Curator Watchlist
A sparkling Hollywood satire that turns into a surprisingly humane argument for comedy itself. It’s witty, fast, and slyly self-aware, with a sharp eye for class, show business, and the gap between theory and lived experience.
Where to watch: Buy
Sun · 1h 31m
Director: Preston Sturges
Starring: Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick
Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.
Preston Sturges
Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick
A sparkling Hollywood satire that turns into a surprisingly humane argument for comedy itself. It’s witty, fast, and slyly self-aware, with a sharp eye for class, show business, and the gap between theory and lived experience.
Preston Sturges uses a comic premise to puncture artistic vanity, class blindness, and Hollywood pretension, then sneaks in a sincere defense of laughter as a public good. The movie is both a road comedy and a showbiz satire, with a nimble script that keeps finding new ways to undercut its own seriousness.
What makes it endure is the balance of irony and feeling. It can be broad, even absurd, but the jokes are built on a real understanding of how privilege distorts perception. The chain gang material gives the film a darker edge than its breezy setup suggests, and that contrast is part of its power.
It’s also a showcase for Sturges’s dialogue: rapid, playful, and full of comic reversals. Even when the ending risks neatness, the film’s central idea lands hard: comedy is not a lesser art, but a way of meeting suffering without pretending to own it.
Sally Jane Black · 753 likes
I'd try vainly to call this film out for its absurd presumptuousness, its pomposity, for being ultimately a film about how comedies help the poor and meek and so on, but I've watched 200 movies in the last three months in a vain attempt to fight off severe depression. I guess they have a point.
demi adejuyigbe · 653 likes
finally got around to watching this movie (thank you marie!) which I deeply enjoyed despite being the goofiest shit in the world at times. excited to watch more Preston Sturges and really soak up this kinda dialogue & sense of irony. obvious how and why the coens were so inspired by it, and i really dug the one gag that clearly inspired Sorry to Bother You, but i dunno... even as a guy who is staking his whole career on the
demi adejuyigbe · 500 likes
“He gets a little bit gruesome once in a while.”“Always reading books, sir.”“Oh.” I was way too high-and-mighty about the resolution of this movie the first time around. It’s brilliant! I think the thing that left a bad taste in my mouth is how absolutely depressing the third act feels after the first two are a very good adaptation of “Common People” by Pulp. Hard for me to feel very “movies have the power to change the world”… more
eely (5★) · 481 likes
the fact that veronica lake was 6-8 months pregnant while filming this movie and yet still managed to look like joel mccrea’s tiny little 12 year old son in the tramp scenes...that’s what I call talent baby!!!
noen (4.5★) · 335 likes
I loved every second, every scene, every exchange of dialogue, simply incredible! The film tells the story of John L. Sullivan, protagonist and professional sufferer (sorry). He decides that his calling is to make a serious film. Something deep, devastating, a punch to the stomach of America. One of those films that make critics stroke their chins and have bohemians debate alone. But there’s one small detail: Sullivan knows absolutely nothing about suffering. He directs comedies. And he makes money… more
Another Preston Sturges screwball masterpiece, even more delirious in its social satire and romantic chaos.
A razor-sharp romantic comedy with the same era’s elegance, wit, and class-conscious mischief.
Sturges at his most outrageous, blending farce with a surprisingly sympathetic view of ordinary people.
For the speed, verbal fireworks, and cynical-romantic energy of classic studio comedy.
A sophisticated remarriage comedy that shares the film’s mix of wit, charm, and emotional bite.
A brilliant comedy about performance, danger, and the moral power of laughter under pressure.
If the appeal is comedy with a serious humanist core, this is a natural companion.
A classic of anarchic comic invention from the same broad period of American screen comedy.
For sparkling dialogue, social satire, and the pleasures of watching privilege get gently skewered.
A witty, self-aware comedy about knowledge, language, and the collision between worlds.
A warm, fast-moving romantic comedy that turns urban hardship into buoyant human connection.
For its humane romance, workplace texture, and elegant balance of comedy with feeling.
Hollywood satire, class blindness, the value of comedy, artistic pretension, identity and disguise, road journey, romantic screwball, social critique
screwball comedy, Hollywood satire, class satire, road movie, romantic comedy, Golden Age cinema, self-reflexive, social commentary, chain gang, fast dialogue