Reviews by:
@silverscreencritiques
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The film follows John L. Sullivan, a Hollywood director known a making comedies. He wants to make a "Serious picture about modern conditions." Then realizes he knows nothing about hard ships, and decides to become a hobo to understand the life and have the sentiment to make a picture about it.
This film asks a lot of questions about what films should be. Should they be serious social commentaries or should they be light and funny? Art is a way to challenge society, it can also hold up a mirror to society, and can capture their moment in time to give us an understanding of what it was like.
It's important to note when when was made, 1941. It came out right off of the heels of the Great Depression and literally as the U.S joined WWII. So there were plenty of things and reasons why a serious picture could be made.
There is also the argument that the average person needs a break from everything going on in the world and needs something light and fun to get a break from all that. There are so many thought provoking lines and questions in this film that really do question or call out "Serious Pictures." One of my favorites goes something like "Only the morbidly rich can appreciate the struggles of poor people."
So, should films be serious tragedies or light entertainment? This film leans a little more towards the latter, but it also uses the poor everyday people to say give us that message. So this film says both have their place in our culture.
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