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 Capture (film) The Capture (film) The Capture is a 1950 drama film directed by John Sturges, starring Lew Ayres, Teresa Wright, Victor Jory and Jacqueline White. Some film historians have categorized it as a noir. The story, told in flashback deals with an ex-oil worker driven by guilt at causing the death of an innocent man to find out the truth about a robbery. Lin Vanner (Lew Ayres), is manager of an oil company. The payroll has been stolen in a hold-up. His fiance urges him to pursue the suspect in hope that he will gain recognition. Deducing the road the robber