Sullivan’s Travels
Written and Directed by: Preston Sturges
Release: December 1941
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Cast:
Joel
McCrea....................John L. Sullivan
Veronica Lake.................The actress
Robert Warwick..............Mr. Lebrand
William Demarest...........Mr.
Jones
Franklin Pangborn...........Mr.
Casilsis
Porter
Hall.......................Mr. Hadrian
Byron Foulger.................Mr.
Johnny Valdelle
Margaret Hayes...............Secratary
Robert Greig....................Burroughs
Eric Blore.........................Sullivan’s
valet
Torben Meyer...................The doctor
Victor Potel......................Cameraman
Richard
Webb..................Radio man
Charles R. Moore.............Chef
Almira Sessions...............Ursula
Awards: The film received one award from the National
Film Registry in 1990, but other than that did not receive anything else.
IMDB Rating: 7.9/10 (Very Good)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 100%
(Perfect)
Plot:
John L. Sullivan, a famous and
successful Hollywood director, is looking to screen a new film concerning the
poverty issue in the United States. When he is
confronted by his colleagues that he has no knowledge of poverty or what it’s
like, Sullivan decides that he will go down to the wardrobe and find homeless
clothing and will then venture out into the streets and won’t return
until he knows what poverty is. Along
the way, Sullivan encounters a young and beautiful would-be actress who
accompanies him on his journey. After
traveling for some time, Sullivan is somewhat disappointed that he has not
found the kind of poverty he was looking for.
However, Sullivan would soon truly know what trouble really is. While handing out various amounts of money to
some of the poor, Sullivan is knocked out and robbed by one of the homeless. When Sullivan wakes up, he finds himself on a
train at some work field station. One of
the workers harshly scolds Sullivan and tells him to get out the field, but
when Sullivan is pushed around too much he reacts by attacking the worker. Sullivan is convicted with assault and,
because he cannot remember his own name, is sent to a type of concentration
camp for certain criminals typically known as “John Does” due to
the fact that their names are unknown. Sullivan’s
colleagues believe him to be dead and hold a funeral service for him. When Sullivan comes across a newspaper with
his picture in the paper, he declares that he is the murderer of John L.
Sullivan. This then gets him in the
newspaper, so that his colleagues can locate him and bring him home. When Sullivan gets back, he decides to abandon
the idea of the film, “O Brother Where Art Thou?” and stick to
comedies instead. When asked why,
Sullivan retells his times at the concentration camp where at one point all
they had to hang on to, as far as hope goes, was laughter.
My Thoughts:
I thought this was an overall good
movie. It”s full of entertainment
and really it”s a great movie to watch. The acting is very good and the depiction of
the era of the Depression is quite accurate.
I thought Sturges did another good job with
this movie. For entertainment value, I
give this movie an A, and for historical accuracy and representation of the
Great Depression, I give it a B+.