Written and Directed by Sturges

I have to say, I’m a big fan of Preston Sturges, but it wasn’t until now that I’ve sat down and read one of his screenplays. And in reading the script for Sullivan’s Travels, I’m reminded of the Trouble in Paradise script—not that big of a surprise considering Ernst Lubitsch is name-dropped about five times throughout the film. Sturges puts much detail in his script, things are well thought out, and not much is left on the cutting room floor, much like Lubitsch demanded of his scripts.

The first thing that stood out was how well action scenes were written. It's obvious that Sturges wrote this script thinking he would direct it. And although I have already seen the film, I could visualize every image as described. The car chase scene near the beginning, which is pretty much just visual storytelling, describes in one instance objects in the land yacht as being turned over like "potatoes in a skillet."

The montage in the middle of the film, is also well described, like the instance in which Sullivan and the Girl take turns jumping around when a sudden itch strikes their back. But then, in that same scene, when the Girl is at the shower stall, nothing is mentioned except that the action would be devised later on. Sturges couldn't put to paper something for that particular moment, and it goes to show that he was thinking of specific actions, instead of just saying something vague. What I like most about this, is the whole idea of just getting the script done. Sturges didn't let a roadblock stop him. He made a note of it, and moved on so that he could finish the scene.

One thing I like about this script, that I noticed while watching the film, is that it's a sequence film. I never noticed sequence storytelling until I read and watched Trouble in Paradise, and I've become such a big fan of it. I find it to be a much more clearer way of establishing story and I love the fact that each sequence has a goal, that each sequence is like a mini-movie. That being said, the sequence in which Sullivan stays with the two sisters always seemed a bit off to me. When Miz Zeffie calls out to Sullivan from up in the room she was preparing for him, Sullivan has a look of utter irritation. And while it's understandable straightaway that she's a bit unbearable, there is a bit of history behind that look, which is more clear upon reading the script. The last couple of times I've watched the film, I wondered how Sullivan ended up there when it's obvious he doesn't want to be there. In the script, the sequence starts out in a car ride Sullivan gets from the sheriff, who proceeds to drop him off at the sisters' house, lest he be put in jail for being a vagrant. The sheriff suspects Sullivan's just a bum who doesn't work for a living after seeing his hands that haven't seen a day of hard labor. These sequence also extends a bit the last part as well, and I think it was a wise choice to trim it down, because reading it just seemed to drag the story along, and really it isn't too relevant, only to make the point that Sullivan tries to get trouble, and ends up running away and back in Hollywood.

The ending is also different, although my copy had two endings: the finished one and a working one. The working draft one is pretty much the same, only Mr. Burrows talks a bit in the beginning. Then the ending, Sullivan tells the crew his plans to make a comedy, then proceeds to tell them who he will dedicate it to. This dedication is what appears in the final film, only in this ending, as Sullivan says a phrase, it's overlapped with images of different people laughing, the same images we see in the finished film. I never really cared too much either way for the last clips of people laughing, but I do have to agree again with the decision to stick with the finished film's ending. I think the working draft ending would've just dragged it on a bit too much, and it would've seem more Capraesque. With this film, Sturges is satirizing the film business, but he brings enough drama to balance out a serious topic in the 1940s. His serious scenes do evoke Capra, but he never allows them to dwell there because in the next clip, Sturges is showing you physical comedy. The finished film's ending still drives across the point he makes without getting too dramatic.

From my understanding, Sturges had been fighting to direct his own screenplays, and when you read a script like Sullivan's Travels, you see that it wasn't for naught. He had a clear vision and more importantly a unique voice. It makes you wonder how a film like The Good Fairy would've turned out had Sturges taken the helm. Sturges had a gift for dialogue, but also a gift for physical comedy, and he was able to get this across clearly on the printed page. The dialogue doesn't even need direction because the tone is apparent within the actual dialogue. And the action scenes are so well laid out without a lot of wordiness that it almost seems choreographed. Sturges wrote an incredible script and it's worth a couple of careful readings.