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Sullivan's Travels - Criterion CollectionRating:
Release Date: 21 August, 2001 Retail Price: $39.95 OUR Price: $35.99 You SAVE: $3.96! Cast: Complete Cast (10 total) |
Sullivan's Travels - Criterion Collection Reviews
Deserves Its Lofty Reputation
This is one of those films I keep rating higher each time I watch it.
At first I thought it was just "fair" and, frankly, overrated, but I don't think so now. I especially would recommend seeing this on the Criterion DVD version to get the best picture available. I'm not plugging that company because I think their discs are overpriced, but they do a great job giving you the best transfer of these classics you'll ever find and it made this film even better.
The story is very different: one that suddenly turns 180 degrees in the last segment. After a more lighthearted combination of drama and humor through much of the story, the film gets surprisingly rough in the last 20 minutes and is not always fun to watch and the leading man, Joel McCrea, goes through some very, very tough times.
This is one of Veronica Lake's more appealing roles and, although not a beautiful women, she's intriguing enough - especially with her fabulous long blonde hair - to make me glad I have at least one sharp-looking film of her.
Overall, this Preston Sturges-directed movie is good stuff and a classic film that deservedly still has a solid reputation.
The Preston Sturges crew is aboard for social comentary,
satire & farce. John Sullivan is played by Joel McCrea, a light, very sucessful comedy director. In this movie about making a movie, Sullivan is determined to make a serious movie for which he is ill-equipted. He wants to explore poverty in America, get in touch with the poor, the down-trodden & the homeless accross the country. However, he has never experienced a day of need in his life. He has not & probably never will pay his dues.
To the anguish of his associates he hits the road attempting to hitch-hike out of Hollywood with 10 cents in his pocket & dressed like a hobo (with clothes borrowed from the studio's wardrobe dept.) The studio bosses fear for his safety. He has no survival skills. They follow him in a an RV & several false starts land him back in Hollywood. He encounters "the girl" played by Veronica Lake, a very definite wow. She's a failed actress also trying to get out of town. She tags along as he finally hops a freight train heading east. There the movie takes a 180 degree turn from comedy to drama. In a identity mix-up with a bum, he is arrested & the bum who has stolen his identity is killed. To the world Sullivan is dead. The real Sullivan is sentenced to years of hard labor on a prison chain gang. His real education has begun. Of course, it works out cleverly in the end. Veronica Lake, the sultry sex-kitten of Film Noir, proves she can also do slap-stick comedy. One of Sturges' best combining laugh out loud comedy & serious thought. The dvd is chock-full of extras on Sturges life & interviews.
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