John L. Sullivan has had a pretty impressive life which took place before the film's events even took place. He got to go to boarding school when he was 13, and he had started his film directing business sometime in his early 20s, after graduating college.
Indeed, Sullivan has had the life most film directors could only dream of having: He not only directed a successful streak of winning films back-to-back, but he's also beloved by loads of people.
The famous fast-paced chase scene where Sullivan's studio's entourage trailing trails him. Also doubles as a CMOF.
The way Sullivan's able to plan his way out of escaping prison (nobody was looking for him since they thought he was dead). He decided to attract attention to himself by getting his picture in the paper with something serious, and news-worthy: i.e. pretending to be his own murderer. He realized somebody would recognize him from the pictures and clear up the confusion.
A minor example, but Veronica Lake's character gets is surprising able to run crazy fast.
Sullivan finally forcing his unloving, avaricious wife to grant him a divorce after he finds out she was cheating on him during his "death".
Just the way this film's able to blend in so many film genres and make it work. Tragic melodrama, prison film, serious drama, social documentary, romance, comedy, action, you name it. Most films would have this kind of experiment blow up in their faces (ha, get it?). But somehow, the writers for this film were able to put in the elements in a way that works.
