The comedies of Preston Sturges w/ Anthony Esolen

<p>Poet, translator and cultural commentator Anthony Esolen joins James and Thomas to discuss one of his favorite filmmakers in the genre of "screwball comedy", Preston Sturges.</p> <p>Sturges wrote and directed eight films between 1940 and 1945, seven of which are regarded as classics. This episode focuses on two of those films: <em>Sullivan's Travels</em> (1941) and <em>The Miracle of Morgan's Creek</em> (1944).</p> <p><em>Sullivan's Travels</em> is about a director of cheap comedies who decides to go on the road as a hobo so he can make a film of true social significance, making a fool of himself in the process. It displays Sturges's ability to write and direct dialogue that is fast, sharp and snappy, but never flippant or glib.</p> <p>Sturges is virtuosic in navigating dark material with a light touch, and able to switch seamlessly between pathos and humor, ending up in a place of warmth and graciousness without sappy sentimentality.</p> <p>This is also true of <em>The Miracle of Morgan's Creek</em>. In an age in which even married pregnancy could not be depicted on film, <em>Morgan's Creek</em> pushed boundaries by depicting unwed pregnancy. It ends up being a very pro-life film as well as something of a time capsule, showing how a social stigma against unwed motherhood was not incompatible with compassion and support for such mothers and their babies. Like <em>Sullivan's Travels,</em> it has an outrageous, hilarious and utterly unpredictable ending.</p> <p>These films prompt a reflection from Esolen on how "The moral law makes mirth possible," and how the sexual revolution killed romance - two reasons great screwball comedies cannot not be made today.</p> <p>Other movies reccomended by Anthony Esolen: <strong><em>Penny Serenade, People Will Talk</em></strong><em>,</em> and also <em>The Lady Eve, Arsenic and Old Lace, Bringing Up Baby, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, You Can’t Take It With You, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (</em>TV series<em>), “</em>Walking Dis