MovieChat Forums > Sullivan's Travels (1942) Discussion > Easily the best movie that most people h...

Easily the best movie that most people have never heard of


I never would have discovered this movie had it not been for the AFI list. I'm pretty sure none of my friends have ever heard of it.

Most people when they think of old good classics immediately think of stuff like Hitchcock, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, etc. But how many average person has heard of Sullivan's Travels or Preston Sturges?

It's too bad.

Cause this movie is a true gem.

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Would have to agree. What I also find interesting is this is the best movie most people have never heard of/seen that they for some reason love to hate sight unseen. I find that part very curious.

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Perhaps this is not fair as I am addicted to late 1930s and 1940s films, but I loved S.T. The simplicity of the plots found in these films is something I enjoy and, seeing some of the young actors who became stars later on. I noted Margaret Hays in S.T., she was the secretary with her legs up in the air during the bus chase. She went on to perform as teacher Ms Hammond in the "Blackboard Jungle" in 1955. I do enjoy all films and certainly todays, with their complicated plots and high tech wizardry. Watching a 1940s or earlier film is refreshing and an escape from todays films. I thought S.T. was great to watch.

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Totally agree! I also need to escape from todays films and love 1930s and 40s films. This is a great movie that nobody I know has heard of. Such a shame.

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This movie is absolutely fantastic. Like so many of Sturges' films, it asks a more complicated question of its audience and weaves a story that examines that era's morality. The chemistry between the leads is fantastic, as are the performances of the regular Sturges crew. Truly a pleasure to watch.

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great movie -- i saw this one as a child on german television and never forgot charles moore's name (the chef) -- full circle.

esse quam videri.

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Yes lists like imdb top 250, AFI top 100, and films101.com's top movies (about 3000 movies ranked) are great! I also heard of this movie only from AFI.

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Wait till you watch more movies. Sullivan's Travels is a famous film from a very famous writer/director.

I could give you an entire list of films that are as good, if not better, and way less popular for some reason.

I don't pray, really, because I don't want to bore God.

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I recently bought the DVD and watched Sullivan's Travels for the first time tonight.
The primary reason was to see Miss Lake ...
Well, I was expecting some kind of light-hearted trip around the US
Totally blown away by a fantastic film from downright silly to really moving moments... must watch it again! Absolutely amazing film!


When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk.

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Whenever you get anywhere near comedy, you immediately get into matters of personal taste / preference, even more so than in "serious drama". To quote a line from a TV show: "Humor is so subjective."

But to my taste, while Sullivan is generally Sturges' most celebrated movie, it is no better than my third or fourth favorite of his movies. I prefer The Lady Eve and the original version of Unfaithfully Yours, possibly The Palm Beach Story (it depends on my mood).

Moving over to another similarly literate writer / director, Joseph Mankiewicz is justifiably remembered for All About Eve. However, I think that A Letter to Three Wives is too often forgotten.

Yet another director of literate comedies, not enough of the work of Erst Lubitsch is as well remembered as it should be. Such things as To Be of Not To Be or The Shop Around the Corner tend not to garner the level of voting respect that Sullivan does. More obscure than those are Lubitsch's Pre-Code work which included a fair number of musicals such as The Love Parade and The Smiling Lieutenant along with non-musicals like Trouble in Paradise. (I also like what I've seen of Lubitsch's German silent movies.) Mamoulian's Love Me Tonight would fit right in with those Lubitsch musicals and is also very good.

Stage Door is a wondrous swirl of fast paced banter to rival His Girl Friday, but isn't nearly as well remembered. It's set in an actress' boarding house populated by the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Ann Miller, and Gail Patrick. Speaking of Rogers, the only time she ever worked with Jimmy Stewart was a rom-com called Vivacious Lady. That one is a bit more uneven than most movies mentioned here, but it has some positively terrific bits and the charisma of the leads (plus Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi as Stewart's parents) carries it through its rougher moments.

Intersecting Charles Coburn with Sullivan's Joel McRae, you get The More the Merrier with Jean Arthur in the housing shortage of wartime Washington, DC.

Moving away from comedies, but staying with the Sullivan theme of riding the rails; there's a very good little noir-musical called Blues in the Night. The concept of a "noir-musical" might sound a bit odd (and this is the only one that I can think of off the top of my head). However, since the central characters are a small combo jazz band, it works out.


Most Americans have seen an unfortunately low number of British movies. So let's start sampling British comedy with The Belles of St. Trinian's, The Green Man, and Green for Danger (I do like Alastair Sim). Then we can throw in Blithe Spirit and Hobson's Choice from David Lean's earlier pre-epics period. Of course, the whole cycle of "Ealing comedies" (especially the Alec Guiness ones) is worth checking out. Let's represent those with The Lavender Hill Mob for the Guiness ones, and Whiskey Galore for the non-Guiness. Finally, to pick one Archers movie that isn't one of the couple that a fair number of Americans have heard of: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

"The war begins at midnight!"

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Sorry but there's no way on earth Unfaithfully Yours ranks in the same category as Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story or The Lady Eve.

Now if you had said The Great McGinty or Christmas in July, you might have a leg to stand on, but Unfaithfully Yours just doesn't rank on the same level as the other Sturges greats.

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Ok, you didn't ask me, but here's three very good movies..

- To Be or Not to Be (1942), very funny
- Make way for Tomorrow (1937), very sad
- Detour (1945)

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I'd probably have to give that title to Dodsworth. As for this movie, I didn't care for it much at all. I gave it a 6 but I was rounding up.



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It's certainly among them. Even when it was released it's main selling point was Veronica Lake (and I have nothing against her, but it shows that names like McCrae and Sturges were and are insufficient to gain much public notice).

Fact is, movies are only household names if they feature the biggest of stars.


"Lots of FAMOUS people can't read!"

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Yeah even teacher at our film study course never heard of it either. I bought it purely because of Veronica Lake on the cover lol

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As others have mentioned this is a popular classic amongst film buffs.
Might also look for the W.C. Fields ones like The Bank Dick (as Egbert Sousè)
and many of his other later ones. Big Broadcast of 1938 is a riot.
Busby Berkeley choreographed films from that era are also a treat.
Sometimes when watching some of the Resident Evil or Tomb Raider series I get
a flash to the movies that remind me of BB.
Glad there is a good interest in films like Sullivan & Sturges himself.
Sad that Lake had such a rough go of it in most of her later work. Never made
it to top line and eventually into too much substandard films. Still she said
she was happen enough with the route she chose. Best on can do.

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I completely agree. I grew up in L.A., and watched old movies all day on the weekends...W.C. Fields was my favorite (my taste as a young girl raised eyebrows when I'd identify him as my favorite actor). All days Sundays were often W.C. Fields marathons. But I never see his films playing on TV any more.

I'm finding many favories on TCM lately, but not his (maybe I missed them). Coming up in the next week are old favorites--both Nothing Sacred and Design For Living. And one I can't quite place, Made For Each Other. I used to catch these on Channel 56, the pbs Orange County station, that aired them every evening--tho I might be remembering the station incorrectly. Every evening at 7:30, this station would play a great 1930s comedy--they seemed so risque after the censorship of the 50s and 60s. Rabbit ears...all you needed besides an old TV people were giving away.

Then Z Channel picked up many of them and more for their celebrations of actors, directors, etc, which exposed me to Preston Sturgess and The Palm Beach Story, and Sullivan's Travels. He understood the importance of providing just that escapism to people stressed out by life. The reason we loved to see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers making it look simple to be independently wealthy and able to dance like a star all night long. We can forget our problems for 90+ minutes.

With the advent of DVDs, BluRay, and hi def, it seemed no one played the great old black and white films any more. (I did find lots of collections of the top stars, and myteries, film noire, etc for sale for awhile, but not any longer) It's all color even if we saw them last week and they sucked then too... All those cable channels and nothing. AMC turned to zombies! And Encore had canceled that great film noire oldies channel long ago...

But now, with TCM playing more old B & W, and many copyrights expiring so that I can find the movies on the web--for example a friend and I made references to Topper, and how we missed seeing that one evening and there it was on the web, so we could stop talking and watch it!--it seems I'm getting back my favorites. But need to search out W.C....

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