"There's a lot to be said for making people laugh"

I worked yesterday -- my return to the office from my nearly two-week trip to San Francisco -- and wanted to relax when the workday was completed.
Jill and I watched the 1941 Preston Sturges classic "Sullivan's Travels" on DVD.
Comedic Hollywood director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) seeks the truth about poverty in order to prepare for his planned, first serious film: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Sullivan sets out on a tour of Depression-era shanty towns, but the tour never goes according to plan -- such as when he falls for a girl soured on her own Hollywood experience (Veronica Lake).
Sturges does a great job of mixing grim views of America's poor with the witty banter for which he was famed.
For example, here is McCrea arguing with a pair of his movie executive bosses about the value of a "serious" picture:
Robert Warwick: "It died in Pittsburgh"
Porter Hall: "Like a dog!"
McCrea: "Aw... what do they know in Pittsburgh?"
Hall: "They know what they like."
McCrea: "If they knew what they liked, they wouldn't live in Pittsburgh!"