Sullivan's Travels

Preston Sturges - 1941
The most philosopical attempt I have seen by Sturges. A comedy film about itself, that is, about the film industry and comedy. That opening, of thinking we are watching a film, then discovering we are watching a film in a film, is quite a little jolt. Also some nice little lines about Capra, and a namecheck for Lubitsch (and of course the Coen references now, 'Oh Brother Where Art Thou').
Sturges is then able to see that films can patronise misery. In the film, he almost seems to suggest it should then be ignored. But he doesn't do this himself; there is a scene with clear civil rights resonance. The idea that films should be comedy, to try and at least offer some succour, is by intention laudable, and true in its way, but ultimately a pretty terrible point if over-generalised.