Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

Film director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) tries to pull off the old Prince and the Pauper scheme to get the necessary artistic insight for his next opus: An important, Drama* about human suffering much to the detriment of his producers who understand perfectly that his true forte is in the more financially successful field of silly Comedy.

After some unsuccessful attempts in which he only ends up back in Hollywood, one of those times with a tagalong wannabe starlet (Veronica Lake) who at first simply thinks he’s just a penniless hobo; he gives up thinking that he's had enough of the experience.

Little does he know that his farewell outing will get him exactly what he was looking for, but not quite what he expected.

The cold open is a fantastic action sequence set on a train which is revealed to be a movie a group of executives is screening.

From then on, we get the Comedy portion of the film with a sex-hungry widow who nearly abducts him so that he must escape thru the window, rip his pants and into a rain barrel; and an extended, high-speed Keystone Kop-like chase and slapstick sequence in which a busload of his followers gets banged up** as their vehicle goes over rough terrain.

Sullivan convinces this cadre of followers to leave him alone, and for them to meet in Las Vegas, but chances upon The Girl (whereupon the Romance portion starts) and he immediately heads back to Hollywood with her.

After recovering back in Los Angeles, the newly teamed-up couple travels together for a bit; he has his shoes stolen they leave a Salvation Army shelter and soon find themselves flipping garbage can lids looking for food ...and that’s enough of that!

Comedy portion over, it’s now time for deadly serious Drama, with the emotional highlight being a most moving scene where members of a chain gang are taken to a Black church and treated to a Pluto cartoon; only then does Sullivan learn how important Comedy is for unfortunate people who need just such a cathartic release (Sullivan’s laughter is so strange to him he does not even recognize it as such.)

Lesson learned; ("There's a lot to be said for making people laugh. Did you know that's all some people have? It isn't much, but it's better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan.") he goes back to Hollywood to happily fulfill his true calling.

With Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall & Eric Blore.

A both hilarious Comedy and heartbreaking Drama which achieves precisely what its protagonist set out to make: Socially relevant commentary.

A Classic, must-see film.