Sullivan's Travels

I watched Sullivan’s Travels, a 1941 film that was recommended to me by a learned friend who calls this film one of his favorites. Sullivan's Travels is directed by the highly regarded Preston Sturges who I basically didn't know anything about, but do now!

Sometimes when you watch an old film you have to try not to look at with contemporary eyes; try not to get thrown by the overly dramatic music or the sometimes old fashioned acting. So I was trying to appreciate Sullivan’s Travels

, but I was having some trouble. I found it a bit strange as a matter of fact. This earnest man, Sullivan played by Joel McCrae, is a big Hollywood director who decides to try to see what is like to live as a hobo and then make a film about it. He does this very poorly and ends back at his mansion pretty quickly but gives it a go again and this time with a beautiful ingénue played by Veronica Lake. They dress like bums and ride the rails (this part is all done as a musical montage by the way). Then, as fate would have it, Sullivan ends up indeed suffering and living as a prisoner in a chain gang and, of course, learns some lessons about his experiences. One of those lessons is that the poor need to laugh, so in the end he decides to make a comedy.

The tone of the movie jumps from comic and romantic, to serious, (again is that modern me talking?) not sure. But I’m glad I saw it. It is like no other movie I have seen and seems to want to make a great statement about life for the poor in America. The scene in the black church is particularly moving, more so than the rest of the film I felt, where the preacher shares a theme of the film about the equality of man. So thanks, Bob, for introducing me to this movie. I also watched one of the extras on the DVD about Sturges that is pretty fascinating.

Update on movies with my new ratings' system

Ratings:
bad: just plain bad
Ennh: not bad but not that good
Hmmm: curiously strange and not that likable
Wha?: so weird
It's okay: but not great
It's good: but wish a little fix here and there to make great
It's great!: it's so rare but it happens

Rebecca: Alfred Hitchcock's wonderful adaptation of Du Maurier's book from 1940. It's good or great?
A Dangerous Method: freaky story of Jung and Freud's friendship with a disturbing Keira Knightly role (I can't get her contorted facial expression out of my mind) Hmmm
Hyde Park on the Hudson: Bill Murray as dirty old man/FDR Ennh
The Queen of Versailles: documentary about profligate wealth Wha?
Hope Springs: painful to watch marriage counseling movie Hmmm
The Guard: buddy cop movie of the Irish kind with a dash of Don Cheadle It's good
The Five-Year Engagement: I love Emily Blunt but she could not save this stupid movie Ennh
Liberal Arts: sweet little movie with a strange ending It's okay
Save the Date: really like Lizzy Caplan but this odd movie fell short It's okay
Carol Channing: Larger than Life: documentary about Carol Channing Ennh
Too Big to Fail: can't remember it, bad sign or I'm getting too old It's okay
Your Sister’s Sister: another Emily Blunt movie, she's good but the movie limps along Ennh
Game Change: politcal movie about Sarah Palin played by Julianne Moore (she's great) from the people who brought you Recount another great movie It's good
Trouble with the Curve: romantic comedy of the lamest variety bad:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower: sadly bland Ennh
Celeste and Jesse Forever: another stupid romantic comedy bad:
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: likable movie for the oldsters -- I liked the Indian setting Ennh
Magic Mike: Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey as strippers, surprisingly good It's good
The Avengers: I thought it should see it since it had my favorite Mark Ruffalo who everyone said he was fantastic but I tell you I can not get into a super hero movie no matter how hard I try (I did not try that hard)Ennh