" He is positioned in a low-riding, home-built, souped-up Ford roadster (labeled U.S.A.TANK CORPSE, NO.999999), Sullivan is pursued at breakneck speed by the studio's bus.In the comical spoof, all the occupants of the bus who were sent to observe and protect him - the doctor, a chauffeur, the 'colored' cook (a stereotyped role played by Charles R." He continued to insult Jordan's 75 year-old office structure (he called it a "dump" that had "gone to seed"): "Say, who put up this building, Peter Stuyvesant? Looks more like a museum than an office.Previous films had only made fun of drunks and lushes (e.g.,The Thin Manseries, or W.C.Fields' films).Its release was threatened when the alcohol industry offered to purchase the film's negative and remove it from circulation, but then praised and supported the film following its popular release (and critical success).34 million), and became the 10th highest grossing film of 1973.As a zany comedy, it was unexpected that it would receive Academy Awards nominations, although it was a nominee for Best Original Comedy Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.]This pretentious, overwrought film was plagued with a stormy production history, mostly involving a conflict between he over-controlling Selznick and famed silent film director King Vidor.