Sullivan's Travels

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1 hr. 31 min.

Comedy

List

100%

41 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion (Veronica Lake), he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

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Critics Consensus

Blending screwball comedy with a socially conscious message, Sullivan's Travels offers delightful proof of writer-director Preston Sturges' ability to provoke serious thought as well as helpless laughter.

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Georgan G

3 & 1/4 stars. This movie is an interesting mix of screwball comedy and some real soul-searching about helping others. i.e., give them what THEY want.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/26/24

Full Review

Alec B

Its an interesting argument for comedy as the best form of escapism, especially since the film is anything but escapist. That finale is quite touching.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/10/23

Full Review

Matthew B

There are two messages in Sullivan's Travel's, Preston Sturges' dramatic comedy of 1941, and they risk cancelling one another out. The first message, if we can loosely call it so, is a wake-up call for people to see the conditions of poverty and injustice faced by many contemporary Americans. The second message essentially seems to suggest that movies are better off without messages. As a result, the film manages to subvert what it asserts. The story centres on a successful writer-director called John L Sullivan (Joel McCrea), a man perhaps not unlike Sturges himself, who was one of the first American moviemakers to both write and direct his own movies. The title carries a hint of Gulliver's Travels, although it might almost be seen as a non-allegorical Pilgrim's Progress. Sullivan wishes to make a movie called ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou' to highlight the conditions faced by many poor Americans, but he faces opposition from his colleagues who point out that he has not experienced these levels of privation himself. To correct his ignorance, Sullivan sets out on his own, posing as a vagabond. He has a number of adventures, and of course every adventure has to have a girl. The Girl is Veronica Lake, known only by this name in the film. She joins Sullivan as he experiences poverty first-hand. However Sullivan's experiences become only too real when he is arrested and sent to a brutal chain gang where he faces true hardship for the first time. As with so much in the movie, its treatment of Sullivan is ambiguous, if not contradictory. Sullivan is a sympathetic character, and there is something admirable about his compassion for the common people, and his courage in seeking to experience destitution for himself. Nonetheless the plot and script frequently undermine Sullivan's pretentions. Sturges sees Sullivan as wrong-headed and naïve, and needing to be taught a lesson. One of the more moving parts of the film is a long silent sequence, accompanied by sad music as we are shown images of poverty and desperation in 1940s America – people living and sleeping on the street, a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen, the faces of the poor as they sit listening to a sermon, Sullivan making a living by carrying a sandwich board around. This presentation of poverty and social problems is curious because it conflicts with the movie's main message, which is that films should not spend time discussing issues. Sturges made Sullivan's Travels as a response to preaching in movies. He felt that the fun had been taken out of moviemaking in favour of the message. Yet while there is much fun in Sullivan's Travels it could fairly be said that there would have been more room for comedy if Sturges had not spent so much time portraying the conditions of poor people. Sullivan belatedly realises that he is doing poor people a greater act of kindness by making goofy comedies than by preaching to them. This is a surprising conclusion for a film that is not like that at all. There is some broad humour in Sullivan's Travels – even the silent montage of images of the poor includes a shot of Sullivan and The Girl laughing at each other as they are bitten by bedbugs. However, for the most part we are watching a movie with a literate script that tells us that movies should be lowbrow entertainment. We are seeing a movie that depicts social injustice whilst telling us that this is not what movies should be about. Sturges seems to have little faith in the capacity of audiences to enjoy a movie that sympathetically portrays their problems, yet this is what he gives them. I wrote a longer appreciation of Sullivan's Travels on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2017/12/27/sullivans-travels-1941/

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/17/23

Full Review

Steve D

Lake gives it a spark but she isn't in it enough.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/26/23

Full Review

Dave S

Intent on making a socially relevant movie about the downtrodden and dispossessed, affluent Hollywood director John Sullivan (Joel McRae) hits the rails disguised as a hobo in an effort to better understand his subject matter. While Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels certainly offers valuable insights into the human condition and socio-economic disparity, you can't help but get the feeling that it has not aged particularly well. While the dramatic elements continue to work effectively after more than eighty years since its release, the comedy falls flat – slapstick (people falling into pools, fast motion car chases) just doesn't work in this day and age. Don't be mistaken – Sullivan's Travels is a decent enough movie. However, had it simply picked a lane and stuck to it, it would probably have more appeal for modern audiences.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/13/23

Full Review

hamid reza g

Watching "Sullivan's Travels" 82 years after it was made surprised me. A film in the comedy genre with a dialectical theme of society and cinema, which was presented in this film at that time, shows the correct and deep understanding of the director of the film "Preston Sturges". This film portrays social violence and how the artist suffers from this social violence and how strange the society treats him. A director who no longer wants to make a comedy and plans to make a social drama called "travels deep "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" travels deep into the society and finally comes to the conclusion that people need comedy.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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Preston Sturges

Director

Joel McCrea

John L. Sullivan

Veronica Lake

The Girl

Robert Warwick

Mr. Lebrand

William Demarest

Mr. Jones

Franklin Pangborn

Mr. Casalsis

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Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - I Want to Make a Comedy

1:34

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - With a Little Sex In It

2:51

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - Sully and the Girl

3:32

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - I Killed John L. Sullivan!

2:57

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - Ditching the Entourage

2:57

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - Sully Laughs Again

2:39

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - Meeting the Girl

3:36

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - Washed Up Picture Director

2:34

Sullivan's Travels: Official Clip - The Valley of Adversity

2:44

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

This ingenious plot is brought to life with a remarkable profusion of dialogue: with the characters’ torrential, scintillating verbiage, Sturges seems to leap out from behind the screen to address the viewer directly.

Jan 16, 2023

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Sturges' dialog is trenchant, has drive, possesses crispness and gets the laughs where that is desired.

Jun 27, 2007

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

A dubious proposition, but in Sturges's hands a charming one, filled out by his unparalleled sense of eccentric character.

Jun 27, 2007

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

There’s no space here to extol the individual glories...

Jul 31, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

The celebration of the simple joys of Hollywood comedies may seem like a self-serving defense of Sturges’ art, but it’s so magical and genuine and full of hilarious ego-puncturing moments that it overcomes the overly sentimental finale.

Dec 3, 2022

Full Review

André Bazin

L'Écran Français

It has enough merits and takes enough risks for us to consider it one of the most sensational productions of the last ten years.

Oct 25, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

Successful movie director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion (Veronica Lake), he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.

Director: Preston Sturges
Executive Producer: Buddy G. DeSylva
Screenwriter: Preston Sturges
Distributor: Paramount Pictures, Criterion Collection
Production Co: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 28, 1942, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 6, 2015
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.37:1)

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