Description:
Preston Sturges set a new standard for creativity in Hollywood. He wrote such films as "The Lady Eve", "Sullivan's Travels", "The Palm Beach Story", and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", and directed them at the rate of two a year.
Brief description: James Curtis spent twenty-five years as a senior executive in the insurance and computer industries before turning to writing. His new biography of Buster Keaton was published in February 2022 by Alfred A. Knopf. He is also the author of "Last Man Standing: Mort Sahl and the Birth of Modern Comedy;" "William Cameron Menzies: The Shape of Films to Come;" "Spencer Tracy: A Biography;" "W. C. Fields: A Biography" (winner of the 2004 Theatre Library Association Award, Special Jury Prize); and "James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters." In addition, he has edited three books on film-related subjects, including a biography of actor Walter Huston. Born in Los Angeles, James Curtis and his wife, Kim Geary, are longtime residents of Brea, California.
Review Quotes:
"One of the most entertaining and engrossing film biographies I've encountered, doing justice not only to that truly eccentric genius at the core but also to his time and place in both Hollywood and its culture."
- Judith Crist
"A sobering picture of the sweat and disappointment that lie beneath the Hollywood hoopla."
- Newsweek
"Brilliant... Curtis' writing style and wit shine as brightly as those of his subject. It is the ultimate in Hollywood package deals, a biographer who fully complements his subject. Like Sturges' films, the book itself is virtually perfect."
- The Windsor Star
"A thorough, factual account of Sturges' complex life, a considerable feat of research and synthesis."
- Film Quarterly
"This lively biography sensibly keeps its focus on Preston Sturges' career... the comedies he wrote and directed for Paramount in the early '40s--The Great McGinty, Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero."
- Newsday
"An enjoyable, absorbing story about one of Hollywood's most colorful real-life characters."
- Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
"Recounts with compassion and wit the story of Preston's wild, shoot-the-rapids life... a lamentably overdue and richly merited tribute."
- Garson Kanin
"An imposing account of an imposing life"
- National Review
"...covers Sturges' life, from his bohemian childhood through professional triumphs and failures thoroughly and well... a solid, readable biography."
- Publisher's Weekly
"...an elegant job... the best movie biography of the year."
- The Buffalo News
"Interviews with individuals once close to Sturges and material from the writer's personal archives have been integrated into Curtis' chronicle, adding intimacy and insight... a life inspected here with vigor and integrity."
- Booklist
"Sturges' story continually holds us fascinated due to Curtis' compassionate writing."
- West Coast Review of Books
" ...the definitive telling of Sturges' life."
- Variety