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The Palm Beach Story
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Palm Beach Story | |
|---|---|
 The Palm Beach Story DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | Preston Sturges |
| Written by | Preston Sturges |
| Starring | Joel McCrea Claudette Colbert |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 7, 1942 (USA) |
| Running time | 88 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 romantic screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges.
Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert play Thomas (Tom) and Geraldine (Gerry) Jeffers, a married couple in New York City who love each other, but are down on their luck financially. Gerry decides that Tom would be better off if they split so she goes to Palm Beach, Florida to establish residency in anticipation of a divorce and in the hope of meeting a wealthy second husband who could help Tom. On the train, she meets the wacky members of "The Ale and Quail Club" and, more importantly, the extremely wealthy John D. Hackensacker III (a takeoff of John D. Rockefeller), played by Rudy Vallee.
In the antic manner of their namesakes in the popular Tom and Jerry (MGM) cat-chases-mouse cartoons, Tom follows Gerry to Palm Beach. When Tom meets Hackensacker, Gerry introduces him as her brother. Soon, Hackensacker falls for Gerry, and his often-married, man-hungry sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor), chases Tom.
Tom finally persuades Gerry to give their marriage another chance and they confess their masquerade to their disappointed suitors. However, when they let slip that they met because they were both twins, the millionaires are elated. The final scene shows Hackensacker and Gerry's sister, and the Princess and Tom's brother, getting married.
This was Sturges' second collaboration with McCrea, following Sullivan's Travels from the previous year, and they would work together again on The Great Moment in 1946. Typical of a Sturges movie, the pacing and dialogue are very fast. Also notable are the zany side characters, mostly played by members of Sturges' informal repertory company, particularly the elderly sausage magnate known as The Wienie King (Robert Dudley) and "The Ale and Quail Club," a group of drunken wealthy sportsmen (including character actors Jack Norton, Jimmy Conlin, and William Demarest, amongst others). Victor Young contributes a lively musical score (including a fastpaced variation of The William Tell Overture for the strange opening scenes).
- The Palm Beach Story at the Internet Movie Database
- Greatest Films- The Palm Beach Story Critique and thorough plot description/analysis.