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wife Penelope, astutely played by Holly Hunter.
Comedically speaking, both films contain a great deal of witty and insightful dialogue. An example from Sullivan's:

[discussing a prior 'serious' film]
LeBrand: It died in Pittsburgh.
Hadrian: Like a dog!
John L. Sullivan: Aw, what do they know in Pittsburgh....
Hadrian: They know what they like.
John L. Sullivan: If they knew what they liked, they wouldn't live in Pittsburgh!

Sturges had such a wonderful knack for writing comedy that one can almost turn off the television and listen to the dialogue between the characters. Especially of note is the repartee between Sullivan and The Girl, wonderfully played by Veronica Lake. Their conversations revolve around such serious topics as her failed Hollywood career and Sullivan's soul-searching.
I would like to think that the Coen's are paying homage to Sturges and Sullivan's Travels and not merely being derivative. In fact, I am sure of the Coen's own ability since they have proven to be fantastic writers in film after film. One scene in O Brother that echoes Sullivan's is the train scene in which the escapees are trying to climb aboard the train while still shackled. I was reminded of the scene in Sullivan's in which Sullivan and The Girl get on the train for their first night's adventure. I got the feeling that the scene by the Coen's was an appreciative nod toward Sturges in appreciation.
Another aspect of both films that I find appealingly similar is the dialogue. Interestingly, the dialogue in O Brother seems to predate Sullivan's time period by some several years. Some critics would cite the dialogue in O Brother as too gimmicky but I think it is just right. To me, it provides a good bit of comedy, not to mention adding an authenticity to the characters and the plot. The same can be said for Sturges' screenplay in that it is indeed very funny and serious at the same time. In the post-Depression era, the subject matter of the homeless and poor people depicted in Sullivan's Travels must have struck a deep chord with the movie-going public, the Depression still fresh in their minds from a few years before. Sturges' great achievement though, is that he also made that same audience laugh, in a time when they needed it most. Oh, he also threw a bit of sex in it too.

Learn more about this author, Jonathan Hiott.
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