Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Preston Sturges works his magic in a screwball tale of a film director who goes on the road as a tramp to help write his socially significant screenplay.

Preston Sturges achieves the perfect balance between playful and serious in his celebrated masterwork about a comedy film director (Joel McCrea) who goes on the road in search of more socially significant material for his next film, O Brother, Where Are Thou? (a title famously purloined by the Coen brothers.) McCrea is brilliant as the idealistic filmmaker and Veronica Lake is effervescent as the would-be actress who tags along.

1941 USA
Directed by
Preston Sturges
Written by
Preston Sturges
Featuring
Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick
Running time
91 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Sullivan's Travels

Critics

Michael Blyth
UK
Vasco Câmara
Portugal
Laura Dos Santos
UK
Mark Duguid
UK
Adina Hoffman
USA
Ian Mantgani
Ireland/UK
Agustín Masaedo
Argentina
Mark Naglazas
Australia
Jennifer Sabine
Australia
Ramiro Sonzini
Argentina
Esther Zuckerman
USA
Nicolás Zukerfeld
Argentina

Directors

Walter Hill
USA
May Miles Thomas
UK
Phil Tippett
USA

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