Sullivan's Travels is more or less what you would expect from a Preston Sturges film, think The Lady Eve but with a message about the importance of laughter thrown in. The film follows John L. Sullivan a successful director of 'fluff' comedy films such as Ants in their pants of 1941 (a slight dig at gold diggers of 1933), who is tired of making the same meaningless films. Sullivan gets the crazy idea that he must leave his pampered upbringing and extravagant lifestyle to experience the hardships of the everyday man during the depression. To his producers dismay he goes ahead with the plan and gets into all kinds of fixes and mayhem along the way. On his travels he meets a stunning young actress played by Veronica Lake, who sadly is a very limited actress in real life and is no more then a pair of legs. The story keeps you entertained throughout and has it's twists near the end that are done quit well. Joel McCrea gives a solid performance as Sullivan, even if it is a bit wooden at times. Strurges does his best to replicate a Frank Capra film towards the end with his whole power of laughter message which felt a bit rushed too be honest. But all in all Sullivan's Travels is a very good lighthearted comedy, that is superbly written. But with too many flaws and not a strong enough cast to be deemed a true 'classic'. 7/10
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