Sullivan’s Travels

Directed by Preston Sturges, Sullivan’s Travels follows a filmmaker (Joel McCrea’s John L. Sullivan) as he decides to go undercover within the local homeless community in preparation for an upcoming production – with complications ensuing after John meets Veronica Lake’s struggling actress. There’s ultimately little doubt that Sullivan’s Travels improves considerably as it unfolds, and it’s clear that the movie’s slow-moving opening stretch contains few attributes designed to capture the viewer’s interest and attention – with the arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a recurring emphasis on ill-advised, questionable instances of larger-than-life comedy (eg a tedious and thoroughly wacky car chase). The picture’s transformation from middling to engaging, then, is triggered by the initial appearance of Lake’s nameless figure, as she and McCrea’s John share a charming meet-cute within a roadside diner that paves the way for an increasingly compelling (and far-from-comedic) second half – with the engrossing (albeit less-than-subtle) third act ensuring that the movie concludes on a stirring, completely satisfying note. The final result is an erratic yet entertaining piece of work that does, in addition to everything else, benefit from McCrea’s entirely charismatic turn as the central character, and it’s impossible, in the end, not to wish that opening half hour were just a little bit better.

*** out of ****