Marilyn Horowitz on... SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS

http://www.ScreenplayClass.com I think that probably one of the films that is at the top of my list is a film called Sullivan's Travels, which is a comedy made in the '40s by Preston Sturgis. It concerns a film director who has had every privilege who decides that -- the movie is set during the Depression -- that he wants to make a serious, serious movie. And his director says, "OK, but with a little sex?" And our hero says OK. And the guys say, "But you've never had any trouble, how would you make a movie about people who have trouble? You've never experienced." And he says, "I'm going to go get in trouble." And he sets out. He gets himself dressed up like a tramp. He gets himself into so much trouble he gets hit on the head, gets amnesia and finds himself working on a chain gang in the deep South where no one knows who he is. And after many, many adventures he is taken to -- with all the other convicts still in their chains -- to a local church to watch cartoons as a reward. I forget which cartoons they are, Disney or something. And the whole theater begins to laugh, and he suddenly begins to shake his head and he remembers who he was and he goes, "Oh my God, I understand. Sometimes all people have is laughter." And he goes back to his life and is content with who he is. Now, I just love that movie. Marilyn Horowitz, the author of "How to Write a Screenplay in 10 Weeks" and creator of The Horowitz System™, is an award-winning university teacher, a producer, a screenwriter, a script consultant and a successful writing coach. Her students include published novelists, screenwriters and award-winning filmmakers. Her website is: http://www.ScreenplayClass.com