Film: Sullivan's Travels

Director: Preston Sturges
Genre: Comedy
Source: USA (1941)
Rating: NR
Location/Format: TCM
Grade: A

My wife has been wanting me to watch this movies for years after she studied it in a comedy class at college. For whatever reason we never got around to it, but when we saw it was airing on TCM we recorded it. I'm so sad that I waited so long! What a delightful movie!

Sturges' film--a response, it seems, to the "serious film" that has a political message--ranges all over the place, from goofy slapstick to machine-gun-fast dialogue to silly romance to Charlie Chaplin homage to, yes, serious film with a political message, but it has so much fun doing so that you can't help but enjoy the ride. As Joel McCrea's filmmaker Sullivan goes on a quest to learn about what it's like to be poor by dressing like a hobo and riding the rails (though never far from his butler, staff, and a whole lot of money), Sturges ironically comments on artistic "authenticity" and Hollywood disconnect. Actually, Hollywood is lampooned in a number of different ways, from the out-of-touch people to the financial focus to the young girls who arrive hoping to make it big. Sullivan's intentions are good, but they are also condescending, and he'll never truly get the experience he's hoping for (until a few twists provide the opportunity). But Sturges has bigger fish to fry than the do-gooder liberal, because he wants to remind audiences that "serious pictures" aren't the only type of film--or even the most important. By adding so many plot twists and turns on top of the social commentary he gets the best of both worlds: commentary and comedy, seriousness and silliness. Neat trick.

The best part of the film, though, had to be Veronica Lake. This is the first time I've seen her in a film, but I absolutely love her here. Her rapport with McCrea, her timing, her honesty really seemed ahead of their time to me. And she's so cute! Only 4'11", putting her next to the towering McCrea provides great visual comedy--and make her repeatedly calling Sullivan "Big Boy" make sense! And (fascinatingly) she was pregnant while making this film, but no one knew except the costume director and the director's wife! How great is that! And yet she's so spunky and fun you would never know.

New crushes aside, I really just loved the film. From the moment the action moves to the church, the film may deliver its messages a little more heavy handedly, but it does it so effectively that it's impossible not to join in with the delight. 

Just a great find. I hope Criterion releases their blu-ray of it soon, because it's a film I will add to my collection and use in my film course from here on out.

Alternate Film Title: "Seriously, Though: Veronica Lake!"