Sullivan's Travels
1941, NR, 91 min. Directed by Preston Sturges. Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn.
REVIEWED By Marjorie Baumgarten, Thu., Jan. 27, 2000
Sturges biting the hand that feeds him. Hollywood was home to the greatest success Sturges ever knew, yet even he couldn't resist cataloguing its inanities and teeing off on all the cinematic artistes who think they're above the fluff of musicals and comedies and want to make "important" films. But comedies are important films, as fictional director Sullivan learns when he forsakes Ants in Your Pants of 1939 for Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and winds up on a Southern chain gang, convicted of murdering himself! McCrea's choicest performance for Sturges and a plot with more curves than Veronica Lake. See the related piece on the Austin Film Society's Film Fest www.auschron.com/issues/dispatch/2000-01-14/screens_feature.html">"Unfaithfully Yours: The Satire of Preston Sturges".
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.
Kimberley Jones, Nov. 19, 2012
Robert Faires, Feb. 17, 2000
Marjorie Baumgarten, Feb. 3, 2000
Sullivan's Travels, Preston Sturges, Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn