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Instead of capitulating, Sullivan sets off disguised as a tramp, ready to meet life's crueler lessons face-to-face--albeit followed at a discreet distance by a motor home filled with studio handlers and reporters. His ludicrous odyssey may give the boy director no real insight, but it gives Sturges the chance to inject some reliably fine gags and a romantic subplot featuring the luminous Veronica Lake. It's at this juncture that Sturges the writer's darker objective throws a jolting shift in tone. Suffice it to say that just when a comic, upbeat denouement seems imminent, Sullivan travels instead from the sunlit California of the comedy's early reels toward a darker, relentlessly downbeat world influenced more by the social realism of the movies the hero desperately wants to make. By the final reel, Sturges has flirted with real tragedy, turning his conclusion into a meditation on his own seemingly carefree, dizzily comic art. --Sam Sutherland
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Film director John Sullivan (Joel McCrea) tells his studio bosses that he has grown tired of making comedies and wants to direct a project with more substance. He comes up with a plan to pose as a vagrant in order to learn first-hand how the real world treats the less fortunate. After he comes back from his masquerade, Sullivan plans to use his experiences to make an important and socially-conscious new work. A young, struggling actress (Veronica Lake) joins him on his journey but Sullivan's plans go awry when a strange series of circumstances leads to his imprisonment.
"Sullivan's Travels" sometimes feels like it is biting off more than it can chew. Sturges uses Sullivan's 90-minute cinematic trek to comment upon the economic and artistic conflicts present in the Hollywood system, the plight of the downtrodden, and the troubling problems that exist in the American justice and prison systems. Trying to cover so much ground proves disorienting as the story oftentimes abruptly changes its focus. However, "Sullivan's Travels" nonetheless mostly succeeds in its multi-tasking endeavor and turns out to be both an entertaining and thought-provoking viewing experience. McCrea is perfectly cast in the lead role and Veronica Lake oozes with screen presence in every frame she occupies. Chalk up "Sullivan's Travels" as a journey that was well worth taking.
Quiet undeserved.
See it for yourself and you won't fail to want to be more generous as the spirit of the film persuades your stingy spirit to loose the hold of meanness: that last reviewer was of a mind to give it only one star as he began writing - see what the spirit can do?
Rob
As a knockabout comedy `Sullivan's Travels' is reasonable, but not up with the best in the genre. McCrea as Sullivan is a little bland, and although Lake is nice to look at, she lacks the personality to really sell humour. The film resonated with me towards the end when I realised that Sturges was trying to justify the use of comedy during bleak times in history. The character of Sullivan learns that people want to laugh and enjoy themselves, rather than be reminded of the dangers in their own life. With this film Sturges created a good argument for lighter films being made during the Second World War. They may not be propaganda, but they do their bit to keep morale up. A flawed comedy, but still an interesting film from the era.
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