SIN-E-FILE (Sullivan's Travels)[part 2]

"I have the sin of the Cinephile" - Jean Luc Godard

Sullivan's Travels went over very well with the folks at the Dinner and a Movie program last week. Most of them hadn't seen it. Those that had, were very excited to see it again. "Oh that's a great one!" one woman said, "It's autobiographical" she added.

When I got there, the group was in the middle of dinner. There was about 60 people. As I sat down and nonchalantly scanned the crowd, I quickly realized that this was not a predominately elderly crowd. Maybe it had started as such, maybe it is geared toward the elderly, but the people that were gathered there on this night were for the most part homeless. It wasn't until later, as I was preparing my introduction, that I realized the crazy irony of the film I had chosen for this crowd to view tonight. I think I might've panicked a little.

Sullivan's Travels is about a Hollywood director who decides to dress like a "hobo" and venture out into the world to find out what hard times are all about, in order to make a "message picture" about human suffering. Is this gonna hit too close to home? I worried.

A strange mixture of anxiety and wonderment ran through me as I recalled a scene from the movie that soon would be on the screen. It's the climax of the movie, really. Sullivan is taken, along with his fellow down-and-out prisoners, to a makeshift movie screening where, as a Disney cartoon is shown for the people, Sullivan realizes, watching them enjoying the comedy, that laughter is the important thing; "sometimes it's all they got". Well, in a little while, I surmised, I was going to be watching a group of down-and-out folks at a makeshift movie screening, enjoy themselves watching a group of down-and-out people at a makeshift movie screening enjoying themselves.

Whatever I was worried about, went away as they laughed in all the right places and I never felt a tense feeling at all from anyone. There was even some audible appreciation. One woman yelled, after the line What's wrong with Capra?, "Yeah, what's wrong with Capra!!!???" And another one banged the tabletop quickly a few times as a sign of appreciation if a line was particularly funny or a sentiment was seconded. Even when Joel McCrea first appeared in his silly hobo duds, it was treated like nothing but the heartfelt comedy it was. Oh course, this movie is more than that, and I know they felt it. But they felt it just like I felt it when I first saw this film. Not from some "close to home" place that I anticipated. It taught me a great deal about how close we are together. Maybe this is why this film came to me instantly when asked to make a selection for this program. I felt lucky to be there. And immensely happy that this film can be enjoyed by all of us, no matter what we've been through. Thank you Mr. Sturges, wherever you are.

-Peter Rinaldi