Sullivan’s Travels is perhaps Sturges most accomplished film, it’s a meta-film like Sunset Boulevard but more like 8 ½. It’s also one of Sturges’ most engaging and funny films, with an excellent script and the wonderful cast that he used several times and of course the wonderful Veronica Lake. It is in a way strangely structured but it works really well for the overall theme and story of the film.
The story mirrors Preston Sturges own life. The story follows a very successful director who is tired of making comedy hits, and instead wants to make a film that is more important, that makes a grand statement about the human condition, and that can educated the public. His producers aren’t too happy about this and try to persuade him it’s a bad idea. They tell him that he can’t make such a film, because he doesn’t know what it’s like to be part of the downtrodden and poor, and he only knows his own life. The director, Sullivan, agrees with this and thus decides to go out and live like a hobo for as long as necessary, again infuriating his producers, but Sullivan now has his mind set on going. So begins Sullivan’s travels, where he dresses up like a hobo (or what he perceives to be a hobo) and tries to live with the poor. However it turns out to be more difficult than he imagined, as he always ends up back in Hollywood and back at his huge mansion. Early on he meets a failed actress at a diner, the character played by Veronica Lake, and his directorial senses kick in, as he sees something in her, while she just assumes he’s a hobo. However he can’t really hide who he is, and she soon finds out who he really is and decides to go on his little adventure along with him.
What follows is a series of events where the two set out, but eventually end up back in comfort each time, failing to in any significant way to learn to live like the poor. But Sullivan is set on his goal, and the two keep on trying. I won’t reveal anymore of the story, as there are some excellent twists and turns to come later. The film is hilarious, working with slap-stick, brilliant dialogue and situations. There’s particularly an early sequence where Sullivan tries to evade a trailer that is following him everywhere (on the studio’s orders), and what follows is a riotous chase scene, where the trailer takes some significant damage. The dialogue is extremely sharp and witty, perhaps not to the same level as The Lady Eve, but it’s still excellent, and very funny. Even the opening scene where Sullivan discusses his art with the two buffoon producers is an early indication of what we’re about to get. As a reflection on Sturges and Hollywood itself, the film works as a really neat look into Hollywood of the time, and also what Sturges felt Hollywood was all about and why he did what he did. More so than any of Sturges’ film, Sullivan’s Travels really showcased why Sturges was such a unique filmmaker of his time.
Sullivan’s Travels, along with The Lady Eve, is the very best of what Sturges oeuvre had to offer. In terms of structure and creating a Meta universe Sullivan’s Travels is easily Sturges most impressive and interesting. The character arc particularly is very fascinating and shows how the director comes to realize what his craft and art is all about, and I wonder if Sturges used this film himself as therapy to his own art.
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