![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_QqvfSFxx5rI/SIFC8irpoXI/AAAAAAAAGEo/luD0y_4m7DY/s200/Sullivan's+Travels.jpg)
And a bit of truth.
I love the conceit of the director of such fluff pictures as "Ants in Your Plants of 1939" wanting to make a serious picture of "death gargling at you from every corner" (love that phrase). What comedian hasn't wanted to be taken seriously, from Jerry Lewis to Jim Carrey with dramatic--often too dramatic--parts? "Every comedian wants to play 'Hamlet'." And I love the "old money" men telling their made-up hard luck stories, just to convince him not to. And having it back-fire. And I love studio head LeBrand vacillating between telling Sullivan he's a jerk...but a brilliant, sensitive, lucrative jerk...and not that much of a jerk when you come right down to it, Sully', old pal. That feels very real.
Truth is, I had a hard time picking which scene from Sullivan's Travels to use. The very next scene, where Sullivan's butlers give him a hard time about getting gritty with humanity is equally sharp and truthful. So's the diner scene between Sullivan and "The Girl" (a very sharp Veronica Lake--her character's never named, probably because she's just there to sell the picture--take a look at that poster). But I chose this one as the best, even though it has one fatal flaw.
It needs a little sex in it....
The Story: John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) is trying to convince two studio heads that his next movie should not be his usual comedy but an adaptation of the slice-of-hardship novel "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"** They've just screened a recent "message" picture that "Sully" admires.
"Action!"
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj17jloYVMEwhbTHTA5QSRI0vaijJU2fyT1OYCPBOAtAuLpw4JEL_As-hGbz-h-8YH5fcgWMimDFp9-TMjGSqqC_woFNg4ABmtVuQG7r2K7V3l1EGJi94I1tpKddeUnfmEsUNTVEyQt9udy/s320/01.jpg)
Hadrian: Who wants to see that kind of stuff? It gives me the creeps!
Sullivan: Tell 'im how long it played at the Music Hall!
LeBrand: It was held over a fifth week.
Hadrian: Who goes to the Music Hall? Communists!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNaaLSss2ULltF53P43py-QgveaReYlon_KaRPI8cDUmx7Q0HlfX6y6jzDKfldSaW0QBLR7sLhfAR0q4xHby_lM5bc4kaRNngLVJR-nxxK_3lfKIXhVjKlt49Ji4VqiieryjYqWQto06z/s320/02thispicturesananswer.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3eies93QCMsh5DvNULANt9LeyhL7zhkvheEWdUy5uMrG-BV6f3rgS3-CaFmM_S_bA4wXXZfEXRLKF7W2g8DT8YuSDeT9IIwuRpbUXY_xAXX4vpkXdEKRmTXnajdIrNKl246yl9KTrjYdF/s320/03Iwantthis+pitcher.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT52oZlt3dbVv_8VFoOvJ0biMauZPSZqR2PpPGVFUTI_-xOmKUYVYMXw4XckQBw7ouCa5VbHdiWUqPw1r9e09vHEMho4tddtxN84fTkY_q7S10okMXe6y77f_Cif0xV5T7zL7n_ySTNyNE/s320/04butwith.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY4Q3BynPh-BkkWkVzLKtjJc10zVEK0uj0IgKS2zKHDDsalUkyXxDqNWDYZWsPKrXbTN5QySuCdgrrLDxMwa1dB7lfd5Siv7a7UXEiTm3pBaYpX7EUyXmNzF9e18GiUPY0ysPgR6dWRuL9/s320/05I+don't+want+to+stressit.jpg)
LeBrand: But with a little sex in it.
Sullivan: With a little sex in it.
Hadrian: How about a nice musical?
Sullivan: How can you talk about musicals at a time like this, with the world committing suicide. With corpses piling up in the street! With grim death gargling at you from every corner! With people slaughtered like sheep!
Hadrian: Maybe they'd like to forget that!
Sullivan: Then why did they hold this over for a fifth week at the Music Hall? For the ushers?
LeBrand: It died in Pittsburgh!
Hadrian: Like a dog!
Sullivan: What do they know in Pittsburgh?
LeBrand: They know what they like!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qfcj2Gnv28sW14Br5FJX00CUqAPbWIIjITymmRYMNwggRZtWPFlIOJDAWVDdG2FizbThB4FSdOrOM_UjAeQvzfV7tuQh3_plBuhS-Y577yP11ET3rlwPVihG0vuPiSytgVMAcIfUTC4r/s320/06wouldntliveinPittsburgh.jpg)
Hadrian: You think we're not? Look at Hopalong Cassidy!
Sullivan: You look at him! We'd still be making Keystone chases! Bathing beauties! Custard pie....
LeBrand: And a fortune!
Sullivan: A fortune! Of course, I'm just a minor employee, Mr. LeBrand...
LeBrand: He's starting that one again!
Sullivan: I wanted to make you something outstanding--something you could be proud of! Something that would realize the potentialities of film as the sociological and artistic medium that it is....
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIjRMvfE-htMsv25UMI4qaEy6NhLlkgUiPrnpJHkKDqhqMspmSqN2lppHs_r3gUC77Qx1-cScKxfLdz6HYL0MVAmHaLrpy-l9QX7JrlziJRYxPmU107z4l_NXbwDvj9TvRExlgP1QAiBJ/s320/07totakeitonthechin.jpg)
Sullivan: With a little sex in it. Something like....
Hadrian: Something like Capra.** I know
Sullivan: What's the matter with Capra?
LeBrand: Look, you want to make "Oh Brother, Where art Thou?"
Sullivan: Yes!
Hadrian: Now wait a minute!
LeBrand: Then go ahead and make it! With what you're making, I can't afford to argue with you!
Sullivan: That's a fine way to start a man out on a million dollar production!
LeBrand: You want it, you got it. I can take it on the chin, I've taken it before.
Sullivan: Not from me, you haven't!
LeBrand: Not from you, Sully! Not from you! Not with pictures like "So Long, Sarong," "Hey, Hey in the Hayloft," and "Ants in your Plants of 1939"--but they weren't about tramps, lock-outs, sweatshops, people eating garbage in alleys, and living in piano boxes and ashcans ..
Hadrian: And phooey!
LeBrand: They're about nice, clean young people who fell in love, with laughter and music and legs. Now, take that scene in "Hey, Hey in the Hayloft"...
Sullivan: But you don't realize conditions have changed. There isn't any work. There isn't any food. These are troublous times!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51TJJaakkDtnXc6iMdKUlz9sjOeWLVUmB-9rlttyUexnaxOQVFQ4XYz0MuSJKfKuzcgwfc8q8AW0c9MpPamtYWkQsHj65ZUSsfwBoMddbFhUwonlx1ng1vRKOKIi-XG54HeX5Ak7G0rLT/s320/08whatdoIknow.jpg)
Sullivan: What do I know about trouble?
Hadrian: Yes, what do you know about trouble?
Sullivan: What do you mean, what do I know about trouble?
Hadrian: Just what I'm saying...you want to make a picture about garbage cans. What do you know about garbage cans? When'd you eat your last meal out of one?
Sullivan: What's that got to do with anything?
LeBrand: He's asking you!
Hadrian: You want to make an epic about misery. You want to show hungry people sleeping in doorways.
LeBrand: With newspapers around them!
Hadrian: You want to grind 10,000 feet of hard luck, and all I'm asking you is what do you know about hard luck?
LeBrand: Yes!
Sullivan: What do you mean, what do I know about hard luck, don't you think I've....
Hadrian: No!
Sullivan: What?
Hadrian: You have not! I sold newspapers 'til I was 20! Then I worked in a shoe store and put myself through law school at night! Where were you at 20?
Sullivan: Well, I was in college...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCExraEgYEKJYxgB-ISPgcI8ZJrQYeJ5fzJ45esrD1peA9QMAE3TrOWSVZxJSwuKN7auqYjpW1yVUonK7d4D6j60VsddzJsXwyur5-EhWO16saZtUiE5ChTxqfeHhE8mCCJCF9BZ5XHs_z/s320/09wherewereyou.jpg)
Sullivan: I was in boarding school. I'm sorry!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbe0_5VbyuRynZaE6x0BT9RdV6zu-zVxH1Bm-ZEXvbJ5nVixerAUS8LmqU8lo6cdHI0I7MtLZn1gvnfQ4bbTOeA-tD9RCrwhhnLPoBf-GSw8tZdLdf9yKtgEFXL5-kiKpj3an6eAA0hDj/s320/10yourabsolutelyright.jpg)
Hadrian: They don't stink with messages!
LeBrand: That's why I paid you five hundred a week when you were 24.
Hadrian: 750 when you were 25.
LeBrand: A thousand when you were 26
Hadrian: When I was 26, I was getting 18.
LeBrand: Two thousand when you were 27.
Hadrian: I was getting 25 then.
LeBrand: I'd just opened my shooting...Three thousand after "Thanks for Yesterday."
Hadrian: Four Thousand after "Ants in your Plants."
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHV1cEzDGlpUD7r03Fh-l4PY-KmMrkwk10ieBrGqjHq9_VqnAwBFUX9rpJvZwG1-HVmU0WX3R8sHKQKJNemsf8fIkvIyMpeHrrVkae2UJ3Jffdf9B3kt0YEggyaXvt9aI8POlqKKVFDRon/s320/11antsinyourplants1941.jpg)
Hadrian: Yes!
LeBrand: In a nice way, Sully.
Sullivan: Well, you're absolutely right. I haven't any idea what it is.
Hadrian: People always like what they don't know anything about.
Sullivan: Certainly had a lot of nerve wanting to make a picture about human suffering.
LeBrand: You're a gentleman to admit it, Sully. But then you are, anyway.
Hadrian: How about making "Ants in your Plants of 1941?" You can have Bob Hope, Mary Martin...
LeBrand: Maybe Bing Crosby?
Hadrian: The Abbott Sisters...
LeBrand: How about Jack Benny and Rochester?
Hadrian: A big name band...
Sullivan: What....? Oh no! I want to make "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" But I'll tell you what I'm gonna do first. I going down to wardrobe to get some old clothes, some old shoes...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJ9NsXbYVQHaScvtflkCWEF7hnScMsNIyLk6B7QlnEYmlADSGoT-_HyWRBwiJfOPvkfGTlm2RqzHYPwKFMaXDhWVkS_RhinTnqPMev_8ynKeTEweIRjDJjgMuMHpl1P7-nvdcLd1ZLkzN/s320/12Idontknowwhereimgoing.jpg)
Sullivan: ...and I'm gonna start out with ten cents in my pocket.
LeBrand: What?
Sullivan: I don't know where I'm going but I'm not coming back until I know what trouble is.
LeBrand: WHAT?
Sullivan: Don't worry, you can take me off salary!
LeBrand: Who's t...who's talking about taking you off salary?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaR00AHWlkmujt9m2CAls7Hjcpqbv2YSTyq5pIIViqcBVJatE6xj2yGIPF2Sb_gV3_Fj2vEXVFqEQDteKKvo_r2Od7QV3P0F2BylNhJDYVcyvDbLoXdCDorJMiMr7tVY8v30n9jSdQ1Wq/s320/13thanksdracula.jpg)
LeBrand: Now wait a minute, don't be so impulsive! How soon will you be back?
Sullivan: I dunno, maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a year. Don't worry about me! And thanks, Dracula, you gave me a great idea.
Hadrian: I gave ya....
(Sullivan exits, stage right)
LeBrand: Now look what you've done!
Hadrian: Yea...what I've done!
LeBrand: With your lies about selling newspapers!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAa9ZJwbBF437K6YogvxZIV3888eyNLMfLSR-TBo4_Uu_APOam_s8l6uwM8o651LQvTyXx5BqGQJUH2w0UTnwJ_JAVFKl5aAqD0IA-Xz-VnIfUBzQCxNOXA9pnle5f9vKineaT1tbbdFSC/s320/14getmeacopyof.jpg)
LeBrand: I opened a shooting gallery, didn't I?...
Hadrian: With money you borrowed from your uncle! We better insure him for a million.
LeBrand: He's worth more!
Hadrian: The bone-head!
LeBrand: Yes, but what a genius! (He hits the intercom) Get me a copy of that "O Brother, Where Art thou?"! I guess I'll have to read it now! (Intercom again) Make that two copies! (To Hadrian) Why should I suffer alone?
(Hadrian turns to look, surprised)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cJBK0-J2xq2KMO0Fr0dCMK764FnIvCa9QY5oGb3iHygl4WVgCGGgyG2w1zhB42AWcb2uViSN5K6ezv0HhjoVBu8KNbDgtXN0hRJvrT6sVSyvb8M_le8xBGXStKh_6_hhGzhbZ6W778Mb/s320/15whyshouldisuffer.jpg)
Sullivan's Travels
Words by Preston Sturges
Pictures by John F. Seitz and Preston Sturges
Sullivan's Travels is available on DVD from The Criterion Collection and Universal Home Video.
** At the time I published this, I felt I didn't need to go into the story about the title and a subsequent movie, and I don't now, either, although I thought that the use of it was inspired.
*** Frank Capra, that is.
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