Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake try to get serious in Preston Sturges’s socially conscious comedy
SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (Preston Sturges, 1941)
BAMcinématek, BAM Rose Cinemas
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Friday, August 17, 6:50
Series runs through September 17
212-415-5500
www.bam.org
When a successful Hollywood director decides to make a socially conscious film instead of his usual fluff comedies, he gets more than he bargained for in this classic Preston Sturges film starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake. McCrea gives one of his finest performances as John L. Sullivan, a filmmaker who has made a string of shallow comedies but is ready to take on far more serious subjects, despite what the studio wants. So he heads out on the road, pretending to be a tramp to learn about the real world as he is followed by a crew ready to bail him out of any trouble, but he is soon thrust into actual distress when he winds up on his own, with no money and no memory, a railroad hobo desperately trying to survive against seemingly impenetrable odds. In the wake of the financial mortgage crisis and the country’s continuing economic woes, Sullivan’s Travels feels as fresh and relevant as ever; just as McCrea’s Sullivan does in the film, writer-director Sturges is letting everyone know that it’s okay to enjoy life even in troubled times. To that end, the film opens with a special dedication that reads, “To the memory of those who made us laugh: the motley mountebanks, the clowns, the buffoons, in all times and in all nations, whose efforts have lightened our burden a little.” Sullivan’s Travels is screening August 17 in the BAMcinématek series “American Gagsters: Great Comedy Teams,” which runs through September 17 and consists of fifty films (all but one in 35mm) featuring fabulous comedic pairings; Sturges’s The Palm Beach Story, a madcap romp with McCrea and Claudette Colbert, is also being shown on Friday.