Joel Travels

Film director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) wants to create great art. He's tired of making musical comedies like Hey, Hey in the Hayloft and Ants in Your Plants of 1939. He wants to film Oh, Brother Where Art Thou, a searing drama about deprivation and suffering. But the private-school raised Sullivan has never suffered. He decides he must travel America as a hobo to learn about true suffering. The studio heads, however, fear his loss as Sullivan's Travels (1941).

We had the opportunity to view this magnificent film at a Preston Sturges retrospective at AFI Silver. I'm sure I've seen it a dozen times, but never in a theatre, so this was a real thrill.

Joel McCrea is perfect as Sullivan.  He has just the right amount of sincerity to be convincing, yet you can still be amused at his antics. He is so low-key that you never find Sullivan to be silly - you may shake your head at his ideas, but Mr. McCrea gives him gravitas. His Sullivan believes that the trip is imperative for him to direct his new film.  Mr. Sturges wrote the part with Mr. McCrea in mind; they would end up making two more films together (The Great Moment (1944) and The Palm Beach Story (1942).

Veronica Lake (The Girl) was possibly not the first choice - Frances Farmer also tested for the part. (AFI catalog). Unbeknownst to Mr. Sturges, Ms. Lake was pregnant when filming began. Not surprisingly, she was afraid to tell Mr. Sturges - she was already six months along, and beginning to have a bump.  Instead, she told Louise Sturges (herself pregnant) who urged her to tell her husband. Ms. Lake did, and Mr. Sturges broke down laughing (Peekaboo: The Story of Veronica Lake by Jeff Lenburg). Thanks to costume designer Edith Head and a number of stunt people, Ms. Lake's pregnancy is not visible. She's adorable in the role, convincing as the down-on-her-luck actress who befriends and eventually loves Sullivan.

There were some problems during the production. Joel McCrea was not fond of Ms. Sullivan - it seems she was trying to seduce him (there are many stories about Ms. Lake's relationships with her leading men), and he was a happily married man. (Christmas in July: The Life and Art of Preston Sturges by Diane Jacobs) So, when he was offered the lead in I Married a Witch (1942), he turned it down rather than work with her again (AFI Catalog). He did finally relent and worked with her in 1947's Ramrod. During the filming of Sullivan's Travels, he saved her life when, after watching a stunt woman jump into Sullivan's pool (in her stead), Ms. Lake decided to join the fun and jump in herself. Her dress wrapped around her head, pulling her under - Mr. McCrea freed her, and carried her out of the water.

One interesting aspect to the film is the way in which Mr. Sturges handles race. When Sullivan arrives at a chain gang, we find men of many races working and eating together. We see Trusty (Jimmy Conlin) walking to the men with a water cup, and all the men, black and white, drink from the cup. Finally, there is a scene in a local church - an African American church - which welcomes the convicts in to see a movie. Nothing is said about race, but these images speak louder than any words could (See this TCM article for more information about the NAACP's comments on the movie).

The other "message" that the film discusses is that of comedy. Sturges felt that his "fellow comedy directors had 'abandoned the fun in favor of the message'" (ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges by Jeff Jaeckle). Thus, two films are shown to the audience - at the beginning of Sullivan's Travels we see Sullivan and his colleagues watching a tragedy, after which the feeling in the room is one of sorrow. But when we are with the convicts watching Playful Pluto (1934), there is joy among these normally sad men - they are finally allowed "release and true community" (Christmas in July: The Life and Art of Preston Sturges by Diane Jacobs).

While the New York Times review by Bosley Crowther was favorable (he called it a "beautifully trenchant satire upon "social significance" in pictures"), other reviews were not (ReFocus: The Films of Preston Sturges by Jeff Jaeckle). Regardless, time has shown them the error of their ways. In 2014, Richard Brody in his New Yorker Movie of the week discussed the way in which the movie is actually two films in one, seamlessly moving from comedy to drama and back again. 

In 2000, the Coen Brothers were inspired by the film to make O Brother Where Art Thou? (The Cinema of Preston Sturges: A Critical Study by Alessandro Pirolini). Sullivan's Travels was added to the National Film Registry in 1990, and since has appeared on several AFI lists: it was  #61 AFI's 100 Years, 100 Films; 10th Anniversary Edition; #25 100 Years, 100 Cheers; and #39 100 Year, 100 Laughs.

Veronica Lake (and Ralph Bellamy appeared on the Lux Radio Theatre version of the film on November 9, 1942. Though that audio program is not available, here's a trailer and a suggestion that you add this remarkable movie to your list:

The Lady Barbara

Charles Poncefort "Hopsy" Pike (Henry Fonda) has led a relatively sheltered life. The son of the Pike's Ale magnate (Eugene Pallette), he's been guarded all his life by the inimitable Muggsy (William Demarest). Having finally ventured out on his own, to research snakes in South America, Hopsy is now on his way home to Connecticut. While onboard ship he meets a trio of con artists:  "Colonel" Harrington (Charles Coburn), Gerald (Melville Cooper), and  Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck).  While Jean's initial goal is to fleece this lost lamb, she finds herself falling in love with him, a feeling that is mutual. But, when Hopsy discovers Jean's stock in trade, he dumps her. Determined to get her revenge, Jean invents The Lady Eve (1941).

If you have never seen The Lady Eve, please add it to your viewing queue immediately. You're in for a real treat. Besides the inimitable Ms. Stanwyck in one of her finest role, you also get Henry Fonda being totally adorable and a script without compare by director Preston Sturges. It's a win-win scenario!

Henry Fonda is in the unenviable position of portraying a character you really want to hate, but can't quite bring yourself to do it. Hopsy is so totally guileless that, even when he is wooing Lady Eve Sidwich with the same lines with which he wooed Jean, you just laugh at his inept lovemaking and forgive him. Of course, you also want Jean to give him is comeuppance. But with two actors who are so equally paired, they are both able to succeed.

Ms. Stanwyck is a sexy delight as the two ladies in Hopsy's life. The scene in which she tries to seduce him by allowing him to put on her shoes is magnificent. It's a wonder they got that and some of the more naughty dialogue past the censors. And her running commentary as she watches the ladies in the dining room lust after Hopsy is a hoot. It's next to impossible to imagine this film without her, but Ms. Stanwyck was not the first (or even the second choice) of the studio. They wanted Claudette Colbert; Madeleine Carroll and Paulette Goddard were also considered. But Mr. Sturges wanted Ms. Stanwyck, and thankfully he won the argument (AFI catalog). Ms. Stanwyck has the unique ability to make the audience (who is in on the joke) believe that Eve and Jean are distinct characters.
 
The studio also considered Brian Aherne, Fred MacMurray, and Joel McCrea for the role of Hopsy (TCM article), but again, Mr. Sturges was victorious and got his choice of Mr. Fonda. There is a lot of slapstick in this film - Hopsy takes a number of pratfalls - not something for which Mr. Fonda was known (sure, he'd done the screwball comedy; for example, The Mad Miss Manton with Ms. Stanwyck, but she's the screwball in that, not him). So, it was perhaps a risk to cast him in the part. But, frankly, he is perfect as the innocent abroad.

The quartet of supporting actors who grace the film are impressive. William Demarest, who must have been in the Preston Sturges stock company (he appeared in 8 of Mr. Sturges' films) is hysterical as the bodyguard/valet, Muggsy, who seethes with suspicion of anyone who approaches his charge. He's cagey though - he knows that Jean's father is not on the level; he's the only one who suspects that Eve is really Jean in disguise. But, his suspicious nature is also his downfall - like Cassandra, Muggsy's warnings go unheeded, to riotous effect.

Eric Blore  has a small part as Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith, or Pearly to his mates, one of Colonel Harrington's con artist pals. Mr. Blore is wonderful at looking exasperated, and does it quite well as he watches Eve get in deeper and deeper. We only get a few scenes with him - he's a device to get Jean into Hopsy's house, but he is always enjoyable.

From his entrance singing Come Landlord Fill the Flowing Bowl, Eugene Pallette is also excellent as Charles' father. The only member of the family with any common sense, he plays Mr. Pike as an endearing, if somewhat exasperated individual (witness his frustration as he tries to get breakfast). I look forward to seeing him in films, though my recent discoveries about his private life are dismaying. A supporter of Adolf Hitler, he refused to sit down at a table with actor Clarence Muse (TCM article) while filming In the Meantime, Darling, resulting in his firing by director Otto Preminger.  Mr. Pallette eventually retreated to Oregon to hide near his own personal bomb shelter. He would return to Los Angeles in 1948, after a two-year retreat, but he never worked again. He died of throat cancer in 1954, at age 65.

Last, but certainly not least is Charles Coburn.  Harry is a rogue, and Mr. Coburn makes no bones about it. He's willing to go against his daughter's wishes, the fleece an easy mark, but it is clear that he loves Jean dearly. One is never quire sure of Harry's motives, but one is sure of his personal integrity among his colleague.  As a result, we like him, though we would be very wary of playing cards with him.  For more on Mr. Coburn's life, visit our blog post from October 2, 2017.

The Lady Eve was based on a story Two Bad Hats by Monckton Hoffe. A radio version aired on the Lux Radio Theatre on March 1942 with Ray Milland and Barbara Stanwyck (For a discussion of Ms. Stanwyck's participation in this episode, see this article from Film Comment). It was remade as The Birds and the Bees (1956), starring Mizti Gaynor, George Gobel, and David Niven. (Having not seen this film, I won't comment, except to say, George Gobel? Really??)  In 1994, The Lady Eve was added to the National Film Registry; since then, it has appeared on two of the AFI Lists: it was #26 on 100 Years, 100 Passions and #55 on 100 Years, 100 Laughs.

We're going to leave you with the trailer from this highly enjoyable film. We'd also like to mention this Vanity Fair article on Preston Sturges which you might find interesting. If you've never seen this film, please do give it a try.

Barbara's Christmas

Assistant District Attorney John "Jack" Sargent (Fred MacMurray) knows how to get convictions. He knows that putting an attractive woman on trial for shoplifting a few days before Christmas is going to result in a not guilty verdict. When presented with such a case just before the holidays, he maneuvers to postpone the trial until the new year. Jack is about to take a long-promised vacation to visit his mother and aunt on their farm in Indiana. Thus, he feels sorry for defendant Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck), as his actions will force her to be incarcerated over Christmas and he bails her out of jail. When Jack discovers that she is from a town near his home own, he offers to bring Lee to visit her mother.  Remember the Night (1940) is the story of their journey.

I discussed Remember the Night four years ago after seeing it in a theatre, so I was pleased when our Movie Group decided to view it for the holidays. This is a lovely film, blending comedy and drama expertly. With a script by Preston Sturges, and direction by Mitchell Leisen, the movie glides along at a brisk, but engaging pace. This was Mr. Sturges last film in which he only provided the script (thereafter, he would direct his own screenplays), and Mr. Leisen cut the script, much to Mr. Sturges' dismay. (AFI catalog) That being said, it is hard to believe that a longer film would have been half as affective, or that Mr. Sturges' original concept of Jack would have been any better than the one we have today.

In the first of his four films with Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray is sympathetic and engaging as a serious lawyer with a big heart. According to this TCM article, Mr. Sturges originally conceived Jack as "almost heroic". Mr. Leisen, however, felt the focus of the film should be shifted slightly away from Jack, and from the "certain articulate quality" that he felt would not compliment Mr. MacMurray's abilities. Mr. Leisen's vision of "gentle strength" is what remains in the film, and Mr. MacMurray is perfect as a man whose emotions and goodness conflict with this part of his job.

Barbara Stanwyck sparkles a Lee, a woman who has been diminished by her mother and her upbringing (more on that later). She escaped to New York City, and ended up a shoplifter, stealing high-end jewelry to support herself. We know that she has tried to work - she mentions a job as a song plugger (like Jack, she can play the piano, but she is a far better pianist than him). But with no real job skills, and no self-esteem, Lee has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. It would be easy to make Lee either rock-hard or pitiable. Stanwyck does neither; her Lee is genuine. She doesn't like what she has become, but she knows nothing else. When she learns there is another way of life, she embraces it.

The film does a beautiful job in comparing and contrasting the upbringing of Jack and Lee, primarily through the characterizations of their mothers. On the one hand, we have Lee's Mother, expertly played by Georgia Caine as a cruel and unaffectionate woman who has no desire to be a mother to her child. On the other, we have Beulah Bondi as Mrs. Sargent - warm, loving, and understanding of her son, and of Lee. The children, both raised in small towns in Indiana by widowed mothers, both relatively poor, have turned out so drastically different because of their mothers' attitudes. But the film does not present a hopeless view - there is a road to redemption through love.

Georgia Caine has one scene in the film, but she is unforgettable.  Ms. Caine, the child of actors, began her career with a Shakespeare troup. By 1899, she was on Broadway - she had appeared in 28 plays and musicals by 1935, and was at one point called "the queen of Broadway musical comedy". She began her film career in 1930; by the time she retired, she had appeared in 86 films, many of them uncredited. Thanks to her appearance in Remember the Night, she became a part of Preston Sturges stock company, appearing in a total of 8 of his movies, including Hail, the Conquering Hero (1944), where she was the mother of Eddie Bracken. She was married twice - her second marriage to Alphonzo Bell Hudson lasted for 30 years. Ms. Caine died in 1964, at the age of 87. (For more on her life and career, check out Accustomed to her Face: Thirty-five Character Actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood by Axel Nissen).

The film would reappear in a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast in March, 1940 with Mr. MacMurray and Ms. Stanwyck reprising their roles.  In July, 1951 another radio broadcast from the Screen Director's Playhouse starred William Holden and Nancy Gates as the leads.  In May of 1955, television, in an episdode of Lux Video Theatre featured Don Defore and Jan Sterling. And finally, in 1969, Ms. Stanwyck's own The Big Valley had an episode - "Judgement in Heaven" (Season 1, Episode 15) with a plot remarkably like Remember the Night.

The New York Times review by Frank S. Nugent was glowing - he stated that, though it was "a bit too early in the season to be talking of the best pictures of 1940 [the picture was released in January] it is not too early to say that Paramount's nomination is worth considering." (It received no nominations, unfortunately).  Mr. Nugent praised not only our two stars, but also, Ms. Caine, Ms. Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson (as Jack's Aunt Emma) and Willard Robertson (as Lee's attorney, Francis X. O'Leary). He said "In a cast of such unusual competence the difficulty is not in finding players worthy of special mention but in being able to keep the list within a single paragraph." 

If that doesn't convince you, we'll leave you with the trailer from this exceptional motion picture. Happy Holidays!