See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

14 used & new from £15.39
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

DVD ~ Joel McCrea
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


8 new from £18.72 6 used from £15.39

Region 1 encoding (requires a North American or multi-region DVD player and NTSC compatible TV. More about DVD formats.)

Note: you may purchase only one copy of this product. New Region 1 DVDs are dispatched from the USA or Canada and you may be required to pay import duties and taxes on them (click here for details). Please expect a delivery time of 5-7 days.


Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]
83% buy the item featured on this page:
Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] 3.8 out of 5 stars (4)
Preston Sturges [DVD]
7% buy
Preston Sturges [DVD] 3.7 out of 5 stars (3)
£17.98
The Lady Eve [DVD] [1941]
6% buy
The Lady Eve [DVD] [1941] 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
£4.98
The Palm Beach Story [DVD] [1942]
2% buy
The Palm Beach Story [DVD] [1942] 4.0 out of 5 stars (1)
£6.37
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Actors: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn
  • Directors: Preston Sturges
  • Writers: Preston Sturges
  • Producers: Preston Sturges, Buddy G. DeSylva, Paul Jones
  • Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Special Edition, NTSC
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Unrated (US MPAA rating. See details.)
  • Studio: Criterion
  • DVD Release Date: 21 Aug 2001
  • Run Time: 90 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005JH9C
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 96,954 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Writer-director Preston Sturges's third feature, 1941's Sullivan's Travels, remains the antic auteur's most ambitious screen effort. Having added the producer's stripe to his duties, Sturges combines breezy romantic comedy, arch Hollywood satire, and social essay into a single, screwball story line. The titular pilgrim is John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), an Ivy League grad who's enjoyed a meteoric rise as the director behind escapist movies like Ants in Your Pants of 1938, but is now determined to raise his sights toward more exalted, serious-minded cinematic art. His proposed breakthrough, portentously titled O Brother, Where Art Thou?, elicits a studio response closer to "Oh, brother," given the director's utter lack of first-hand experience on the wrong side of the tracks.

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

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Lady Eve [DVD] [1941]

The Lady Eve [DVD] [1941]

DVD ~ Barbara Stanwyck
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £4.98
It Happened One Night [DVD] [1934]

It Happened One Night [DVD] [1934]

DVD ~ Clark Gable
4.6 out of 5 stars (7)  £3.98
The Palm Beach Story [DVD] [1942]

The Palm Beach Story [DVD] [1942]

DVD ~ Joel McCrea
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £6.37
His Girl Friday [DVD] [1940]

His Girl Friday [DVD] [1940]

DVD ~ Cary Grant
3.4 out of 5 stars (18)  £4.88
The Blue Dahlia [DVD]

The Blue Dahlia [DVD]

DVD ~ Alan Ladd
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £4.98
› Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below
criterion collection
preston sturges
classic comedy
veronica lake
silver screen classics
women
road trip
california
satire
poverty
obrother where art thou

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars "There's a lot to be said for making people laugh.", 7 Nov 2005
This review is from: Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] (DVD)
Preston Sturges' "Sullivan's Travels" is a film about a great deal many things. Yet, despite its pointed commentary on the social and economic ills inherent in American society, its core message is an important one - people should never underestimate the important role laughter plays in their everyday lives.

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.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, 25 Mar 2009
By Elizabeth Campbell (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] (DVD)
I have never seen this movie before but some of the sentiment is as relevant today as when it was made. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Good but not amazing, 31 Jan 2009
By Gary P. Davies "captainspiky" (Wales) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Sullivan's Travels [DVD] [1941] (DVD)
This film is regarded as a `classic', though personally I can't really see that it merits such distinction. It's entertaining, certainly, and there are laugh out loud moments along the way. But the screwball style comedy and the pacy dialogue all see a little unsubtle, like everybody is trying a bit too hard.
This period in Hollywood history gave us a wonderful array of feel-good comedies, but if you want to watch one of those try Harvey or Mr Deeds Goes To Town (or indeed anything by Frank Capra). They all have a lightness of touch and charm that is missing here. And I personally find it a little crass to be so self-aggrandising - Preston Sturges' message is that making comedies when the world is in dire straits is just about the most noble, worthwhile thing you can do, and that Hollywood performs a vital service. Surely this message would have more weight if it didn't come direct from a Hollywood comedy director.
On the plus side, you never quite know where the plot will take you, and it certainly pulls the rug out from under you at times. The performances are good, and Veronica Lake has the captivating screen presence you would expect from a 1940s leading lady. Furthermore, film buffs and fans of the Coen Brothers will be delighted to discover where they got their inspiration for the film O Brother Where Art Thou?
If you want an hour and a half's amusing diversion then this film will do admirably, but as a serious commentary on society I fear it is far too dated to have any real impact.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Preston Sturges
I thought it went without saying that this is one of the most positive and entertaining films from a period with a cliched embarrassment of riches but I see it gets only a three... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Don't Call me Allaiyah

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Feedback

Health & Beauty at Amazon.co.uk

Elemis Resurface and Renew Skin Care Gift Set of 4 Products
From soap to shavers, massagers to mascara, stock up on your daily essentials or truly pamper yourself.

›Discover Health & Beauty

  

Up to 75% off Shoes

Shoe Clearance - 75% off Shoes
Save up to 75% on shoes for the whole family.

›Shop clearance shoes

  

Boys Smell

Lynx Africa Body Spray and After Shave Gift set
But we make sure they smell good...

›Discover male grooming at Amazon.co.uk

  

Treat Someone

Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificates--available in any amount from £5 to £500 With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is).

›Learn more about Gift Certificates

  
Ad

Where's My Stuff?

Delivery and Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue Shopping: Top Sellers

amazon.co.uk Amazon Home
International Sites:  United States  |  Germany  |  France  |  Japan  |  Canada  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Fulfilment by Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Customer Service  |  Help  |  View Basket  |  Your Account
About Amazon.co.uk  |  Careers at Amazon
Conditions of Use & Sale |  Privacy Notice  © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates