Sullivan’s Travels
Directed by Preston Sturges • 1941 • United States
Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake
Tired of churning out lightweight comedies, Hollywood director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) decides to make O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?—a serious, socially responsible film about human suffering. After his producers point out that he knows nothing of hardship, Sullivan hits the road disguised as a hobo. En route to enlightenment, he encounters a lovely but no-nonsense young woman (Veronica Lake)—and more trouble than he ever dreamed of. This comic masterpiece by Preston Sturges is among the finest Hollywood satires and a high-water mark in the career of one of the industry’s most revered funnymen.
-
Sullivan’s Travels
Directed by Preston Sturges • 1941 • United States
Starring Joel McCrea, Veronica LakeTired of churning out lightweight comedies, Hollywood director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) decides to make O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?—a serious, socially responsible film about human suffering. After his pr...
Extras
-
SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS Commentary
Recorded by the Criterion Collection in 2001, this audio commentary features filmmakers Noah Baumbach, Kenneth Bowser, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean.
-
Sandy Sturges on Preston Sturges
This interview with the late Sandy Sturges–who married director Presston Sturges in 1951 and edited the book “Preston Sturges on Preston Sturges”–was conducted by the Criterion Collection in Los Angeles in 2001.
-
Ants in Your Plants of 1941
This video essay on SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS by critic David Cairns features director Bill Forsyth and was produced by the Criterion Collection in 2014.
-
Preston Sturges Talks to Hedda Hopper
This four-minute radio interview with director Preston Sturges was originally broadcast on the program “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood” on January 28, 1951.
-
Preston Sturges Recites “If I Were King”
In this homemade recording, director Preston Sturges recites Justin Huntly McCarthy’s poem “If I Were a King.” The poem is featured in McCarthy’s play of the same name–based on the life of French poet François Villon–which was the basis from the 1938 film IF I WERE A KING, written by Sturges.
-
Preston Sturges Sings “For My Love”
In this homemade recording from 1938, director Preston Sturges sings “My Love,” one of more than a hundred songs he composed during his lifetime. Sturges’s songs were featured in many films, including THE GAY DECEPTION (1935), HOUDINI (1953), and his own THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN’S CREEK and HAIL THE...
-
Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer
Produced by Kenneth Bowser and written by Todd McCarthy, this seventy-six-minute, Emmy-winning documentary, made for PBS’s “American Masters” series in 1990, chronicles the life and work of director Preston Sturges. It is narrated by actor Fritz Weaver.
