Sullivan’s Travels; The Lady Eve

In a dizzying five-year spell in the 1940s, Preston Sturges created seven classic madcap comedies, leaving his indelible mark on the history of American cinema. Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board bring two of his best to the big, temporary screen in Loring Park as part of their popular Summer Music and Movies series. After a globe-trotting childhood, Sturges went on to invent kiss-proof lipstick and write several plays; luckily for us, the Depression forced him into screenwriting to pay his exorbitant bills. He whipped together breakneck comedies that are not just hilarious, but beautiful and touching, as well. Sullivan’s Travels (pictured) does a crazy send-up of Hollywood’s never-ending hubris, while The Lady Eve is the ribald tale of a gold-digger trying to land a beer baron. Watch for the title of the film-within-a-film in Travels: The Coen brothers made it into a real movie, the folk-music showcase O Brother, Where Art Thou? Loring Park, 1382 Willow St., Minneapolis; www.walkerart.org