during the marathon. Pro- "It's very rare that you get to
Voices of all sorts were heard visions included apples for the hear such a thing in one sweep,"
at this year's reading, including "fall of man" scene when Adam Gregerson said. "We fully intend
a few particularly appropriate and Eve are tempted to eat the to do it annually ... it's a won-
English accents. The readers' fruit from the forbidden tree. derful tradition that builds very
confidence levels fluctuated - LSA seniors Galina Stefadu nicely."
T uFILM REVIEW
True romance mn Crazy'
By AKSHAY SETH
Daily Arts Writer
"I love you." These three
immortal words, now as bat-
tered as the movies that inanely , -
slap them into
the final scene,
just don't mean
what they Like Crazy
used to. After
years of see- At the State
ing the phrase paramount
emblazoned on
random greet- Vantage
ing cards and
uttered by people who really
don't mean what they're saying, "So silky, so smooth ... have you been u
it's not hard to see why.
Filmmakers have always pre- how quickly it happens, almost
tended to understand how some- as if, within the scope of this
one can muster enough courage movie, the two characters can't
to say the words with meaning. exist outside the bounds of their
And most of the time, they're relationship.
wrong. But some movies manage On paper, this can seem like
to creep past our defenses and a bit of a turn off. After all, who
show us why the real world, no wants to see a movie about two
matter how often it tries to com- grown individuals with separa-
moditize what we feel, really tion anxiety over a long-distance
shouldn't have a say in whether relationship? If such a story is
or not we love someone. "Like drawn out for enough time - and
Crazy," as timelessly heart- there are plenty that have been -
breaking as it is deep, is one of the audience just ends up want-
those movies. ing to shoot the characters. But
somehow, writer and director
Drake Doremus ("Douchebag")
Gotta love makes it work.
Gottalove Perhaps it has to do with
'Like Crazy. the choice to marginalize the
script and instead rely on the
two leads' ability to improvise.
. The result is a more realistic
At first glance, there's nothing dialogue, without any traces of
special about the film - it's just a screenwriter's wit or acerbity,
a story of two college students, that lets the relationship the
Jacob (Anton Yelchin, "Star two characters form breathe in
Trek") and Anna (Felicity Jones, our world, at a level where we
"Soul Boy"), drawn to each other can organically relate. Or maybe
from first glance. No one is real- it's because the only bad guy in
ly surprised when the pair starts this movie is the mean immigra-
dating or when they inevitably tion officer, who bars Anna from
fall in love. What is surprising is returning to the U.S. after she.
sing Nivea?"
overstays her student visa.
Neither one of the characters
ever does anything really wrong.
They remain faithful and only
see other people after realizing
Anna might never return to the
U.S. It's just a matter of circum-
stance stepping in between. But
they're star-crossed lovers, and
with that cliche comes the real-
ization that circumstance can't
keep the two apart.
Even though the years slowly
draw out and the two quietly
grow apart, Doremu shows us
snippets of their lives apart and
time together, weaving between
those instances the sense that
they're still looking out at the
horizon, waiting for the slightest
sign of the other.
Despite the tropes, which at
times can seem overdone, this
movie can be interpreted as one
final argument for true romance,
including all of its little intrica-
cies and quirks. More realistical-
ly, it's a painful treatise on love's
naivete and cruelty, how it has
the potential to slowly tear apart
everything it comes into contact
with. But that's OK, because love
is worth believing in.
MUERNST& YOUNG
Qualityin Everything We Do