Re your thoughts on Sullivan’s Travels, I had a bit of an ouch moment when I came across these lines “for this viewer it was message received, craftsmanship admired and genuine enjoyment muted. Sullivan’s Travels is an admirably well-made movie, just not my particular cup of tea”, however, I can see where you may be coming from.
I personally remember this film a bit more fondly and likely need to revisit it because it has been about 10 years since I have seen it. Also, I think that perhaps because I saw Sullivan’s Travels prior to seeing I Married A Witch, my potential expectations were just a a bit different (non-existent etc.). You definitely are spot on in your commentary though, meaning, I also found Sullivan’s Travels to be a bit more serious (message laden etc.) than I Married A Witch, which I think is/was just total fun/silly/light-hearted etc., especially for that era of film.
I also appreciated your drawing and reading about your experience with exploring The Stuff of Stars.✨In fact, that second to last sentence was one of the most delightful and colorful ones I have encountered in a while. [“Indeed this is a most felicitous author/illustrator partnership: Holmes’s illustration style, which fuses Pollock-like painterly abstraction with playful collage and a sophisticated flair for representational depiction, imbues Bauer’s words with the correct balance of the psychedelically sublime and the covetably relatable.“]
Finally, fyi, I added both unencumbered and deft to my list. 🤓
Not yet, but it has been on my radar for a long while so I will plan to watch it sooner rather than later. I do love both Fonda and Stanwyck, such range they have/had. ☯️✅
I liked David Ehrlich’s complete review of I Married A Witch: “a movie about a man desperately trying *not* to fall in love with Veronica Lake. unsurprisingly, it's very short” I just saw it in full the other day and was swooning!
You sum up my feelings about Sullivan’s Travels exactly. It’s interesting in the context of your comment about the coda of the novel because it’s the “coda” of sorts that I always felt took my uneasy feelings about Sturgess’ self-conscious effort at a masterpiece and shifted them from enjoyment of many moments to a feeling of some indifference. The Lady Eve is the only one of his movies I whole heartedly enjoy. I haven’t seen The Great McGinty in so long that I don’t remember it. An old movie show on tv used to periodically show a lake noir double bill of This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key. She doesn’t get a ton of scope as the femme fatale but I remember those both as pleasant thrillers. Did you write about enjoying the movie And Then They We’re None, a Hollywood film by Rene clair same as I Married A Witch? Anyways, cool to think of some of these foreign stars brought to Hollywood not “making it” but still making really good movies.
No, I've never seen And Then There Were None. Is that an adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel...? The Lady Eve is a masterpiece; I was really surprised not to have enjoyed Sullivan's Travels more, considering it came out the same year.
Right, Agatha Christie adaptation but somehow completely charming in clair’s hands! Yes, love The Lady Eve. It’s funny because I was convinced for a minute that sturgess had contributed to the screenplay of ball of fire before getting to direct his own pictures. Stanwyck connection I guess. But that was billy wilder.
I like all three movies! May I suggest Sturges’ 1948 movie ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ for your viewing pleasure. Starring Rex Harrison, Rudy Vallee and Linda Darnell. I think you’ll like it.
I’d love a monthly segment of you reviewing books/media by other Substack writers. That’d be epic stuff.
Call it "Ring of Fire."
Yes!!!
Great piece; really enjoyed reading this.
Re your thoughts on Sullivan’s Travels, I had a bit of an ouch moment when I came across these lines “for this viewer it was message received, craftsmanship admired and genuine enjoyment muted. Sullivan’s Travels is an admirably well-made movie, just not my particular cup of tea”, however, I can see where you may be coming from.
I personally remember this film a bit more fondly and likely need to revisit it because it has been about 10 years since I have seen it. Also, I think that perhaps because I saw Sullivan’s Travels prior to seeing I Married A Witch, my potential expectations were just a a bit different (non-existent etc.). You definitely are spot on in your commentary though, meaning, I also found Sullivan’s Travels to be a bit more serious (message laden etc.) than I Married A Witch, which I think is/was just total fun/silly/light-hearted etc., especially for that era of film.
I also appreciated your drawing and reading about your experience with exploring The Stuff of Stars.✨In fact, that second to last sentence was one of the most delightful and colorful ones I have encountered in a while. [“Indeed this is a most felicitous author/illustrator partnership: Holmes’s illustration style, which fuses Pollock-like painterly abstraction with playful collage and a sophisticated flair for representational depiction, imbues Bauer’s words with the correct balance of the psychedelically sublime and the covetably relatable.“]
Finally, fyi, I added both unencumbered and deft to my list. 🤓
I still really needed to see Sullivan's Travels! Have you seen The Lady Eve? I bet you'd love it!
Not yet, but it has been on my radar for a long while so I will plan to watch it sooner rather than later. I do love both Fonda and Stanwyck, such range they have/had. ☯️✅
I liked David Ehrlich’s complete review of I Married A Witch: “a movie about a man desperately trying *not* to fall in love with Veronica Lake. unsurprisingly, it's very short” I just saw it in full the other day and was swooning!
That's a terrific one-line summation. Yeah, to quote Eddie Cochran, "She's sure fine-lookin' man, WOW she's somethin' else!"
I love any reference to all of us being star stuff. That's a book I could definitely enjoy.
I bet you would really like it. You can borrow my copy some time if you promise to be careful with it!
That would be terrific. I am always careful with borrowed books 💙🦋
You sum up my feelings about Sullivan’s Travels exactly. It’s interesting in the context of your comment about the coda of the novel because it’s the “coda” of sorts that I always felt took my uneasy feelings about Sturgess’ self-conscious effort at a masterpiece and shifted them from enjoyment of many moments to a feeling of some indifference. The Lady Eve is the only one of his movies I whole heartedly enjoy. I haven’t seen The Great McGinty in so long that I don’t remember it. An old movie show on tv used to periodically show a lake noir double bill of This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key. She doesn’t get a ton of scope as the femme fatale but I remember those both as pleasant thrillers. Did you write about enjoying the movie And Then They We’re None, a Hollywood film by Rene clair same as I Married A Witch? Anyways, cool to think of some of these foreign stars brought to Hollywood not “making it” but still making really good movies.
No, I've never seen And Then There Were None. Is that an adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel...? The Lady Eve is a masterpiece; I was really surprised not to have enjoyed Sullivan's Travels more, considering it came out the same year.
Right, Agatha Christie adaptation but somehow completely charming in clair’s hands! Yes, love The Lady Eve. It’s funny because I was convinced for a minute that sturgess had contributed to the screenplay of ball of fire before getting to direct his own pictures. Stanwyck connection I guess. But that was billy wilder.
There is a 1984 version with Dudley Moore and Nastasia Kinsky, but not as good.
No film recommendation has ever begun with the phrase "There is a 1984 version."
😂You’d think there would be original ideas at some point!
I like all three movies! May I suggest Sturges’ 1948 movie ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ for your viewing pleasure. Starring Rex Harrison, Rudy Vallee and Linda Darnell. I think you’ll like it.
You may! I'll order if from the library today.