Preston Sturges (1898–1959)

There was a period during the 1940s when everything Preston Sturges touched was wildly successful, with both critics and the public. His forte was comedy, and in Sullivan’s Travels he highlighted the importance of laughter in the lives of Americans by telling the story of a director disgusted with his success making humorous pictures, as he sets out to make an "important" one.

Joel McCrea portrays the filmmaker tired of churning out lowbrow comedies, despite their tremendous commercial success. His idea to make a serious social film is met with much incredulity and resistance because, as pointed out to him, he knows nothing about the common man. To experience what it is like to be without, he leaves Hollywood behind and sets out to live as a hobo. The studio makes the task nearly impossible by sending an entourage to follow him everywhere, however. On his second attempt to elude them and strike out on his own he meets the wonderful Veronica Lake. She is an extra in the movies who hasn’t gotten the breaks, but she gives Sullivan one by buying him breakfast. He discovers she loves one of his comedies, and when they are briefly detained by the police for borrowing his own car she discovers who he really is and what he is trying to do.

Most famous today for her hairdo and films opposite Alan Ladd, Lake is simply fabulous here, and has never been lovelier or more engaging. A real affection develops between the couple as they have a riotous time hopping a freight. Her attempt to hide her glamour under a French cap and boys clothes only makes her more alluring. The pair finally get their chance to live like tramps, but Sullivan discovers being without is not all it's cracked up to be.

A nearly tragic turn of events ensues when he ends up on a chain gang, and for a time in this film, everyone believes he is dead. Sturges shows the futility of greed in this film when Sullivan is robbed but his attacker. His humor is in evidence as well; he make’s Lake’s character a Lubitch fan!

The wondrous Lake falls in love with the idealistic Sullivan before he realizes just how important the laughter he provides is to people with so little to laugh about. McCrea gives a terrific performance and is matched in every frame of celluloid by Veronica Lake. While not as outright funny as his other films of note, Sullivan’s Travels has more relevance. Its message is a timeless one and as important today as when the film was made.… (mere)

Barbara Stanwyck never looked more feminine or gave a more luminous performance than in this touching Christmas classic directed by Mitchell Leisen. A fine screenplay from the great Preston Sturges and an excellent supporting cast bolster this sentimental film into a Holiday staple you’ll watch every Christmas.

Fred MacMurray is Assistant District Attorney John Sargent, charged with prosecuting pretty shoplifter Lee Leander right before Christmas. He coaxes her defense attorney into a postponement so he can spend Christmas on his mom’s farm in Wabash, Indiana. Feeling guilty when Lee reacts badly to being locked up during the Christmas season, he arranges for her release. Startled to find her childhood home is just a few miles from Wabash, John decides he can drop her off and pick her up on his way back to New York for the trial.

As with all good Christmas classics, one must just go with some improbable circumstances and accept what’s happening. Stanwyck and MacMurray were a great team, and there are some very fun moments as they keep getting lost on the backroads of Indiana. There is nothing funny about the reaction of Stanwyck’s mother when she goes home after all those years, however.

John’s family is warm and welcoming, with only his mother (Beulah Bondi) aware of Lee’s situation. Elizabeth Patterson is wonderful as John’s aunt, taking an immediate shine to Lee and helping her worm her way into John’s heart. It is the family Lee never had, the one thing that might have made a difference in how her life has turned out. There is a particularly warm and moving on Christmas morning.

Stanwyck, often unfairly described by her critics as less than beautiful, has never been so much so as in a tender bedroom scene with John’s mother, who realizes her son might love her enough to jeopardize his career. A wonderful moment between the couple at Niagra Falls suggests that his mother may be right. A gesture of love climaxes in a memorable ending for fans with a sentimental heart for Christmas stories.

This is a warm and wonderful film to watch at Christmas, or any time. There are fine performances from everyone, and a truly memorable one from Barbara Stanwyck.… (mere)