Preston Sturges’ trademark commitment to running gags and expeditious pacing is present here in one of his earliest films, Christmas in July, and the faith individuals place in mainstream opinions rather than thinking for themselves is a perfect target for a director with such a skill in crafting farcical escalations.
The irony of a corrupt political system defeating itself through its own artifice is not easily lost in The Great McGinty, especially as Preston Sturges finds the humour in the unpredictability of life in the public eye, marking a modest debut from one of the great comedic directors of Hollywood.
In transplanting his usual explorations of tradition and community from America’s old West into a rural Welsh village, John Ford finds a nostalgic beauty in the Victorian-era working class ideals of How Green Was My Valley, binding his huge cast of actors and extras together as one communal, synchronised mass.
Using the western genre as a simple framework for a self-contained moral tale warning against mob mentality, William A. Wellman’s thoughtful staging in The Ox-Bow Incident finds great empathy in the plight of three falsely-accused men.
Michael Powell’s control over his very specific colour palettes all through The Red Shoes goes beyond the crafting of immaculate compositions, as it furthermore binds us so tightly to the disintegrating mental state of aspiring dancer Vicky, that we can’t help but be plunged right into the psychological depths of her pure, self-destructive ambition.
