January 26th: SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges, 1942)

A successful director of comedies poses as a homeless man and goes out on the road in an attempt to gather material for a more socially-conscious, serious film.

Prior to his career in show business, Preston Sturges worked in finance and served in the military, both of which would provide creative material. Success as a playwright on Broadway led to writing assignments from the movie studios that proved lucrative as well as bolstering his reputation in Hollywood. In an bold move, Sturges offered his script for The Great McGinty to Paramount for one dollar in exchange for the opportunity to direct, unheard of at the time for a contract writer.

McGinty was a critical and box office success and would win Sturges an Oscar for his screenplay, kicking off a five-year run in which he wrote and directed seven films, several of them now considered classics. Sturges was inspired by stories told to him by actor John Garfield about his brief stint as a hitchhiker and train-jumper, and combined this with his reaction to overly-preachy comedies  for his screenplay Sullivan's Travels, which Paramount bought for a then-pricey $6000.

The title role was written specifically for actor Joel McCrea, who had not worked with Sturges before but was fresh off Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. For the female lead, after considering Barbara Stanwyck (star of his previous film The Lady Eve), he went with newcomer Veronika Lake, over the studio's protestations. The rest of the cast mostly consists of the director's "stock company" of over 20 actors who appeared in most of his films.

Soon after shooting began, Lake revealed she was six months pregnant, which irreparably damaged her relationships with Sturges and McCrea. Costume designer Edith Head was forced to make dresses that would help to hide Lake's growing belly. During the studio shooting, Sturges deftly compressed his shooting schedule by filming scenes in long takes to save time, in collaboration with cinematographer John F. Seitz (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity).

Despite his efforts, the film went somewhat overbudget, further angering studio executives. As a result, Sturges's plans for an animated prologue were scrapped. The film was released to mostly positive reviews and was a moderate success. McCrea and Sturges became close, and the actor would star in two more of the director's films.

Sullivan's Travels is now regarded as a comedy classic, and has inspired such films as Woody Allen's Stardust Memories, the Coen Bros' O Brother, Where Art Thou? (the fictional name of a socially-conscious novel featured in Sturges's film), and Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon.

Running time is 90 minutes.