Sullivan’s Travels (1941) One of the Greatest Comedies of all time (Review)

During Hollywood’s golden era, the industry was anchored by studios and producers, compared to now the director has become the lead creative talent on any given movie, and whenever a production goes awry an overeager producer is usually to blame. All the same, a few directors carved out names for themselves as contrarians to the state of the industry, with Preston Sturges one of the enduring examples as a pioneer of post-silent studio comedy. Of all his successes, Arrow Academy has released his hit onto the UK Blu-ray market with Sullivan’s Travels.

Joel McCrea stars as the titular Sullivan, a movie director that specialises in comedies. However, John Lloyd Sullivan has hit a crossroads in his career. With the world being chaotic, he wants to make a film that captures that struggle. Unfortunately, trouble is the last thing Sullivan knows anything about, as awkwardly pointed out by the studio heads. Sullivan achieved great success at a young age and knows nothing but the lap of luxury. This leads him to an experiment – he wants to head out into the world as a hobo to experience trouble first hand, giving him the experience to capture the national depression.

From this, the film is divided into two phases and many episodes, each phase sees Joel McCrae constantly dragged back to the familiarity of Hollywood before he eventually gets into far more trouble than he ever banked on. All this happens while being accompanied by the stunningly beautiful Veronica Lake.

If Sullivan’s Travels was a contemporary film, it would be tarred with the comedy/drama brush, as it attempts to make people laugh while highlighting social wrongs. Unfortunately, any potential shortcomings come from the film erratically moving from one point to the next, one social issue to the next, resulting in a tone that is a little around the edges. While skittish and focused on just a broad a canvas as its leading character, countless directors and writers found their muse with Sullivan. Even if the film refuses to sit still, each time the location moves, it shifts from one iconic scenario to the next – most of which have been paid homage to through countless TV shows & films. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Comedy may have moved on considerably, but few films have as eclectic a comedy palette as Sturges’ tour de force. It’s as inevitable as day turning to night, yet the lion’s share of the humour has dated beyond compare. Classic isn’t necessarily the same thing as timeless. Pratfalls and falling over in various locales are a constant, with the practical comedy firmly stuck in the 1940s, which is the complete opposite of the sparky dialogue awash with wonderful one-liners found elsewhere. Perhaps not up there with the sarcastic roasts of Groucho Marx, but Sullivan’s travels show modern audiences how dialogue can stand the test of time. Thanks to a formidably charismatic performance by Veronica Lake, Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels is far from just another rusty old comedy. On the contrary, it’s one of the classiest acts from Hollywood’s greatest age.

The tone is both an issue and the crowning glory, with the film playing host to a surprisingly dark heart. There is violence that wouldn’t be out-of-place in a thriller, social issues in an almost documentary-like fashion, wonderfully framed passages that wouldn’t be out-of-place in silent cinema and a satire on the fallibility justice system. Sullivan’s Travels and Preston Sturges certainly get a great deal of mileage out of this vaguest of set-ups. All that intent and it’s housed in the broadest of comedies, and there could be no better place for it as poignantly verbalised in Sullivan’s legendary final line, “there’s an awful lot to be said about making people laugh”.

Extras wise, Arrow has put together a nice selection of retrospective interviews and documentaries, offering opinions on the director’s place in history and why Sullivan’s travels deserves its status. Lastly, there is the quality of the print. The feature has a slight grain, but it’s of an age where that is both the best you can do and the best you’d want. Having such a classic crystal clear would lose the magic, something that Arrow fully understands whether they are dealing in cult or goats.

Thanks for reading our review of Sullivan’s Travels

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