Sullivan's Travels - Criterion Collection (1941)

Great Film by Great Film Director!

This is a wonderful film which was the basis for O'Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen Brothers years later. A wealthy film director decides that his comedies are trivial and he must make an "important" film about the lowest classes in the United States. He poses as a hobo and travels California to get to know the lowest classes, at one point meeting Veronica Lake. His lark takes a turn towards reality when he loses his money and ID and ends up truly living the life of a hobo including time on a chain gang. October 5, 2008

Farce, Satire, and Despair: An Unexpected and Remarkable Film

Preston Sturges (1898-1959) had a long career, but he was on a roll in the early 1940s, and he is best recalled for the handful of films he created between about 1940 and 1944. Among these is SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, which combined broad comedy with stark drama to create an unexpectedly dark satire. Although some critics admired it, the film was not widely popular at the time; today, however, many consider it his masterpiece.

The film begins as a wickedly funny poke at Hollywood. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is a film director known for musicals and comedies--but he has now decided to film an extraordinarily dark novel titled O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? When studio bosses complain that he has no direct knowledge of homelessness, hunger, and hobos, Sullivan agrees... and to the studio's horror decides on "an experiment:" he will pass himself off as destitute and live the life he wishes to film.

Unfortunately for Sullivan, his plans take a series of unexpected turns. Pursued by the studio, he is involved in what must be one of the most wildly funny chase sequences ever captured on film; he is almost snared by a widow in search of a new husband; and everything he does seems to snatch him back to the Hollywood he is so desperately trying to escape. Along the way he encounters "The Girl" (Veronica Lake)--who traps him into allowing her tag along during the experiment. Together they ride the rails in an effort to discover the nature of poverty and despair, and as they do so the film becomes increasingly dramatic and increasingly dark.

In what may be the film's most famous sequence, Sullivan and The Girl pass through shanties, soup kitchens, and toxic evangelists. Now that he feels secure in his ability to film O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU? Sullivan returns to Hollywood--but just as the film seems about to return to a comic touch it suddenly jolts further downward. If Sullivan desired to live the life of the destitute, he is now required to drain the cup.

The script is memorable, with Sturges at the height of his witty powers in the opening comic sequences and unexpectedly powerful as the tale turns darkly dramatic, and he shows a sure touch for both extremes as a director as well. Both Joel McCrae and Veronica Lake give the best performances of their careers, and they are well supported by a host of memorable characters actors that include William Demarest, Eric Blore, and Franklin Pangborn on the comic side and a truly shocking turn by Alan Bride on the dramatic side. All the same, the film is ultimately most memorable for the way in which it shifts between comedy and drama--and to this day the shift divides viewers: you either find it powerfully effective or jarringly frustrating, and if you come to the film with the idea that this will be another THE LADY EVE or THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK you may be disappointed.

For myself, I was impressed. The Criterion release, like most DVDs offered by that company, is also impressive: the print is excellent, the audio is excellent, and there are enough extras to create a memorable package. Love it or hate it, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS really is one of those films that everybody should see at least once. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer August 21, 2008

Laughter is the Best Medicine

There was a period during the 1940's when everything Preston Sturges touched was wildly successful with both critics and the public. His films were comedies, and in Sullivan's Travels he found a way to show the importance of laughter in the lives of Americans by showing a director's journey as he sets out to do something more important than make comedies.

Joel McCrea portrays a very successful Hollywood director who has become rich and famous for making lowbrow comedies. Despite his tremendous success, however, he is disgruntled and wants to do a serious social film in the Frank Capra vein. It is an idea met with much incredulity and resistance because, as pointed out to him, he knows nothing about the common man. To experience what it is like to be without, he leaves Hollywood behind and sets out to live as a hobo.

The studio makes this task nearly impossible by sending an entourage to follow him. On his second attempt to elude them and strike out on his own he meets the wonderful Veronica Lake. She is an extra in the movies who never got a break, but gives Sullivan one by buying him a meal of ham and eggs. He discovers she loves one of his comedies and when they are briefly detained by the police for borrowing his own car she discovers who he really is and what he is trying to do.

Most famous today for her hairdo and films opposite Alan Ladd, she is simply fabulous here, and has never been lovelier or more engaging. A real affection develops between the couple as they have a riotous time hopping a freight and she attempts to hide her glamour under a French cap and boys clothes, making her even more sexy. They finally get to live like tramps, but Sullivan discovers it's not all it's cracked up to be.

When they make it back to Hollywood and McCrea wants to give back in a monetary way, a nearly tragic turn of events ensues and he ends up on a chain gang while everyone believes him to be dead. There are serious lessons on the futility of greed in this film as Sullivan is robbed but his attacker is run over by a train while trying to gather his windfall. Sturges' flair for comedy is in abundance also, as the director pokes fun at himself by making Lake's character a big Lubitch fan!

The wondrous Lake falls in love with the idealistic Sullivan and it takes a Mickey Mouse cartoon to make him realize just how important the laughter he provides is to people with little to laugh about. McCrea gives a terrific performance matched by Veronica Lake. While not as outright funny as his other films of note, Sullivan's Travels is enjoyable and relevant even today. Its message that sometimes the laughter and escapism provided by the movies is all people have is a timeless one. A film classic. July 31, 2008

I didn't care for it.

I watch movies for entertainment and I did not find this movie that entertaining. Yes, I'm sure it made a big social statement when it originally came out in 1941 about the realities of prison life and the hard times just coming out of the depression but like I said, I don't watch movies for social statements. It's supposed to be a comedy but I didn't find too much funny with it. Sure there are some good scenes but in my opinion not many. I love other Preston Sturges comedies but not this one. The quality of the picture and sound on the DVD, both were very good April 15, 2008

Absolutely awesome.

Sullivan's Travels (Preston Sturges, 1942)

Sullivan's Travels is one of the movies I'd never heard of before I started compiling critics' thousand-best lists, but that kept cropping up time after time (of the nine lists I have collected, it appears on seven, including Jonathan Rosenbaum's, the They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? list, and Peter Travers' Rolling Stone list).With so many voices behind it, I figured that when I sat down to watch this monster list of movies, I should put this one up near the top. And I'm very glad I did.

Sullivan's Travels is the story of John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), a director of light comedies who has an obsession with making O, Brother, Where Art Thou?, a serious film about the trials and travails of humanity. An existential drama, if you will. His producers point out to him that he knows nothing of trouble, and so he sets out to disguise himself as a hobo and learn about human misery firsthand. On his first stop, at a diner, he meets an aspiring actress (Veronica Lake, known in the film only as "The Girl"), and through the machinations of fate, she ends up finding out his identity and taking the trip with him. There's more to it than that, but the big plot twist comes late enough in the movie that we're headed for spoilerville if we reveal it, and it's entirely possible to sing the movie's praises without going that far in.

Why? Because this movie is damned funny. I found myself chuckling more times per minute here than I have at any movie I can think of since It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. It turns dark about half an hour from the end, but the hilarity of the first hour just underscores the darkness; this is where the genius of Preston Sturges comes into play. By the time we hit Sullivan's immortal line, "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that's all some people have?", Sturges has managed to make us understand exactly that. A warm, funny, deeply-felt movie. I agree with all those critics; one of the thousand best. **** ½
March 25, 2008

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