Preston Sturges Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film "The Great McGinty", his first of three nominations in the category. Sturges took the screwball comedy format of the 1930s to another level, writing dialogue that, heard today, is often surprisingly naturalistic, mature, and ahead of its time, despite the farcical situations. It is not uncommon for a Sturges character to deliver an exquisitely turned phrase and take an elaborate pratfall within
The Fall of a Nation The Fall of a Nation The Fall of a Nation is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Thomas Dixon, Jr., and is a sequel to the 1915 film "The Birth of a Nation", directed by D. W. Griffith. Dixon, Jr. attempted to cash in on the success of the controversial first film. "The Fall of a Nation" is considered to be the first ever film sequel. Based upon "The Fall of a Nation", written by the director, the film is now considered lost. "The Fall of a Nation" is an attack on the pacifism of William Jennings Bryan