1940's, Star is Actor Who Pretends to be Poor

In this old movie the male lead is an actor who, to better play his upcoming part, decides to be poor for awhile. He ends up getting mugged, losing his memory, convicted of murder, imprisoned, and eventually, I think, sees his picture in a paper and ends up rich, happy, and married to a beautiful woman. It is actually a pretty good movie, with some interesting scenes and actors in it. I tried recommending it to a friend but cannot remember the title or the main actors. Any help will be deeply appreciated. Best Regards, Ralph

Sounds like SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS with Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake?

Yeah, it's Sullivan's Travels, but Sullivan (McCrea) is a director, not an actor.

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No, I think you may be wrong about Joel McCrea directing the film. I have the DVD in my collection and I'm 99% sure that Joel McCrea is the leading actor and Preston Sturges directed the film. The IMDB also appear to confirm this.

McCrea plays the character Sullivan. The character is a director in the movie, not an actor (like the OP said). Just what I said before.

That is fantastic! Thank you very much. I'd like to add, for whatever amusement it might provide you, a more complete explaination why I wanted to discover Sullivan's Travels again. The person I wanted to tell about this movie is a bit of a computer/internet whiz and had just managed to learn the name of an extra in some movie he was interested in. I told him about the young woman selling pencils (I think) that McCrae walks by in Sullivan's Travels and said she must be the daughter of someone in the movie business. He said he'd research it for me but, of course, I hadn't any clues. Thanks again! Ralph