Joel McCrea and sultry Veronica Lake star in this starkly realistic yet highly humorous satire from writer-director Preston Sturges. McCrea plays successful Hollywood director John L. Sullivan, an idealist who believes you can't accurately direct a screen tragedy unless you live it first. Disguising himself as a bum, Sullivan sets off to see America from the bottom up. Along the way he befriends a beautiful but cynical stray (Veronica Lake), and learns about the cruelty of life among the less fortunate. In the midst of the brutality and despair, the young director makes a valuable discovery - that what the downtrodden need most is laughter.