Visual Storytelling in Sullivan's Travels

I’ve mentioned this before but one of Sullivan’s Travels’ strengths is the versatility with comedy. Not only is Preston Sturges a master when it comes to fast and hilarious dialogue, but he has a knack for physical comedy but most importantly visual storytelling. This is something not necessarily pointed out in screwball comedies, in the sense that screwballs tend to highlight more the repartee. But Sturges does it so well that’s it’s worth a mention.

There are a few dialogueless scenes throughout the film. One is the car chase scene that resembles something out of cartoon. Before we even get to it, we hear the crew following Sullivan in his experiment in the caravan going on about the nutty idea. Sullivan himself feels like he’s being babysitted so he hitches a ride with a kid in a drag race car and mayhem ensues. The scene is a wonderful boost of energy and hilarity, and like I said, exactly what you might see in a vintage cartoon or even a silent comedy film. Legs are flying in the air, a cop is thrown mud several times before he can take off on his motorcycle, and things are crashing left and right. Sturges takes what could’ve been a dull moment and entertains; you have to watch it to fully enjoy it. This sort of storytelling also takes advantage of pace, which Sturges uses to it’s utmost extent in another scene.

A bit halfway through the film, there’s a montage of Sullivan and the Girl living as tramps and assimilating to that lifestyle. It is here that Sturges shows a fine balance between funny and serious. The depression is a serious topic as its name suggests, and Sturges doesn’t make fun of it but instead he shows the lighter side of it. For every homeless person eating a meal at a shelter, there’s another image of Sullivan eating the same meal with disgust. You see all the tramps showering, and then there’s the Girl showering in a stall with a look of utter discomfort all over her face. And when they all sleep on the floor, it’s depressing but at the same time comical with hands in all over. The montage gives the effect of a few days having passed by, maybe more, and what is normally a slow-moving detail speeds up quite quickly due to the comedic sides of the experience. What struck me most about this montage is how Capraesque it is in some areas but at the same time Sturges makes it his own by providing the lighter moments and physical comedy. He never gets too serious, which is kind of the point he’s trying to make in satirizing Sullivan’s exploration.

There’s one final bit near the end when Sullivan confesses to killing John L. Sullivan. What could be a bit melodramatic return of Sullivan turns out to be, again, quite comedic. The Girl reads the newspaper and runs to the producers to show them the news that Sullivan is alive, everyone meets and starts celebrating. Sullivan's wife is upset and next thing you know, Sullivan is on a plane back and surrounded by reporters. In a short montage, many events occur to speed the story along, which in this case is needed to wrap up the film. Sturges could've played it all out, but there's really no point since its much more effective, entertaining, and it re-emphasizes the point of using comedy, which is the lesson Sullivan learns in the end.

Visual storytelling is something I wish I'd see more of today in films and it's always refreshing to see it done so well as it's done in Sullivan's Travels. Sturges uses it well to speed up the story and to always keep things light during serious topics. Most importantly, he uses visual storytelling to drive his point across that in times of trouble, laughter is all people have sometimes.