FILM/SNEAK PEEK : PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS FOR PRESTON STURGES.Byline: - Bob McCarthy Preston Sturges' smart comedy wasn't lost on the censors of his day, who gave the writer-director a wider berth than most. He was clever, intelligent, pushed the limits and got away with subjects that remained taboo topics in the 1940s, such as sex, pregnancy and the single girl. These coalesced co·a·lesce intr.v. co·a·lesced, co·a·lesc·ing, co·a·lesc·es 1. To grow together; fuse. 2. To come together so as to form one whole; unite: in ``Miracle on Morgan's Creek,'' netting Sturges an Academy Award nomination for his original screenplay. It brought him the second of three Oscar nominations in a brilliant writing career that ran from 1933 through the late 1950s. His extraordinary talent was recognized by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members, who in 1940 gave him the Oscar for ``The Great McGinty,'' which he also directed. Sturges has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a pavement along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States, which is embedded with more than 2,000 five-pointed stars featuring the names of not only human celebrities but fictional characters honored by , a building on the Paramount lot that bears his name, and both the Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is a term often referring to the joint efforts of the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, west. Jointly, the two guilds act as the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and and Directors Guild of America bestow a Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959), originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a celebrated screenwriter and director born in Chicago. Sturges took the screwball comedy format of the 1930s to another level, writing dialogue that, heard today, is often Award on the industry's elite writer-directors. Alas, when the American Film Institute American Film Institute (AFI), nonprofit organization established in Washington, D.C., in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts to preserve and catalog American films and television, to provide work grants for new and established filmmakers, and to increase released its list of the greatest American films of all time, Sturges' name was nowhere to be found. But this month, he receives his due with a series of screenings and events celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the playwright-turned-screenwriter acknowledged by Writers Guild Foundation president Tom Schulman as ``one of a kind'' with a mastery of language and physical gags. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences leads off this timely retrospective with a centennial tribute at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Film clips and people who knew and worked with Sturges, including his widow, Sandy, actor Eddie Bracken and Paramount producer A.C. Lyles, will offer a perspective to the program at the motion picture academy, 8949 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Tickets cost $6 for general admission, $4 for academy and WGA WGA Windows Genuine Advantage (Microsoft) WGA Writers Guild of America (union for screenwriters) WGA Wise Giving Alliance (Better Business Bureau) WGA wheat germ agglutinin members. Call (310) 247-3600 for information. Starting Thursday and running through Sept. 7, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also known as LACMA, is the official and world-renowned art museum of the County of Los Angeles, California, located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. is hosting a retrospective of Sturges films. ``The Great McGinty'' and 1931's ``Strictly Dishonorable'' (his Broadway play adapted for film that changed the course of his career) are on the marquee at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, ``Remember the Night'' and ``Christmas in July'' will screen. On Saturday, the bill includes ``The Lady Eve'' and ``The Good Fairy.'' All screenings will be in the Bing Theatre at LACMA LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art LACMA Los Angeles County Medical Association LACMA Latin American and Caribbean Movers Association , 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets are $4 for museum, WGA and AFI AFI American Film Institute AFI Awaiting Further Instructions AFI Armed Forces Insurance AFI A Fire Inside (band) AFI Air Force Instruction AFI Australian Film Institute AFI Agencia Federal de Investigación members, $6 for others. For information, call (213) 857-6010. For those who can't make it out, don't worry. Universal Studios Home Video has released four Sturges films - ``Easy Living,'' ``If I Were King,'' ``Imitation of Life'' and ``Never Say Die'' - and re-released what are regarded as his finest - ``Hail the Conquering Hero,'' ``Sullivan's Travels,'' ``The Great McGinty'' ``Christmas in July,'' ``The Great Moment,'' ``Remember the Night,'' ``The Lady Eve'' and ``The Palm Beach Story.'' Universal is doubly honoring Sturges with the Universal Laughter Series of films that will tour this summer, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . And the University of California Press "UC Press" redirects here, but this is also an abbreviation for University of Chicago Press University of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. will publish a third volume of his screenplays. To their credit The second Hollywood Film Festival is a wrap and was, by all accounts, a winning weekend. It certainly was for Craig Saavedra of Northridge and Eric Tuchman of Tarzana, whose film ``Rhapsody (1) A subscription-based online music service from RealNetworks that gives users unlimited access to a vast library of major and independent label music. Within a single interface, Rhapsody provides access to streaming music, Internet radio and extensive music information and in Bloom'' made its premiere. Saavedra directed and co-produced the independent feature written by Tuchman, and which starred Penelope Ann Miller (``The Shadow'') Ron Silver (``Reversal of Fortune'') and Craig Sheffer. This comedic drama about ``the art of avoiding life'' has Miller playing a woman who puts her life on hold to care for her widowed brother and his kids. When he meets another woman and announces their engagement, his sister has to find an apartment, a job and encounter the uncertainties of life and love. ``One of the best compliments I've gotten is it feels like a James L. Brooks comedy-drama with characters that make you laugh and care,'' said Saavedra. ``It's something I aspire to.'' Aside from hoping a domestic distributor will pick up his film, he sincerely wants audiences to see what he considers Miller's best performance yet as the free-spirited title character Lilah Bloom. ``She's intelligent, she's beautiful, she's honest, and she bears a lot of herself emotionally in this film,'' she says about Miller. The festival judges certainly agreed. Miller was presented with Best Acting in a Feature award at Monday night's closing ceremony. ``Rhapsody in Bloom'' marked the directorial debut for Saavedra, who left as president of Becker FilmWorks to pursue feature filmmaking. Tuchman wrote the script for Fox's animated ``Anastasia'' and was head writer for TV's ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman is multi-Emmy Award winning western/dramatic television series in the United States, created by Beth Sullivan. It ran on CBS for six seasons, from January 1st, 1993 to May 16th, 1998. .'' Reaching through the wall Troma Entertainment's live Webcast from the set of its feature ``Terror Firmer'' turns fans loose this weekend to tell the director, actors and crew what they want to see happen. Today through Sunday, anyone with a 28.8-speed modem or faster can observe the production in progress, directed by Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma and creator of ``The Toxic Avenger.'' Suggestions sent via the Web site (www.troma.com) or e-mail will be hustled to the cast and crew as they work, thus giving the production a fully interactive quality. If your idea's a good one, you'll see it for yourself. Plus, Troma promises that fans can follow their favorite characters and choose how they die. Comforting thought, huh? Troma Entertainment's theatrical releases include ``The Chosen One: Legend of the Raven,'' starring Carmen Electra, ``Tromeo and Juliet Tromeo and Juliet was released in 1996 by the B-movie production company, Troma Pictures. The punk rock violent parody of William Shakespeare classic, Romeo and Juliet ,'' ``Decampitated'' and the soon-to-be-released ``Schlock schlock also shlock Slang n. Something, such as merchandise or literature, that is inferior or shoddy. adj. Of inferior quality; cheap or shoddy. & Schlockability: The Revenge of Jane Austen.'' |
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