The Palm Beach Story

I realize that this is supposed to be a classic, presumably because of the cast and the director, but it's one of the most idiotic, unfunny comedies I have ever seen. (And TCM gives it 4 stars!)

Knowing that "The Palm Beach Story" was listed in AFI's top 100 Comedies, I had high hopes going in. Unfortunately, my expectations were not met. While the script, by director Preston Sturges, is sharp and amusing at times, it is often dragged down by schticky scenes that are overlong, unfunny and annoying to watch. The performances are mostly spot-on, particularly the leads: Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and, surprisingly the best, Rudy Vallée, who is remarkably natural and sympathetic. ***SPOILER ALERT*** However, the schtick really drags "The Palm Beach Story" down. The opening sequence, shown with the credits and presented in pantomime (reminiscent of the start of "The Philadephia Story"), is thoroughly confusing, yet is supposed to provide exposition. One could argue that all was explained at the end of the picture, but even upon reviewing the opening after watching the entire film, it still left me puzzled. (For a plausible explanation, see the Wikipedia article on "The Palm Beach Story.") Early on, the schtick involving the Wienie King's poor hearing is tiresome and predictable, yet it continues on and on. Later, the raucousness of the Ale and Quail Hunting Club on the train is WAY over the top, unbelievable, unfunny, grating, and goes on for 10-15 minutes. ***END OF SPOILERS*** Were it not for the above annoyances, which unfortunately account for a significant portion of the movie, I would have rated "The Palm Beach Story" higher, as it does have its share of clever dialogue, an unusual premise, and gifted actors.

When it comes to icons of classic Hollywood, one of those that I just don't understand is Preston Sturgis. Among those who matter, he was a wonderful writer/director whose work was pure genius and this is probably the general tenor of reviews of his films here on IMDb. It's funny, because while I am a huge fan of screwball comedy from the 1930s and 40s, I just don't 'get' Sturgis. I've seen almost every film he's made, and with only a few exceptions (such as HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO and THE LADY EVE), I thought most of his films were pretty ordinary. All too often, his films, to me, seem to try too hard and lack subtlety or timing. Some prime examples are the laughing sequences as the chain gang members laugh to a Mickey Mouse cartoon as if they are all on LSD and Rex Harrison's bumbling with a chair and other household items in UNFAITHFULLY YOURS. These moments were just too over-the-top and lacked the charm and timing of such marvelous non-Sturgis screwball comedies like BRINGING UP BABY or MY GIRL Friday. While PALM BEACH STORY isn't a bad film, it certainly didn't do anything to turn me into a "Sturgiphile". It's a good movie, but has too many improbable and over-the-top moments to keep it consistent. Some examples would include the hunting club scene on the train. While generally this was a cute sequence, it went from mildly cute to just plain stupid--using slapstick when it actually detracted from the overall plot. Having these drunk hunters running amok shooting hundreds of shotgun blasts throughout the train car just wasn't funny--it was more like something Elmer Fudd would have done, not a real life person. Also, the film's ending is way, way, way too convenient and contrived--having identical twins of BOTH McCrea AND Colbert show up out of nowhere to marry the two jilted loves (Vallee and Astor)! This defies possibility and crosses over to just plain dumb. All this is a shame, really, as apart from a few embarrassingly bad scenes (indicating that the great Sturgis COULD have used an editor), the film is a breezy and cute romantic comedy. Some elements, such as the "Wienie King", were weird but somehow worked and the overall momentum of the film was good. My suggestion is that you SHOULD watch this overrated screwball comedy,...AFTER you've seen all of Cary Grant's first (they were so much better on practically every level).

One element of this film that shouldn't be ignored is that it, like "Sullivan's Travels" and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," is a conscious lampooning of earlier movies from the 1930s. It takes a standard, conventional plot from those movies and turns it on its ear. The same plot can be seen for example in the Paramount movie from 1931, "Up Pops the Devil," with Carole Lombard and Norman Foster (who coincidentally was Claudette Colbert's first husband). In that movie, a wife who still loves her husband wants to divorce him for his own good; she thinks she's just a noose around his neck, and once rid of her, he'll become a success. It's set in the same upper crust of society as "The Palm Beach Story," with a millionaire suitor for the wife and a nymphomaniac girl for the husband. Here, everything is played straight, with as much pathos and melodrama being milked out of the situation as can be. In "The Palm Beach Story" though, the same basic plot and characters are used, but it's the comedic potential and wackiness of the situation that's emphasized, to marvelous effect. The subplot with the twins, glanced at in the beginning and end of the picture, is another conscious lampooning of conventional movies, here a lampooning of the structure of movies themselves, of their conventional beginnings and endings. It's not meant to be taken seriously; as McCrea's character casually says at the end, it's all stuff "for another movie." No words can be found to adequately praise Claudette Colbert's performance. Joel McCrea is good too, as the prototypical wooden 1930s leading man. Rudy Vallee is absolutely hilarious as a "momma's boy" version of John D. Rockefeller, as is Mary Astor as his rich nymphomaniac sister. Her eunuch, Toto, played by Sig Arno, seems straight out of an Ernst Lubitch picture, perhaps a Sturges nod to the master. Quite a few scenes of the film, in their settings and atmosphere, pay homage to Lubitsch. Sturges does the "Lubitsch touch" proud, especially in those two scenes when Colbert sits on McCrea's lap so that he can undo the back of her dress, with the two of them both times melting into a kiss, and the scene ending with a fade out, leaving little doubt as to what will happen next. The second scene is particularly romantic, done as Rudy Vallee sings "Good Night Sweet Heart," itself a standard of the 1930s. Vallee also sings a line of "Isn't It Romantic," a song introduced in the luminous 1932 film "Love Me Tonight," directed by Rouben Mamoulian. The music in the film itself hearkens back to those great romantic comedies of the 1930s. It's nice to see Sturges's stock company of actors popping up here as well. I noticed William Demarest say his name was "Bill Docker," the same name his character had in Preston Sturges's "Christmas in July." In short, "The Palm Beach Story" is a wonderful film, whose richness can really be appreciated when seen in context, in the context of those old 1930s Paramount films, both the melodramatic ones like "Up Pops the Devil," that it lampoons, and the comedic, romantic ones like "Love Me Tonight" and "One Hour with You," that it pays homage to.

In New York, Gerry (Claudette Colbert) and Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) are about to be evicted from their apartment for lack of payment after five years of marriage. Tom is an architect and has developed the design of a suspended airport, but can not find an investor and is completely bankrupted. When the aspirant tenant meets Gerry, he tells that he is a wealthy businessman from Texas that became rich with his sausage business and he gives US$ 700 to Gerry to pay her debts and start a new life. Tom does not believe that the old man gave the money to Gerry without sex and they have an argument, and Gerry concludes that she is a burden in the life of Tom. On the next morning, she decides to travel to Palm Beach to get a divorce, and marry again with a millionaire to help Tom in his project. She boards a train to Palm Beach, where she is helped by J.D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee). They leave the train and she learns that Hackensacker is one of the richest men in the world. They travel to Palm Beach in his yacht and Gerry meets his sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor). But Tom has followed Gerry and she introduces him as if he were her brother. Soon Hackensacker falls in love with Gerry and the Princess with Tom. But a zipper and twins help to solve the situation. "The Palm Beach Story" is a cynical and unethical but dated screwball comedy by Preston Sturges. I do not like this movie since Gerry Jeffers is a nasty woman and never a companion to Tom, who is a sucker; therefore I do not feel empathy for the ambitious character performed by Claudette Colbert. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "Mulher de Verdade" ("True Woman")

I am really at a loss to understand how this movie gets the reputation it has earned. Just because Preston Sturges' name is involved doesn't make it profoundly funny or profoundly insightful. Claudette Colbert was a charming cutie and all that. But born in 1903 and at nearly 40 years old when this picture was made, the motivations and emotional responses she is asked to exhibit in Palm Beach Story are way too immature for who she actually is. IMO, that can be said of nearly everyone involved in this coarsely unfunny movie. Mary Astor, another lovely and wonderful actress, is also made to act the complete noisy air-head. When the film was made there no doubt were other criteria to judge her character by. These days however, again IMO, Astor's constant screeching and especially her relationship with Toto, her annoyingly unattractive hanger on, who understands nothing, is actually offensive. Cringe-worthy to be honest. (Toto's character and how he is treated reminds me of the part played by Asta or one of those other terrier dogs that were popular in screwball comedies.) Only Rudy Vallee, who later in his career perfected the Teflon-coated stooge role, seemed to me to almost transcend the material. Everyone is entitled to enjoy whatever movie or star or whatever they like. As for me,I'm darned if I know what the attraction is in Palm Beach Story.

If Preston Sturgis did nothing but "Sullivan's Travels," he would have lived purposefully. Everything else is annotation. This is not a good movie: an unfunny screwball. But it is interesting as heck if you know Preston's story. Our hero is an inventor that can't make good. His wife exists purely to provide sex. She's unabashed and single-minded about this and from her perspective that's the way some girls are meant to be. He won't let her use her sex appeal to his financial advantage, so she decides to leave him for more moneyed pastures. In due course they fall among an ultra wealthy family, where wifey succeeds in turning her sex into cash, big cash. Sturgis was an inventor, a rather successful one in terms of ideas but not money. In fact, his entry into movies was because of his failure in this regard. He was also famously obsessed with sex, sort of an earlier Warren Beatty in town. He was able to concoct stories that allowed him to mingle among the rich, as depicted here. Our sexy wife has some nice gowns. But there has a been a whole vocabulary of cinematic sex appeal that has been invented since then that she lacks. And all the regular conventions (the Clara Bow, Lana Turner model, lets call it) weren't followed either. She expects men will react to her raw appeal. But we the audience don't. Can't Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

"The Palm Beach Story" stars Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea as a married couple who is still in love, but is nonetheless separating after five years of marriage. Gerry Jeffers (Colbert) and Tom Jeffers (McCrea) are down on their financial luck while Tom, an architect, tries to sell his idea for a new airport. One day while their landlord is showing their apartment to a prospective renter (they are behind on their rent) Colbert catches the fancy of an eccentric old millionaire, who give her not only the money for the rent, but a little extra as well. That night she takes her husband out to dinner and explains that they have to divorce so that she can marry a millionaire and raise the money that he needs for his business. Tom is obviously not taken with this idea, but Gerry takes off for the train station and charms her way on via an eccentric group of millionaires who are on a hunting trip. While on the way to Palm Beach for her divorce, Gerry meets another millionaire, John D. Hackensacker III (Vallee) who falls for Gerry and brings her to his yacht, where he is going to ask her to marry him. Tom shows up, Gerry convinces John that Tom is her brother, and mayhem ensues. There's an awful lot of story in "The Palm Beach Story", considering the film is only 88 minutes long. Colbert is charming as always, and McCrea doesn't stray far from his "regular guy" demeanor much. It seems that this is usually a Sturges favorite, but now that I have seen four of his films I would say that it is probably my least favorite thus far. Not to say I didn't enjoy it… there were great screwball moments, but sometimes I just kind of thought "Enough already". Something that is always enjoyable in viewing Sturges films (and something I have mentioned in another review of his films) is the obvious influence he had on the Coen brothers. In this instance, as soon as I heard the name John D. Hackensacker I had to laugh, because not only are these comical names a Sturges trademark, the Coen brothers have at times done this as well. I liked the film enough to somewhat enjoy it, but I would only call it average. 5/10 --Shelly

THE PALM BEACH STORY is not to be confused with reality. It's a zany romantic comedy given full speed treatment by director Preston Sturges who brought screwball comedy to an art form. His script, full of hilarious one-liners that fly by almost too fast to catch, is acted to perfection by CLAUDETTE COLBERT, RUDY VALLEE and MARY ASTOR--with a less enthusiastic turn by JOEL McCREA who gives the only so-so performance, perhaps because none of the wittiest lines come his way. I've always liked this actor but here is performance is almost muted and strangely remote. Nevertheless, if screwball comedy is your dish, this is one you can relish. From the moment Colbert gets aboard a train carrying her to Palm Beach, the fun starts and gets into high gear, racing toward a conclusion that is not altogether satisfying nor even remotely hinted at until the final few minutes of film. It's a twist that somehow doesn't ring true--the only really false note in an otherwise perfect screwball comedy. Rudy Vallee is outstanding as a nutty millionaire, a role written expressly for him (and he even gets to sing a little)--and Mary Astor, as his husband hunting sister, is hilariously over the top as a woman who can't stop talking while pursuing her man. A good way to spend a pleasant 90 minutes.

"The Palm Beach Story" is a lopsided comedy (part of it's funny and part of it's not), but the movie is back-ended with all of the funniest bits, so it allows you to forget the slower parts and it sends you out on a high. After a sensationally bizarre opening credits sequence, the movie settles down into a slightly less zingy version of "The Awful Truth." Claudette Colbert thinks her marriage to Joel McCrea isn't working, even though he doesn't think likewise. She thinks she's not a capable enough wife; he thinks he's a failure as a man and husband. She takes off for Palm Beach to get a divorce despite all of his attempts to stop her. On the train to Florida, she meets a wealthy tycoon who wants to marry her and give her everything she could possibly want, but she realizes that what she really wants is her husband. This is all told with a lot of wit and flair. The early scenes with Colbert and McCrea drag, and an extended bit of nonsense on the train involving the Ale and Quail Hunting Club is superfluous and not very funny. But once everyone shows up in Palm Beach, the film becomes a delight, and a bonus is added in the person of Mary Astor, who plows on to the screen about half way through the film and decimates everyone in her path with her quick-tongued and hilarious performance as a rich society lady with a lot of time on her hands and her sights set on Colbert's husband. What I liked about this film was that Colbert and McCrea don't seem to have a lot of chemistry in their early scenes together; he seems so stiff and bland, and you don't really blame her for wanting to get away. But after you've seen both of them with other people, they seem so much more right for each other when they get back together, and there's all this chemistry you didn't initially realize was there. I don't know if that's due to their performances, the writing, the directing, or whether it was just a happy accident, but it works beautifully. Grade: A-