1. For paying customers only, but this @lionel_trolling post raises one of my pet theories, that Preston Sturges was a conflicted Keynesian.https://johnganz.substack.com/p/reading-watching-0314 …
-
Show this thread
-
2. The key biographical fact about Sturges, the explanation for his extraordinary ability to capture the comedy of clashing classes, was that he was an economic yo-yo, going from riches to rags to riches to rags etc.
1 reply 3 retweets 21 likesShow this thread -
3. Sturges' dad was a stolid stockbroker, his mom a bohemian arty type (& gal pal of Isadora Duncan). So Sturges had a twin inheritance of 19th century stern austerity and modernist expressiveness, which played out in his work
1 reply 1 retweet 17 likesShow this thread -
4. One of Sturges' mother-in-laws (he was much married) owned Mar-A-Lago. So the world of the idle rich & rentier class was familiar to him. But he more than once lost a fortune & knew what it was like to have to pawn everything.
2 replies 2 retweets 18 likesShow this thread -
5. Having been rich & poor more than once, Sturges knew the value of just giving people money, of letting the printing press go brrr as the kids say nowadays. But the stern conscience of his dad was always there as Jiminy Cricket warning him this would undo society
3 replies 1 retweet 19 likesShow this thread -
Jeet Heer Retweeted Jeet Heer
6. The tension plays out in a lot of Sturges movies. The working stiff wins a lottery in Christmas in July & makes everyone happy but it turns out to be a fraud. The Boss in The Great McGinty spreads the wealth but is a crook.https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/1175789840492875783 …
Jeet Heer added,
1 reply 0 retweets 13 likesShow this thread -
7. The conventions of romantic comedy -- where the main couples are often economically mismatched as in Lady Eve and Palm Beach Story -- are particularly useful for exploring mixed feelings about sharing the wealth.
1 reply 1 retweet 16 likesShow this thread
8. In his bones, Sturges knew that society could be re-organized to be more productive, equitable, and happy. But he also knew that meant the rentier world of his father would have to be reined in. Hence the productive tension & sweet melancholy of his work.
-
-
Jeet Heer Retweeted Jeet Heer
9. More broadly, a lot of screwball romances of the comedy of remarriage sort are about reordering society. What's wrong with this relationship/marriage is what is wrong with the world.https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/327103442894065666 …
Jeet Heer added,
2 replies 1 retweet 21 likesShow this threadThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.