27
Sullivan's
Travels
Release date December 1941
Country : USA
Running time : 90 mins
Genre : Comedy
Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake
Screenplay by Preston Sturges
Directed by Preston Sturges
A film director John L Sullivan wants to make a serious film about the plight of the poor. He does research among them to see what trouble truly is and experiences more than he bargained for.
"A brilliant fantasy in two keys - slapstick farce and the tragedy of human misery."
From a review by James Agee.
DVD
available in the Criterion Collection :Release date December 1941
Country : USA
Running time : 90 mins
Genre : Comedy
Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake
Screenplay by Preston Sturges
Directed by Preston Sturges
A film director John L Sullivan wants to make a serious film about the plight of the poor. He does research among them to see what trouble truly is and experiences more than he bargained for.
This is one of the
greatest comedies Hollywood ever produced. Actually it doesn't seem
right to describe this film as a mere comedy it incorporates so much
more than that, social commentary and the basic message that laughter
is all some people have. Joel McCrea plays a film director who could
very well be a surrogate Preston Sturges (the real genius behind
this) who is anxious to make a serious, thoughtful work rather than a
frothy musical comedy. To get a feeling for trouble he does research
among the poor and then finds himself in trouble. Recounting the plot
makes the changes of tone in this film sound very random but it works
beautifully, it goes from slapstick comedy early on to sombre scenes of
a chain gang and even some brutality. Sturges attacks the
pretensiousness of some films but above all calls out for humanity and
emotion to inform real works of art, the idea that the most
universal and longest lasting of emotions is revealed as laughter is
very heartwarming.
"A brilliant fantasy in two keys - slapstick farce and the tragedy of human misery."
From a review by James Agee.
DVD Journal
DVD Verdict
DVD Beaver
28 26
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
