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Preston Sturges

American film director and screenwriter (1898-1959)

4.64body-of-work score · ranked #236 of 2631 directors · 8 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
August 29, 1898 · Chicago
Died
August 6, 1959 · New York City
Nationality
United States
Work
film director, screenwriter, writer, autobiographer
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Preston Sturges
Paramount Pictures (Q159846) · Public domain

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    Sullivan's Travels

    1942 · United States · comedy, romance, drama

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #243 · AFI 100 (2007) #61 · National Film Registry (inducted 1990)

    1.497 citations
  2. 2
    The Lady Eve

    1941 · United States · comedy, crime, romance

    TIME All-TIME 100 · National Film Registry (inducted 1994) · Empire 500 (2008) #359

    1.136 citations
  3. 3
    The Palm Beach Story

    1942 · United States · comedy, romance

    Empire 500 (2008) #299 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies · Criterion Collection spine #742

    0.624 citations
  4. 4
    Hail the Conquering Hero

    1944 · United States · comedy

    National Film Registry (inducted 2015) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.392 citations
  5. 5
    The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

    1944 · United States · comedy, romance

    National Film Registry (inducted 2001) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.392 citations
  6. 6
    Unfaithfully Yours

    1948 · United States · comedy, romance

    Empire 500 (2008) #352 · Criterion Collection spine #292

    0.342 citations
  7. 7
    The Great McGinty

    1940 · United States · comedy

    NYT Best 1,000 Movies

    0.171 citation
  8. 8
    Christmas in July

    1940 · United States · comedy, romance

    Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.111 citation

Complete filmography

All 14 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.