Sullivan's TravelsThere's a kind of arrogance in telling other people about how bad they have it if haven't lived it yourself. Sullivan's Travels is a comedy by Preston Sturges made in 1941 about a Hollywood director named John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) who is tired of making dopey comedies. He considers his work to be lowbrow and is determined to make a movie with a message, depicting the tragedy of poverty in America in the midst of a terrible economic depression. Yet he is reminded that he himself is wealthy and has no real experience with poverty; so he sets out to get some experience to better preach his gospel.
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Many people look around in the world and see unfairness, despair, and inequality; they then go about telling everyone else how to live their lives. Sanctimonious...that's the word for it. It's the word that I think of when I dare to look at the news, social media, and listen to the ranting and raving of those who believe that it is their solemn duty to remind us of our responsibilities to our fellow human beings. Yeah...not saying it isn't important stuff, but what does it really mean for you and me? That's kind of the subtext of the magnificent Sullivan's Travels. What's funny is that John is actually a pretty good guy; his role isn't played like someone trying to hammer people with all of the depressing news of the world. No, he seems truly altruistic, interested in making the plight of the poor known to the world, and thinks that movies can do it. He's right, but he's also wrong. What is it to go see a movie? Escapism? Education? Catharsis? It's different for everyone, and there's no absolute. But John's reasons for bringing the plight of the working man to light are not quite as sound as he believes. He seems downright contrary to the opinions of his producers, who see his comedies as a cash cow which they resent having to sideboard for any period of time while their star director gets this out of his system. And John's "plan" is laughable, too. He believes that he can put on a shabby coat from the studio's wardrobe and carry a bag on a stick with nothing but a dime in his pocket to experience what it means to be poor. He truly cannot visualize what that is, so he thinks that this is enough. The studio knows that his plan is half-baked, so they send a massive mobile base of operations to follow him around as a safety net. He does his best to elude them (hilarity ensues), and eventually crosses paths with a beautiful young woman (Veronica Lake) at a diner, who believes him to be a hobo and treats him to breakfast. But John sees her as someone who actually needs assistance, and breaks character by offering her a lift in his Rolls Royce. (So much for convincingly living a life of poverty.) After some more hijinks, he explains his mission, and she volunteers to come along on his quest. The two set out into the dark corners of this great nation, dine in soup kitchens, listen to sermons, sleep on the floor, and hitch rides on a train car. They check all of the boxes of living the homeless life...but is this true suffering? Is John yet "enlightened"?
Sullivan's Travels wears many hats, and I'm not just referring to the occasionally shabby ones that John wears. Things start out as a screwball comedy, with rapid fire humor and dialogue aplenty. Consider when John informs his producers that people don't know what they like, hence his ego-fueled crusade to do just that. He jokes, for example, that people living in Pittsburgh are proof of this, and so on, because they tell him that his comedies performed well there. Sure, John. Later, the movie begins to bank into romantic comedy once "The Girl" (Lake) shows up. They banter with ease, and deep down, the seeds of love are being sown. Their adventure across the United States is filled with scenes largely devoid of dialogue...moments that tug at the heart strings with images of desperation and a melancholy musical score. But what's interesting to me is how these scenes feel...well, a bit melodramatic, as if by design. They feel like what John was already prepared to find all along on his mission, so it isn't really that educational; it just supports his existing expectations. And then there's that entourage who always has his back, waiting in the wings. There's no real desperation for John, just a tour, and he's a tourist. He and the girl have finished their vacation into poverty and there's no true revelation. The thing is, some people help out at soup kitchens to make themselves feel like they did something good. Some people wait in line at soup kitchens because their life is actually hard. So John, in his continued arrogance, thinks that giving five dollars to every homeless person who inspired him is recompense for his newfound "wisdom". How altruistic, John. Only, he's still a fool, and subsequently he literally walks down a dark alley with pockets bulging with money without thinking of the consequences. It doesn't take a fortune teller to guess what happens next. What follows is that John gets dumped in a boxcar and his thief is squashed by the train...and in turn presumed to be John. John emerges in the middle of nowhere, disoriented and with a concussion, where he is assaulted by a railroad worker for stowing away. John foolishly picks up a rock and batters his assailant in return. Because he is presumed to be homeless, he is given shoddy representation, tried in court, and sentenced to six years on a chain gang, where his human rights are all but ignored. It is in this darkest hour where John truly comes to understand human suffering. But more importantly, he truly empathizes with those who have fallen and those who suffer. He comes to realize that moralizing doesn't put smiles on people's faces, nor does it put food on their tables. Instead, he learns just what it is that inspires the souls of so many who make up the silent majority in our nation. He doesn't need to remind them of how hopeless things are, and how little those who have wealth do to share with the have nots. No, all John has to do to help is bring smiles to his audience...as he's done all along. Sullivan's Travels has the message, then, that it isn't genuine to just give a token of charity when you can't truly appreciate the suffering you're trying to quell. You have to actually be among your fellow humans and know--really know--what you have and what you can do rather than throw some money at it instead.
Recommended for: Fans of an insightful and clever comedy that touches on important themes, and avoids moralizing about them by way of satirizing said moralizing in the first place. Sullivan's Travels was made on the cusp of the involvement of the United States in World War II. It is conscious of the war raging in Europe, as well as the Great Depression plaguing our nation at the time. But this isn't only a movie about poverty, and it isn't only a movie about, well, moviemaking. It isn't just a comedy or a romance; it's all of these things, and richer for the varied picture it paints of life, whether you're rich or poor. It's a great film and accessible to pretty much anyone and everyone--truly egalitarian and intelligent.
Sullivan's Travels wears many hats, and I'm not just referring to the occasionally shabby ones that John wears. Things start out as a screwball comedy, with rapid fire humor and dialogue aplenty. Consider when John informs his producers that people don't know what they like, hence his ego-fueled crusade to do just that. He jokes, for example, that people living in Pittsburgh are proof of this, and so on, because they tell him that his comedies performed well there. Sure, John. Later, the movie begins to bank into romantic comedy once "The Girl" (Lake) shows up. They banter with ease, and deep down, the seeds of love are being sown. Their adventure across the United States is filled with scenes largely devoid of dialogue...moments that tug at the heart strings with images of desperation and a melancholy musical score. But what's interesting to me is how these scenes feel...well, a bit melodramatic, as if by design. They feel like what John was already prepared to find all along on his mission, so it isn't really that educational; it just supports his existing expectations. And then there's that entourage who always has his back, waiting in the wings. There's no real desperation for John, just a tour, and he's a tourist. He and the girl have finished their vacation into poverty and there's no true revelation. The thing is, some people help out at soup kitchens to make themselves feel like they did something good. Some people wait in line at soup kitchens because their life is actually hard. So John, in his continued arrogance, thinks that giving five dollars to every homeless person who inspired him is recompense for his newfound "wisdom". How altruistic, John. Only, he's still a fool, and subsequently he literally walks down a dark alley with pockets bulging with money without thinking of the consequences. It doesn't take a fortune teller to guess what happens next. What follows is that John gets dumped in a boxcar and his thief is squashed by the train...and in turn presumed to be John. John emerges in the middle of nowhere, disoriented and with a concussion, where he is assaulted by a railroad worker for stowing away. John foolishly picks up a rock and batters his assailant in return. Because he is presumed to be homeless, he is given shoddy representation, tried in court, and sentenced to six years on a chain gang, where his human rights are all but ignored. It is in this darkest hour where John truly comes to understand human suffering. But more importantly, he truly empathizes with those who have fallen and those who suffer. He comes to realize that moralizing doesn't put smiles on people's faces, nor does it put food on their tables. Instead, he learns just what it is that inspires the souls of so many who make up the silent majority in our nation. He doesn't need to remind them of how hopeless things are, and how little those who have wealth do to share with the have nots. No, all John has to do to help is bring smiles to his audience...as he's done all along. Sullivan's Travels has the message, then, that it isn't genuine to just give a token of charity when you can't truly appreciate the suffering you're trying to quell. You have to actually be among your fellow humans and know--really know--what you have and what you can do rather than throw some money at it instead.
Recommended for: Fans of an insightful and clever comedy that touches on important themes, and avoids moralizing about them by way of satirizing said moralizing in the first place. Sullivan's Travels was made on the cusp of the involvement of the United States in World War II. It is conscious of the war raging in Europe, as well as the Great Depression plaguing our nation at the time. But this isn't only a movie about poverty, and it isn't only a movie about, well, moviemaking. It isn't just a comedy or a romance; it's all of these things, and richer for the varied picture it paints of life, whether you're rich or poor. It's a great film and accessible to pretty much anyone and everyone--truly egalitarian and intelligent.