Putting aside for a moment that they’re sophisticated, witty and breezy — some of the finest entries of Hollywood’s Golden Age — there’s something often forgotten about the films of Preston Sturges: They’re also totally ridiculous. That may seem pejorative, but, at his best, this writer-director understood that, done right, screwball comedy’s sheer silliness could access deep wells of emotion more powerfully than a straight drama could. Some of his established classics suffer from an unequal mixture of zing and grit,... More >>>