Sullivan's Travels

Infobox Film
name = Sullivan's Travels


image_size = 225px
caption = theatrical poster
director = Preston Sturges
producer = Paul Jones
Buddy DeSylva "(uncredited)"
Preston Sturges "(uncredited)"
writer = Preston Sturges
Ernst Laemmle "(uncredited)"
starring = Joel McCrea
Veronica Lake
music = Charles Bradshaw
Leo Shuken
cinematography = John Seitz
editing = Stuart Gilmore
distributor = Paramount Pictures
released = December fy|1941
28 January fy|1942 "(NYC)"
runtime = 90 minutes
country = FilmUS
language = English
budget = $689,665 "(est.)"
gross =
imdb_id = 0034240|

"Sullivan's Travels" is a fy|1941 American comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges. It is a satire about a movie director, John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), who longs to make a socially relevant drama, but eventually learns that comedies are a more valuable contribution to society. The film features one of Veronica Lake's first performances as a leading lady. The title is a reference to "Gulliver's Travels", the famous novel by satirist Jonathan Swift about another journey of self-discovery.

In 1990, "Sullivan's Travels" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), a wealthy young Hollywood director, fresh off a string of very profitable but shallow comedies (e.g. "Ants in Your Pants of 1938") wants to direct a new and different kind of film: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", a serious exploration and depiction of the plight of the downtrodden. Not surprisingly, he is pressured by his studio bosses to direct another, more lucrative film instead, but the idealistic Sullivan refuses to give in.

He decides to dress as a penniless hobo and hit the road to learn first-hand how the destitute really live. He repeatedly says he wants to "know trouble" so that he can return and make a film that "truly" depicts the sorrows of humanity. However, no matter what he does, no matter how often or how hard he tries, he somehow always winds up right back in Hollywood where he started from. On one of his attempts, he meets a young failed actress (Veronica Lake) who is contemplating quitting the business. She decides she has nothing to lose and becomes his traveling companion.

In the end, Sullivan finally gets his wish. After drifting and sleeping in homeless centers with the Girl, Sullivan finally decides he's had enough. His experiment is publicized by the studio as a huge success. The Girl wants to stay with him, but he explains he got married to reduce his taxes, only to discover that his wife costs him double what he saves in income tax &ndash and now won't give him a divorce.

Sullivan decides to thank the homeless, and goes back on the road to hand out $5 bills, but one man decides he wants more than his share and ambushes Sullivan when he is alone. Sullivan is knocked unconscious and thrown onto a train boxcar leaving the city, but the thief is run over and killed by another train. The man had earlier stolen Sullivan's shoes, which had a special identification card hidden under one of the soles, and was wearing them when he died. When the card is found, everyone assumes the unrecognizable body is Sullivan's.

Meanwhile, Sullivan wakes up in the railyard of another city, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. In his confused state, he assaults the railroad worker who finds him, for which he is sentenced to six years in a labor camp. There he finally becomes acquainted with trouble at first-hand. He regains his memory and learns the importance of laughter in the otherwise dreary lives of his fellow prisoners when they are allowed to attend a showing of Walt Disney's "Playful Pluto" cartoon. Sullivan comes to realize that comedy can do more good for the poor than his didactic and somber project, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", can.

But Sullivan still has a problem – he cannot convince anybody that he is Sullivan. Finally, he comes up with an ingenious solution: he confesses to being his own killer. When his picture makes the front page of the newspapers, his actress friend recognizes him and gets him released. His "widow" had taken up with his crooked business manager in the meanwhile, so he can now divorce her and be reunited with the Girl. A montage of happily laughing faces ends the film.

Cast

*Joel McCrea as John L. Sullivan
*Veronica Lake as The Girl
*Robert Warwick as Mr. Lebrand, Sullivan's studio boss
*William Demarest as Mr. Jonas
*Franklin Pangborn as Mr. Casalsis
*Porter Hall as Mr. Hadrian
*Byron Foulger as Mr. Johnny Valdelle
*Margaret Hayes as Secretary
*Robert Greig as Burroughs, Sullivan's butler
*Eric Blore as Sullivan's valet
*Torben Meyer as The doctor

Cast notes:
*This was the sixth of ten films written by Preston Sturges that William Demarest appeared in (see note). [Demarest appeared in "Diamond Jim" (fy|1935), "Easy Living" (fy|1937), "The Great McGinty" (fy|1940), "Christmas in July" (fy|1940), "The Lady Eve" (fy|1941), "Sullivan's Travels" (fy|1941), "The Palm Beach Story" (fy|1942), "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" (1944), "Hail the Conquering Hero" (fy|1944) and "The Great Moment" (1944)]
*Members of Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors who appear in "Sullivan's Travels" include George Anderson, Al Bridge, Chester Conklin, Jimmy Conlin, William Demarest, Robert Dudley, Byron Foulger, Robert Greig, Harry Hayden, Esther Howard, Arthur Hoyt, J. Farrell MacDonald, Torben Meyer, Charles R. Moore, Frank Moran, Jack Norton, Franklin Pangborn, Emory Parnell, Victor Potel, Dewey Robinson, Harry Rosenthal, Julius Tannen and Robert Warwick. Eric Blore had appeared in "The Lady Eve" and Porter Hall would go on to appear in three other Sturges films: "The Great Moment", "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and "The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend", Sturges' last American film.
*Preston Sturges has a cameo appearance as the film director in the scene set in a film studio where The Girl sees Sullivan's picture in the paper and recognizes him. The man she almost runs into on the street outside the studio is Ray Milland.
*Another membes of the production staff appeared in the film as well: associate producer Paul Jones appeared as "Dear Joseph", the late husband of "Miz Zeffie", in a photograph in which the man's expression changes.

Production

Paramount purchased Sturges' script for "Sullivan's Travels" for $6,000. He wrote the film response to the "preaching" he found in other comedies "which seemed to have abandoned the fun in favor of the message." Sturges may have been influenced by the stories of John Garfield,Fact|date=May 2007 who lived the life of a hobo, riding freight trains and hitchhiking his way cross country for a short period in the 1930s. Sturges wrote the film with Joel McCrea in mind, but who was to play opposite him went through the casting process. Barbara Stanwyck was considered to co-star, and Frances Farmer was tested for the role as well.

The film as released opens with a dedication:

"To the memory of those who made us laugh: the motley mountebanks, the clowns, the buffoons, in all times and in all nations, whose efforts have lightened our burden a little, this picture is affectionately dedicated."

This was originally intended to be spoken by Sullivan. Sturges wanted the film to begin with the prologue: "This is the story of a man who wanted to wash an elephant. The elephant darn near ruined him." Paramount contracted with the Schlesinger Corp., who made the Warner Bros. "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" cartoons, to make an animated main title sequence, but this was not used in the film, if it was ever actually produced.

The censors at the Hays Office had objections to the script which the studio submitted to them. They felt that the word "bum" would be rejected by British censors, and warned that there should be no "suggestion of sexual intimacy" between Sullivan and The Girl in the scenes in which they are sleeping together at the mission.

"Sullivan's Travels" went into production on 12 May fy|1941 and wrapped on 22 July. [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034240/business Business data] ] Location shooting took place in Canolga Park, San Marino, Castaic and at Lockheed Air Terminal.

Veronica Lake was six months pregnant at the beginning of production, a fact she didn't tell Sturges until filming began. Sturges was so furious when he learned that, according to Lake, he had to be physically restrained.Steffen, James [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=91851&category=Articles "Sullivan's Travels" (TCM article)] ] Sturges consulted with Lake's doctor to see if she could perform the part, and hired former Rose Bowl queen Cheryl Walker as Lake's double. Edith Head, Hollywood's most renowned costume designer, was tasked to find ways of concealing Lake's condition. Reportedly, Lake was disliked by some of her co-stars; McCrea refused to work with her again, turning down a lead role in "I Married a Witch", and Fredric March, who got the part, didn't get along with her as well. [Stafford, Jeff [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=78841&category=Articles "I Married a Witch" (TCM article)] ]

There were some minor problems during filming. Sturges had wanted to use a clip from a Charlie Chaplin film for the church scene, but was turned down by Chaplin. McCrea does parody Chaplin's "Little Tramp" character earlier in the film. Also, the "Poverty Montage" was scheduled to take three hours to film, but instead took seven hours. Incidents such as this may account for the film, which cost $689,665.16 to produce, going $86,665.16 over budget.

The film was released in December fy|1941, but the New York City opening was not until 28 January fy|1942. [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034240/releaseinfo Release dates] ] It was marketed with a number of taglines, including: "A Happy-Go Lucky Hitch-Hiker on the Highway to happiness! He wanted to see the world . . . but wound up in Lover's Lane!" [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034240/taglines Taglines] ]

When the film was released, the U.S. government's Office of Censorship declined to approve it for export overseas during wartime, because of the "long sequence showing life in a prison chain gang which is most objectionable because of the brutality and inhumanity with which the prisoners are treated." This conformed with the office's standing policy of not exporting films which could be used for propaganda purposes by the enemy. The producers of the film declined to make suggested changes which could have altered the film's status.

"Sullivan's Travels" was released on video in the U.S. on 16 March fy|1989, and re-released on 30 June fy|1993. The film was re-released in the U.K. with a restored print on 12 May fy|2000. [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=91851&category=Misc%20Notes Misc. notes] ]

Reception, awards and honors

"Sullivan's Travels" was not as immediately successful at the box office as other Sturges films such as "The Great McGinty" and "The Lady Eve", and also received a mixed critical reception. Although the review in the "New York Times" called the film "the most brilliant picture yet this year" and praised Sturges' mix of escapist fun with underlying significance, the "Hollywood Reporter" said that it lacked the "down to earth quality and sincerity which made [Sturges's] other three pictures a joy to behold" and that "Sturges...fails to heed the message that writer Sturges proves in his script. Laughter is the thing people want-not social studies." "The New Yorker"'s review said that "anyone can make a mistake, Preston Sturges, even. The mistake in question is a pretentious number called Sullivan's Travels." Nevertheless the "Times" named it as one of the "10 Best Films of 1941", and the National Board of Review nominated it as best picture of the year.

Over time, the reputation of the film has improved tremendously, and it is now considered a classic, with at least one reviewer calling it Sturges' "masterpiece" and "one of the finest movies about movies ever made." [Erickson, Hal [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:47601~T0 "Sullivan's Travels" (Allmovie)] ]

In 1990, "Sullivan's Travels" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked it as the #61 Greatest Movie of All Time, the first inclusion of this film on the list. In addition, the movie's poster was ranked as #19 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.

Adaptations

On November 9 1942, "Lux Radio Theatre" broadcast a radio adaptation of "Sullivan's Travels", with Ralph Bellamy in the lead role, and Veronica Lake reprising her role.TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=91851&category=Notes Notes] ]

Themes

The film is a satire of the conflict between art and commerce as well as the gap between the privileged and the impoverished. Sturges skewers the naiveté of wealthy entertainers who want to appease their class guilt by making "socially relevant drama". Instead, he suggests that measurable good can come from anyone willing to take a road less travelled.Fact|date=February 2007

The scene where the prisoners are taken to watch a cartoon takes place in a Southern African-American church; and it's notable that the film treats the African-American characters there with a level of respect unusual in films of the period. The Secretary of the NAACP, Walter White, wrote to Sturges:

I want to congratulate and thank you for the church sequence in Sullivan's Travels. This is one of the most moving scenes I have seen in a moving picture for a long time. But I am particularly grateful to you, as are a number of my friends, both white and colored, for the dignified and decent treatment of Negroes in this scene. I was in Hollywood recently and am to return there soon for conferences with production heads, writers, directors, and actors and actresses in an effort to induce broader and more decent picturization of the Negro instead of limiting him to menial or comic roles. The sequence in Sullivan's Travels is a step in that direction and I want you to know how grateful we are.

Cultural references

*In Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" (fy|1991), Steve Martin's character, a horror movie producer who experiences a revelation following being shot in the leg for his watch, temporarily decides to make high quality 'life drama' movies; but soon returns to the horror realizing that violence is life and should be welcomed and watched. In his realization, Steve's character recommends that his friend (played by Kevin Kline) check out "Sullivan's Travels", as movies are where we get our answers to life.
*A 1995 episode of "Due South", titled "Witness", shows this film being shown in a prison, where Fraser has had himself incarcerated in order to protect both his partner Ray and the husband of a witness in a murder trial, both incarcerated at the prison.
*In the television show "Numb3rs", season 4, episode 16, "Atomic No. 33" (2 May 2008), Special Agent Don Eppes reveals that his favorite film is not "Heat", but rather "Sullivan's Travels".

"Oh Brother, Where Art Thou"

The title of Sullivan's unrealized dream project has resurfaced in several other works.
*A 1991 episode of "The Simpsons" is entitled "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", and features Homer's half-brother Herb, who goes from being CEO of a major car manufacturer to a hobo.
*In the fy|1993 film "Amos & Andrew", Samuel L. Jackson's character has won the Pulitzer Prize for writing a play called "Yo Brother, Where Art Thou?"
*The Coen brothers' fy|2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" borrows the title, and there are many plot similarities between it and "Sullivan's Travels".

In the airplane scene in "Sullivan's Travels", the author of the book "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" is shown to be "Sinclair Beckstein", which is an amalgamation of the names of authors Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis, and John Steinbeck, all of whom wrote socially conscious fiction. [TCM [http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=91851&category=Trivia Trivia] ]

ee also

Dialogue from the film

Notes

External links

*imdb title|0034240
*tcmdb title|91851
*amg movie|1:47601
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=118&eid=141&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Todd McCarthy]