Today these films are rightly hailed as classics their brilliance is matched only by their originality. The Great McGinty (1940) was a sleeper that didn’t cost Paramount very much to make and set the stage for him to write and direct an unprecedented string of terrific comedies: Christmas in July, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero-all between 19. Having written some great screenplays ( The Good Fairy, Easy Living, Remember the Night) he put his reputation on the line in order to get the chance to direct one of his scripts. On the surface, it would seem as if the hyper-talented writer-director was riding high. Nasr also offers an interesting lecture about the film’s troubled history. The filmmaker’s son, Tom Sturges, and the late Peter Bogdanovich join Nasr in a zoom conversation about the film as we see it and what might have been if Paramount had released the picture as Sturges intended it to be seen.
It was a resounding flop, artistically and commercially. You see, this artistic and commercial failure torpedoed the career of Preston Sturges.
It’s not an especially well-known title from the Paramount library, but it inspired Constantine Nasr, who produces bonus content for many studios, to volunteer to add two features that would place the film in historical context. You may have overlooked Kino Lorber’s February Blu-ray release of The Great Moment (1944), starring Joel McCrea and Betty Field. The Paramount caption is still labeled Great Without Glory. Betty Field and Joel McCrea in an earnest scene from The Great Moment (1944).
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