O Brother really is the film John Sullivan made after his travels.
Explains itself. Inspired by chain gangs, train hopping, and the never-ending search for a way home, John Sullivan took a page out of The Odyssey and made a film that reconciled comedy and romps with awareness of the absurd human condition.
- Brilliant! I wonder if it could have been intentional.
- It's hard to imagine any other reasons the Coens would have gone with that name. Even better — after the Aesop Sullivan learned in the original film, he combined escapist entertainment and screwball comedy with his usual socially-conscious subject matter.
The film's George Nelson is not the famous bank robber
The real George "Baby Face" Nelson died in Illinois in 1934 at age 25. Therefore he could not be robbing banks in Mississippi in 1937. He was also rather short and his real name was Lester Joseph Gillis.George Nelson is this man's real name. He appears to have an Ambiguous Disorder, with symptoms of bipolar disorder (becoming heavily depressed after the excitement of a robbery and leaving his share of the money). He heard of the exploits of the real Baby Face Nelson and became convinced it was him.
