No film has contemplated the divide between “high” and “low” art with as much flair, gusto and flat-out fun as Preston Sturges’s 1941 magnum opus Sullivan’s Travels. The writer-director elevated screwball comedies, making irresistibly entertaining pictures full of banter and repartee, showcasing some of the genre’s best dialogue and creating moments that rank among the most enjoyable of 40s-era Hollywood.
Part of the film’s focus is the tension between studio bigwigs and hotshot directors, the former driven by the almighty dollar and the latter craving acclaim and credibility. The protagonist is Joel McCrea’s John L Sullivan, a popular director known for lowbrow box office hits with titles such as Ants in Your Pants of 1939. He longs to change tack and make serious statements about the human condition: particularly a high-minded drama called O Brother, Where Art Thou? (which is where the Coen brothers got the name for their marvellous 2000 film). Sullivan intends it to be a “commentary on modern conditions, stark realism, the problems that confront the average man” and “a true canvas of the suffering of humanity”. One studio executive listens to this and adds: “But with a little sex in it.”
