Sullivan's Travels
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: February 6, 1942 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
89
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Movie NationRoger Moore
Brooks is the one who makes the message work, the one who should have been credited and the supporting player who makes “Sullivan’s Travels” worth the journey. He’s the difference between a good film of the Depression Era, and a classic. Read full review
100
EmpireAngie Errigo
Comedy doesn't come much more classic. If you haven't seen it, it's about time you did. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
There are some marvellous supporting performances. This film comes as close as possible to a distillation of pure happiness. Read full review
100
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Sullivan's Travels is a gem, an almost serious comedy not taken entirely seriously, with wonderful dialogue, eccentric characterisations, and superlative performances throughout. Read full review
100
CineVueCraig Williams
The greatest art not only shows us how to live, it comforts us in our darkest hours. This realisation will stand as Preston Sturges’ genius. Read full review
100
IndieWireVikram Murthi
A satire that chastises Hollywood for its blinkered moralizing yet espouses on the value of escapism, Preston Sturges’ “Sullivan’s Travels” may seem like a film rife with contradictions, but not only is it cohesive, it never once feels muddled or, worse, didactic. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
This brilliant, often devastating look at Hollywood and the real world behind its tinsel is arguably Preston Sturges's greatest film. Read full review
90
The New YorkerRichard Brody
Sturges seems to leap out from behind the screen to address the viewer directly. Few classic filmmakers with so much to say manage to find so many splendid words to say it in. Read full review
90
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
A beautifully trenchant satire upon "social significance" in pictures, a stinging slap at those fellows who howl for realism on the screen and a deftly sardonic apologia for Hollywood make-believe. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineClayton Dillard
Preston Sturges jammed volumes of sociological concerns into a 90-minute satire with Sullivan’s Travels, Hollywood’s greatest comedy. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyTim Purtell
Preston Sturges’ most famous film, Sullivan’s Travels, may not match the sleek perfection of his ”Lady Eve,” but its endlessly fertile and still influential fusion of satire, screwball comedy, drama, and slapstick (most recent homage: the Coen brothers’ ”O Brother, Where Art Thou?”) remains tartly fresh. Read full review
80
BBCGeorge Perry
It's a great comedy, with a message that works in context, the flophouses of life's downside contrasting with Hollywood's absurd hedonism. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
A dubious proposition, but in Sturges’s hands a charming one, filled out by his unparalleled sense of eccentric character. Read full review
70
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Sullivan’s Travels is a curious but effective mixture of grim tragedy, slapstick of the Key- stone brand and smart, trigger-fast comedy. Read full review
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Sturges is more at home in slapstick irony (as in The Lady Eve, earlier in '41) than in the mixed tones of this comedy-melodrama, but it's a memorable film nevertheless.
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