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.
Most Sturges films are characterized by their rapid-fire dialog, manic pace, and enormous wit.
This is why Z Channel, the old cable system in Santa Monica was so beloved--they dedicated a celebration to the films of Preston Sturges back in the late 70s or early 80s, playing them with on-air interviews and stories in the magazine guide...this film being the piece de resistance (tho I adore more meaningless Palm Beach Story too). So those of us who were lucky enough to need cable TV (because nothing came over the airwaves besides a local station and maybe one network) in Santa Monica--before the days of ON movie channels and Time Warner ;)--have been able to appreciate this movie for decades.
I think another one of the classic stations also played it--maybe AMC back in the day? So lots of us have loved it for a long time. And now TCM (playing all my old favorites of the past lately). Glad more are discovering it!
this movie is impossible to dislike, when i first tuned in it looked like a typical corny old comedy with a haircut lead and setting to every point, but as it continues couldn't be further from it and its really a moving story, the guy losing his identity claiming to be someone belonging at a set reminded alot of the twilight zone episode "a world of difference", of course the twilight zone headed in quite a different direction. this seem to get highest ratings from critics too, i thought him hitting the person at the railway with a rock seemed so out of place for his role to be doing, but i guess that was needed for the continuation of the story. some of the greatest parts are close to the end, i guess the movie just gets better as it goes along.
🚃 👞 📽
in the sunrise,
over the mountain stepped on a cloud,
in pink sky swell hips rocked my space and time,
she pushed me from cloud to snowy hill,
rolled all over the world with me,
along with the sun she was gone,
only shadows and prints of where she was.