Preston Sturges Comedies!

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

Friday, January 4 at 7:00

Preston Sturges’ breathlessly hilarious comedy stars Dick Powell as an underpaid clerk who attemps to win a coffee company slogan contest with the following inept entry: “If you can’t sleep, it isn’t the coffee, it’s the bunk.” When by an absurd fluke, he wins, all hell breaks loose in several corporate board rooms. Featuring a whole slew of the Sturges stock company (you’ll be chuckling in your sleep just remembering their faces and voices). (1940, 67 min.)

THE LADY EVE

Friday, January 11 at 7:00

Powell Hailed by The New York Times as the Best Film of 1941 (beating out CITIZEN KANE and HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY), Preston Sturges’ side-splitting comedy stars Henry Fonda as a befuddled brewery heir and snake fancier (“Snakes are my life.”) who falls into the clutches of an aggressive hustler (Barbara Stanwyck) and her card-sharp father (Charles Coburn), whose specialty is fleecing suckers on ocean liners. Enjoy again the great Sturges stock company. (97 min.)



UNFAITHFULLY YOURS

Friday, January 18 at 7:00

“This late work written and directed by Preston Sturges is one of the best comedies ever made in this country.” – Pauline Kael “Smoothly switching from fantasy to reality, from slapstick to black comedy, Sturges weaves a cynical story of adultery and deception. Rex Harrison is ideally cast as an orchestra conductor who suspects his wife (Linda Darnell) of adultery. As he conducts Rossini, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, in his mind he hatches one hilarious murder plot after another, each inspired by the musical score and all in keeping with his thoroughly sophisticated life style. Sturges achieves a rare balance of music, dialogue, and stylishly noir visuals, each complimenting the other and adding to the wit of this memorable classic.” – PFA (1948, 105 min.)