Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels is one of Hollywood's greatest movies about movies (Really... it said so on the box).  Yes, it is old... but that is part of its charm!  It is a 1941 film about a director who specializes in light-hearted fluff films with lots of laughs (but with a little sex in it) that decides he wants to make a film about human suffering (but with a little sex in it.)  His producers tell him there is no way he could make this film, after all what does he, a successful moving pictures director, know about suffering?  Challenge accepted.  Down the road he goes!  Well, he tried any way.  He makes a brief unplanned detour back home to pick up a wannabe actress known simply as "The Girl" (played by the lovely Veronica Lake, who was pregnant during filming but still managed to look 15 years old) to serve as a love interest and occasionally the brains of the outfit.  They strike off together to learn what suffering is... and instead find the importance of laughter, a quality lesson that everyone would benefit from learning, particularly some college professors (and parents).

Anyways, we both quite liked this film.  We were laughing out loud, gasping at all the right moments, and awwed when appropriate.  That's actually not quite true.  When something bad started to happen (aka a twist near the end, since otherwise this movie would have been WAY too short with little plot), we laughed really obnoxiously, mostly since Victoria kept (correctly) predicting what was going to happen a couple minutes before it did actually happen.  But she was wrong about the little bit of sex in it.  The box was misleading, she says.

But with a little bit of sex in it...except apparently not.

There were great montages, a good score, and excellent comedic timing.  It was full of great back-and-forth dialogue jokes, which were often quite punny (but with a little sex in it).  

Victoria: I have to say, I REALLY liked this movie.  I'll probably figure out a way to buy it and watch it a bunch more times.  Though not much actually happened in it, it seems, it was actually quite entertaining.  So really, if it has less plot but more entertainment, then that MUST mean that the plot it actually has was really good!!  (LOGIC!!)

Katelyn:  I also really liked it.  I was worth the twenty miles I drove to through the swamp and the woods with a faulty GPS to a public library to get it.  I like it so much I might keep it indefinitely.  I don't go to that library much anyway now that I am at University.  They will take it out on my parents, so I guess I better return it.  Ah well, there is always Amazon.

Victoria: My favorite character was The Girl, played by Veronica Lake (no really...that's what she's listed as in the credits).  She was quite smart-alec-y, and I thought it was funny and endearing.  She was only 19 at the making of this movie, so I guess that accounts for her seeming quite young (she WAS).  It's odd to think of her as my age...especially since a young 19-year-old actress running off with an older male director to pursue the life of a hobo would most-likely not be considered a very honorable pursuit in today's age, even in the name of film-making.  The main character, Sullivan, wasn't really all that remarkable.  There wasn't much about him that stood out to me (except when he runs screaming through a swamp, but I don't want to spoil the twist :)).  The minor characters whose names I wouldn't DREAM of remembering were all quite funny, since each set (they usually came in 2s and 3s) had certain personality quirks and funny lines to deliver.  There was a bit of slapstick comedy in the movie in places, as well as witty dialogue and sometimes even a bit of violent drama (one guy gets hit by a train (CALLED IT!!!) and another gets smashed on the head with a rock).  I also like black and white films, so the fact that this one was in black and white was a plus for me.  

OOH!!  There was also a very powerful shot of chained inmates walking into a church while the congregation sings "Go Down Moses."  It was excellent.  The shot is of the two rows of inmates walking towards the camera (which faces down the aisle), showing their chained and slow-moving feet as they split off into the pews on either side.  All the while, the congregation is (very slowly and soulfully) singing.  It was an excellent shot and whatnot.

Katelyn:  I also enjoy black and white, but I do not watch them quite as prolifically as Victoria.  I did grow up watching I Love Lucy re-runs.  If you like that kind of humor, then you will love this.  It has all the punny-ness, but significantly less cheese (not hating on Lucy, but let's face it... there was more cheese in one episode than an entire family pack of mozzarella sticks).  This movie contained only a single side serving of mozzarella sticks and enough serious plot line to keep you engaged.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone, even if you don't usually like old movies.

There was this one shot where The Producers are talking to The Girl in a very emotional scene, but she just stares into space, clutching her gloves.  They are ready to give her everything she thought she wanted, but she has come to realize that there is something she wanted even more.  The look on her face is absolutely heart-breaking.  In a film full of kinetic energy, the stillness is what makes this shot especially moving (pun not intended). 

To Recap:

Great movie.  It is unrated, but we rate it about PG due to violence (and a little bit of sex in it).

We give it a B, but a very sexy B :)

-Katelyn (and I suppose I should put Victoria's name too)

P.S.:  There is not really any sex in it.  You will get the joke if you watch the movie (just in case you needed any more motivation).