the audience applauded

One of my all time favorites.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Copyright 4 December 1941 by Paramount Pictures Inc. New York opening at the Paramount: 28 January 1942. Sydney opening at the Prince Edward: 31 July 1942 (ran 3 weeks). 8,251 feet. 91 minutes.SYNOPSIS: A successful Hollywood film director who has made nothing but lightweight films such as "So Long, Sarong", suddenly gets the notion that he should make a searing drama about human suffering.COMMENT: Most critics feel that the message of this comedy is simply that expressed by the hero at the fade-out, namely that making people laugh is more important than dishing out a "message". So far as it goes, that's true. Notice, for instance, how the guy twisting out a sermon to all the captive bums in the mission house is so cleverly lampooned as the camera devastatingly tracks back from his harangue to the rows and rows of poor souls forced to listen to him.But the film is more than an artist-be-content-with-thy-lot. It's an attack on poverty itself and the sort of society in which it breeds. It's significant that, aside from the stars McCrea and Lake, the only actor who gets a really close, dialogue close-up in the movie is Robert Grieg: "You see, sir, rich people and theorists — who are usually rich people — think of poverty in the negative: as the lack of riches; just as disease might be called the lack of health. But it isn't, sir. Poverty is not the lack of anything, but a positive plague, virulent in itself, contagious as cholera; with filth, criminality, vice and despair as only a few of its symptoms. It is to be stayed away from, even for purposes of study. It is to be shunned!" What few critics have noticed is that the movie is also an attack on America's class-rigid society. "I'm a motion picture director," exclaims Sullivan, on finding himself in a chain gang. "They don't sentence motion picture directors to six years in prison for a little altercation with a yard boss." — "They don't?" questions the little trusty (Jimmy Conlin) most dubiously. And that so-called "little altercation" put the yard boss in hospital with a cracked skull and lacerated face. A "vicious assault", as the judge properly describes it. Yet Sullivan is freed with remarkable celerity as soon as his claim is verified. Someone as important in society as a motion picture director is above the law. Another example occurs earlier on in the movie when McCrea, pretending to be an ordinary member of the public, is rudely rebuffed by a railroad information clerk. However, when his valet, Eric Blore, putting on his smarmiest accent, announces that "A few of us down at the club were having a little bet...", the information is readily forthcoming. The rich man's foibles are instantly catered for.

I think all film junkies have a few films they hate that nearly everyone loves. So, while "Sullivan't Travels" is considered a classic and has an extremely high rating of 8.1, when I last saw it I was terribly disappointed and didn't understand all the hoopla about the film. That was years ago and I decided to do something I rarely do...see the film again to see if perhaps my original IMDb review (which I have since deleted) was right or wrong. Here is what I think of the film on a second viewing....The first thing that really stood out in my mind when I watched the film was Preston Sturgis' casting for the movie. Veronica Lake was very popular in Alan Ladd pictures because he was a very short man...and she was a rather tiny actress. Yet, in spite of this (or, most likely because of this), Sturgis paired her with one of the largest leading men of his day. The 15 inch difference in height was NOT typical at all of Hollywood...but more typical of real life and I can only assume the famed writer/director deliberately was resisting traditional casting decisions since the movie is a critical look at Hollywood and its clichés. I appreciated this more the second time viewing the picture.The story finds the famous Hollywood director, John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) in a funk. While he's successful in his career, he also worries that his films lack a connection to the common man and might not be representing real life. This is a reasonable concern-- especially since most films of the preceding decade portrayed very rich, happy and fashionable folks...all during the Great Depression!! So, Sullivan decides to try living incognito-- traveling the country dressed like a hobo to see the other side of America. Along the way, he meets an adorable lady (Veronica Lake) and they decide to go slumming together. The problem is that no matter how bad life is living in the gutter, they can always elect to return home to comfort and a good meal...and Sullivan finds out the hard way what it's like NOT to be able to just go home when he's tired of slumming it.Overall, I was MUCH more positive to the film the second time around. Now I am not saying I loved the movie but I did love much of it. Like many Sturgis pictures, the dialog was the best part...and it was snappy and enjoyable. My reservations for not giving it a higher score are that the story seems, at least today, a bit contrived. Also, the Mickey Mouse cartoon segment STILL seems way overdone (NOTHING is that funny)...my biggest complaint the first time. But on balance, the good far outweighs the bad and I am glad I decided to give it another try. I still think it's a bit overrated but an excellent film nonetheless.

"Classic" line of the film: Officer asks Sullivan (Joel McCrea), "What are you (an alleged Hollywood director) doing in those clothes (tattered suit) ?" His answer? "I just paid my income taxes." In fact, income taxes, unemployment, poverty, isolation are some of the things Sullivan desires to "experience" on a hopped up, publicized slumming to the masses of poverty of the Depression Era as background to a proposed movie. Along with a girl (Veronica Lake) the first part of the film focuses on their semi-sheltered stumbling about hobo camps, train box cars, and diners. At the end of each round, however, he has a cushion of his hidden wealth.The latter part of the film shows Sullivan inadvertently thrust into reality as an unknown hobo hoodwinks him into believed death, when in fact he's been imprisoned.... and the rest of the matter, the ending will be for you the viewer to find out. Masterfully written, if not a tad lightly w/a tongue in cheek method of showcasing the plight of Depression Era poverty masses.

John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is a successful Hollywood director doing low-brow silly comedies. He is dissatisfied and wants to do something serious like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" by Sinclair Beckstein. Sullivan knows nothing about trouble and dresses up as a tramp to get to know human suffering. Everybody keeps helping him out and he can't get away from his people. Eventually he meets a failed actress (Veronica Lake) looking to leave Hollywood. He tries to give her a ride in his own car. However the staff reported it stolen and the two are arrested. He returns home with the girl and now she wants to join him in his experiment.This has the Preston Sturges rapid fire dialog style. Joel McCrea is a sweet likable leading man. Veronica Lake is adorable especially when she's being a tramp (the hobo kind). They have great chemistry together. The comedy is fun. The tone isn't so simple as a straight forward comedy. It has some darker moments especially when the couple go their separate way. The big scene with them watching the cartoon is one of those cinematic poetry.