Preston Sturges wrote and directed a series of successful comedies during the 1940s for Paramount, all of which for some reason co-star William Demarest. Perhaps the most acclaimed among these comedies was "Sullivan's Travels". While it received no Oscar nominations (Sturges had won Best Original Screenplay the year before for "The Great McGinty"), it is considered today to be a classic. It missed the recent AFI top 100 list, but only after an effort by Steven Speilberg, who tried to substitute "Sullivan's Travels" for one of his own directorial efforts.
The story has successful comedy director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrae) wanting to make an 'important' film about the poor. He decides to live the life of a hobo, to learn more about them. Along the way, he encounters a struggling actress played by Veronica Lake. Eventually he learns just how badly the poor have it, when his adventures result in his imprisonment for assault.
"Sullivan's Travels" is Sturges' social commentary with several messages, one of which (ironically) is that film directors should stick to entertainment and not social commentary. Another message is that there is nothing glamorous or revealing about the lives of the poor. This is best stated in a speech by Sullivan's butler:
"Poverty is not the lack of anything, but a positive plague, virulent in itself, contagious as cholera, with filth, criminality, vice and despair as only a few of its symptoms. It is to be stayed away from, even for purposes of study. It is to be shunned."
"Sullivan's Travels" is a good film, but it isn't perfect. The film makes jarring transitions from screwball comedy, to satire, to social commentary. Sullivan develops a case of amnesia that ends only after his conviction for assault. His status as a famous Hollywood director should not entitle him to a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. While Veronica Lake is gorgeous, she fulfills the predictions of Lebrand "but with a little sex" and Sullivan "every picture has a girl in it". (Lake dominates the movie posters for this film, implying that she and not McCrae is the star.)
"Sullivan's Travels" does provide many fine roles for character actors. Especially good are the black preacher (Arthur Hoyt) and a helpful convict (Jimmy Conlin). However, the sadistic guard is a stereotype, and none of the bums that Sullivan encounters make much of an impression. (66/100)
Frustrated film director Sullivan Joel McCrea is fed up with serving out easily digestible but ultimately meaningless chunks of comedy for the studios...More at Family Video
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