The other good scene I didn't mention was the baptising scene, you are right. But what a waste of an opportunity.

yours, Peter T.
P.S. My version of the theme of Sullivans Travels is that the author is unable to see the real world because he is so driven by film cliches. What makes the film a masterpiece is that the whole film is pointedly full of cliche scenes from other films, which makes the point: the Mickey Mouse scene ironically flips that -- a moving film within the film. The Coen Brothers give us a whole range of cliche scenes from other films, and do nothing with them. Even the film scene within the film does nothing with the idea. That is what I object to. What did they think they were doing with all this highpriced talent and sophisticated references to earlier films?