Few directors of the 1930s and ‘40s were as distinctive and popular as Preston Sturges, whose whipsmart comedies have entertained audiences for decades. Beginning with a foreword by Peter Bogdanovich, this book offers a new critical appreciation of Sturges’ whole oeuvre, incorporating a detailed study of the last ten years of his life from new primary sources. Preston Sturges details the many unfinished projects of Sturges’ last decade, including films, plays, TV series and his autobiography. Drawing on diaries, sketchbooks, correspondence, unpublished screenplays and more, Nick Smedley and Tom Sturges present the writer-director’s final years in more detail than we’ve ever seen, showing a master still at work—even if very little of that work ultimately made it to the screen or stage.
 
 

Nick Smedley is the author of A Divided World: Hollywood Cinema and Emigre Directors in the Era of Roosevelt and Hitler and The Roots of Modern Hollywood.

Tom Sturges spent 30 years in the music business. His signings include Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, and Outkast. He is the author of three books and a tireless champion of his father’s life and career.

— Francis Ford Coppola

— James L. Brooks

— Ron Shelton

— The Guardian

— Gay City News

— Easy Reader News

— Washington Post

— Peter Tonguette, Wall Street Journal

— Leonard Maltin