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BREAKING THE CODE Preston Sturges was a directo

Preston Sturges was a director of comedies, but he was serious about the social commentary he included in these films. He directed the majority of his films in the 1940s, and at that time he had to work under the strictures of the Motion Picture Code which determined what could and could not be included as subject matter for films and how certain subjects could and could not be treated. Sturges showed the ability to skirt the edges of this code in his comedies, and he did so in very interesting ways in his 1948 film Unfaithfully Yours. Much that the Code said could not be done, Sturges managed to do with apparent impunity. In Unfaithfully Yours, he does this with a plot that features a detailed plan for a crime (which the Code said was not allowed), and on first viewing, the first half of the film has a different effect on the viewer than it would from repeated viewing because much of what is depicted seems "real" in the context of the story but is not. He accomplishes this by toying with audience expectations, meaning what the audience is accustomed to seeing in other Hollywood films of the time.

In the story, Sir Alfred is a great conductor who travels a good deal. He is also a rather foolish and often jealous man who adores his wife and is in turn adored by her, but there are nagging doubts in his mind that he never admits to himself until his foolish brother-in-law claims to have followed his orders by having the wife followed. In truth, that is not what Sir Alfred had in mind at all, and in the opening scenes, Sturges creates a strong contrast between the two men, Sir Alfred and his brother-in-law, August. Both are pompous and self-absorbed, but Sir Alfred is artistic where the other man is all business, Sir Alfred at least thinks of himself as reasonable while the other man is intrusive and presumptuous, and Sir Alfred is blunt and uninterested in what others think while appearances are extremely important to August....

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BREAKING THE CODE Preston Sturges was a directo. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 08:26, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1707803.html