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Title

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Original)

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (Working)

O' Brother (Alternative)

EIDR identifier

Production country
USA, France, United Kingdom
Production company
Universal Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films, Blind Bard Pictures
Synopsis
Comedy. During the Depression, three escaped criminals, Everett, Pete and Delmar, are on the trail of a huge cache of money, having escaped from a chain gang. The first person they meet en route to the cash haul is a a blind African-American man who tells them that they will find treasure, but not the treasure they are looking for. Meeting a musician on the road, the three find themselves in a radio station, where they record a song, are paid a small amount of money, and hit the road, unaware of the fact that the record is a huge hit. On they go, having several adventures along the way, with Everett admitting that his real aim, rather than locating buried cash, is to seek the mother of his seven children before she marries another man. (Synopsis)
Work history
Title taken from the 1941 Preston Sturges film SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (Film and History. vol.31.2), in which it is the proposed title of the protagonist's next film. The story is based upon 'The Odyssey' by Homer, but so loosely that, although the film was nominated for the Academy Award for 'Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published', it was nominated for the BAFTA for 'Best Screenplay - Original'.