• Wednesday, January 28, 1942

• Country:

  USA

• Language:

  English

• Runtime:

  90 min

1942

In cinema come sollievo dell'anima ! Convinto che in un periodo difficile si debbano girare soltanto film drammatici, un giovane regista cinematografico, durante la Seconda Guerra Mondiale, decide di girare un film ispirato alla vita dei senzatetto, lui che è abituato a girare sempre commedie. Travestitosi da barbone, inizia a frequentare i quartieri più poveri della città per cercare di conoscere gli ambienti e le persone di cui vorrebbe parlare.

Con l'aiuto di una aspirante attrice riesce fare delle esperienze 'sul campo'. Dopo varie peripezie, si trova coinvolto in un errore giudiziario ed è condannato ai lavori forzati. Cerca di svelare la propria identità, ma non viene creduto. Durante la permanenza in carcere si rende conto che i detenuti trovano sollievo alla sofferenza di essere rinchiusi solo guardando film di cartoni animati.

Alla fine viene riconosciuta la sua innocenza e viene rilasciato. Questa esperienza gli servirà molto per capire che in momenti difficili l'essere umano ha bisogno di gioia e, quindi, decide di tornare alle sue commedie.

Goofs

• Revealing mistakes: When the supposedly unconscious Sullivan is being pulled by a bum who hit him into an empty boxcar, you can see the actor (Joel McRae) push himself along with his foot, apparently because the other man is not strong enough to drag him.
• Plot holes: When the identification card in the dead man's boots was used to confirm Sullivan's death, the girl knew that his boots had previously been stolen.

Taglines

• A Happy-Go Lucky Hitch-Hiker on the Highway to happiness! He wanted to see the world . . . but wound up in Lover's Lane!
• The Creator of "Lady Eve" brings you his latest and most lilting laugh-fest!
• Veronica Lake's on the take.

Trivias

• John L. Sullivan plans to make a movie entitled "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" - a title borrowed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for their 2000 film.
• In the airplane scene, the author of the book "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" is shown to be "Sinclair Beckstein", an amalgamation of the names of authors Upton Sinclair, Sinclair Lewis, and John Steinbeck.
• Director Cameo: [Preston Sturges] Studio director, on the set of 'The Girl's period movie. He is seen in the background when she reads the newspaper and throws up her hands in delight.
• Veronica Lake made this movie while pregnant.
• Reportedly, Preston Sturges got the idea for the movie from stories of John Garfield living the life of a hobo, riding freight trains and hitchhiking his way cross-country for a short period in the 1930s.
• Paul Jones, the associate producer, appears as the portrait of "Dear Joseph", the dead husband, early in the film.
• The film's opening dedication, "To the memory of those who made us laugh: the motley mountebanks, the clowns, the buffoons, in all times and nations, whose efforts have lightened our burden a little, this picture is affectionately dedicated." with the added phrase "...in this cockeyed caravan..." was initially to be spoken by Joel McCrea in an epilogue as if it was to be the prologue for the comedy he intended to make. In the original script the prologue Preston Sturges initially wrote was, "This is the story of a man who wanted to wash an elephant. The elephant darn near ruined him."
• Preston Sturges had originally intended to use a clip from a Charles Chaplin film for the church sequence, but Chaplin wouldn't give permission. In an earlier scene, Joel McCrea does parody the Little Tramp character. The cartoon eventually used was Walt Disney's Playful Pluto (1934).
• NAACP Secretary Walter White wrote a letter to Preston Sturges congratulating him for his "dignified and decent treatment of Negroes in this scene."
• The movie's poster was as #19 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.

Awards

1. National Film Registry
   Event: National Film Preservation Board, USA
   Result: Won
   Category:
   Recipient(s):