Awesome / The Great McGinty

• The fact Sturges was able to make the deal to direct at all. There were other directors who wrote their own scripts (Charlie Chaplin) or worked on them enough to make them recognizably theirs (Howard Hawks), but no one before Sturges had ever come up from being a screenwriter to direct. What makes it especially awesome is, both then and now, screenwriters have traditionally been held in contempt in Hollywood, with their work constantly being changed. The fact Sturges was able to get the film made the way he wanted it, was able to direct it, and became a critical and popular success (with an Academy Award to boot) is all kinds of awesome.