O Brother What Might Have Been

<p>What Might Have Been opens a hidden door into the creative world of Preston Sturges one of the great originals of American cinema the trailblazing writer-director whose comedies <em>The Lady Eve</em> <em>Sullivan's Travels</em> and <em>The Palm Beach Story </em>brought a new sophistication to Hollywood in the early 1940s. This remarkable volume gathers three unproduced screenplays that span the breadth of his career-scripts that were written with the same verve wit and satiric brilliance as his best-known films but which never made it to the screen.</p><p></p><p>In <em>Song of Joy</em> (1936) Sturges crafts a razor-sharp satire of the movie business and its manic machinery channeling his frustrations with studio absurdity into a vibrant madcap tale of mistaken identity opera stars and clueless executives. This previously lost link between <em>The Good Fairy</em> and <em>Easy Living </em>reveals the moment when Sturges truly found his comic voice.</p><p></p><p><em>Nothing Doing </em>(1949) finds Sturges returning to one of his favorite conceits: the reinvention of a man adrift. Here a high-powered tycoon retreats to a small town under doctor's orders only to rebuild its economy and rediscover himself. With echoes of <em>Sullivan's Travels </em>and <em>The Sin of Harold Diddlebock</em> Sturges grapples with success exhaustion and post-war America in a story that blends slapstick with soul-searching. </p><p></p><p>In <em>The Millionairess</em> (1953-54) Sturges adapts George Bernard Shaw's social comedy into a lively visually inventive screenplay originally intended for Katharine Hepburn. The result is a richly cinematic transformation that deepens Shaw's characters and sharpens the romantic tension while offering Sturges' signature mix of verbal fireworks comic montage and offbeat heart.</p><p></p><p>With a foreword by Sturges' son Tom and annotated with rich illuminating introductory essays by Jay Rozgonyi <em>What Might Have Been</em> is a poignant hilarious and revelatory glimpse into the mind of one of American cinema's greatest comic artists. A gift to cinephiles and a reminder of the dazzling energy and human insight that made Sturges a legend it is also a loving act of restoration a chance at last to read what he might have filmed - if only the world had let him.</p>