wait... isn't this movie terrible?

I must admit I couldn't see anything particularly funny about this movie. Had I not watched it in a class about American Comedy, I would never have even dreamed that it was supposed to be amusing. Nonetheless, I wouldn't call it terrible. However, I will avoid anything in the future made by Preston Sturges.

[deleted]

Of course he's a troll, which is probably why he never responded after his OP. Some folks just like to spend 15 seconds swatting the bee hive and then watching others waste huge amounts of time defending the film.

For those to lump headed to love this film as the masterwork it truly is, let them be. I'm sure they will love 'Transformers' just as they enjoyed all the other Michael Bay films (excluding The Rock). For those of us who love it, we will have our AFI spot for at least the next 10 years.

http://moviedudemovies.blogspot.com/

Last Film Seen: Sulivan's Travels (A+)

This is a truly funny post, thank you. So as I understand it, you take the time to post this list and you are insulting people as being "bigheads because they really don't know what the hell they're talking about" but you haven't seen the movie you are commenting on (which would suggest you don't know what you are talking about)? Why don't you watch the movie and let it prove its pre-eminence on its own. There are also many good comments that describe why this movie is special if you would take a few moments to read them.

Also I have seen all the movies on your list above and would agree that Sullivan's Travels is better than most on this list (for me) and probably better than some ranked above it. But crazily enough I am only able to consider the films I have actually seen. Take the money that you would have given to someone for "proving" and buy the DVD it's worth it.

"still chuckling ..." thanks again for the laugh.

Of the 23 movies that were demoted, the only one that could seriously be considered on a par with Sullivan's Travels is The Third Man...an exquisitely acted movie, with brilliant peformances, and the cuckoo clock speech (which was factually inaccurate, but anyway...). A Preston Sturges script--with two exceptions--has more good dialogue than all but a couple of score of screenplays ever written by anyone else. That doesn't necessarily make them better than all of those movies with inferior dialogue, but it's an enormous advantage. The day Hollywood turned its back on Preston Sturges was among the darkest days in our nation's history.

I'm going to say good but not great.

If I'd gone to the theater in 1942 to see this movie (and had been alive and an adult then, bla bla bla), I'd have felt treated well for my quarter. Wouldn't have been NEARLY my all-time favorite movie, but would have fit right in and made some witty contributions to the ongoing dialog about what movies were supposed to be good for. A good way to spend Wednesday evening and then have an interesting discussion afterwards over coffee.

What I really like about it is how Sullivan keeps trying to make this wonderful enlightening road trip and keeps winding up back home -- and then just when you think the story's over, he winds up going out again for the real knockout punch of a road trip. It's fun to be lulled into thinking you're headed one direction and suddenly be pulled somewhere else by a story.

Certainly Veronica Lake is gorgeous. Certain Joel McCrea does a swell job in the lead. Certainly the supporting players are up to snuff. But the shortfall in the production, curiously enough for a movie whose message is that movies ought to make you laugh, is that this is not a movie that makes you laugh very much. The comedy is workmanlike, not outstanding. I like the snappy dialog when the leads meet for the first time in the diner, but that's pretty much the high point for grins. After all, comedy was not primitive in 1942. This was pretty dull compared to the real stuff.

It's a high-concept film, and the concept works, and that gets you through it all right. It's a key piece of cinematic history that any movie fan should see. I'm glad to know now why the Coen brothers wanted to title something "O Brother Where Art Thou." But it's not in my personal top 200 movies... maybe my top 500.