Sullivan's Travels as a screwball comedy

Here again is another film that pushes the defining requisites of a screwball comedy. Is Sullivan’s Travels a true screwball? According to what the “rules” are the answer would be no. But perhaps a better answer would be that, like most of the films of the late 30s and early 40s, this film further evolves the genre, and redefines comedy in general.

One of the biggest differences in this film with screwballs is that this isn't a typical love story. You could say that after watching the film, this is Preston Sturges love letter to the comedy, and you could even say that it's Sullivan's romance with comedy. He's done so many comedies and he wants to do something "meaningful" and dramatic, but of course he knows nothing about trouble. And like in most screwballs, Sullivan has to go through a whole lot of screwy trouble to finally realize who he's meant to be with, and in this case, he's meant to be doing comedies.

On the other hand, this film is very much like other screwballs when it gets down to the comedy and dialogue. No one writes dialogue better than Sturges. Some might think he's overrated, but he has an uncanny way of writing satire, parody, and to be able to evoke such performances out of actors who look doe-eyed all the while. Some of the best dialogue is in the opening scene between Sullivan and the film producers. Each producer tries to top one after the other with another greater instance of trouble that is so ridiculous that Sullivan quiets down. Dialogue is also memorable in the first meeting between the Girl and Sullivan. When Sullivan gets a bit too inquisitive, the Girl is quick to shoot back, "I didn't ask you any questions." And while it's not the famous repartee between two romantic leads in a typical film of the genre, the dialogue in this film is still classic and top-notch.

Now, while the screwball hero in this instance is a privileged boy who went to boarding school as a kid, we still sympathize with him, perhaps because of he's crazy scheme. He doesn't know trouble so he's going to find out, and no matter how many times he tries he ends up back in Hollywood, but he's determined. As an innocent of all things trouble, Sullivan is surrounded by tramps who are much "wiser" than him. This differences in classes is again something seen in screwballs, not the way portrayed in this film, but it's still a different way of looking at things. In fact, the big transformation for Sullivan is when he's mugged and loses his memory and ends up in jail. When he actually suffers and sees a comedy picture show and truly laughs, it's like the light bulb goes off in his head and his eyes open wide. He gets that wisdom, and in that he sees he's meant to be with comedies.

What Sturges does with Sullivan's Travels is take the screwball comedy, which parodies the romantic comedy, and instead uses these rules to parody the film business and a picture show director. So you take away the romance, but stay relatively within the boundaries, and you have a type of screwball comedy, although not quite. It's a bit of same but different that Hollywood always seeks, and Sturges makes one funny film by stretching the rules of the genre.