{"id":24264,"date":"2012-02-22T10:10:17","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24264"},"modified":"2020-12-31T21:45:08","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T04:45:08","slug":"palm-beach-story-the-1942","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24264","title":{"rendered":"Palm Beach Story, The (1942)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Poster-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Poster-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA woman (Claudette Colbert) plans to divorce her financially unsuccessful husband (Joel McCrea) so she can seduce a millionaire and convince him to finance one of McCrea&#8217;s business inventions. On her way to Florida to obtain the divorce, she meets one of the wealthiest men in the world (Rudy Vallee), who falls in love with her &#8212; but will McCrea allow Colbert to follow through with her plans?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claudette Colbert Films<\/li>\n<li>Joel McCrea Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Mary Astor Films<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken or Hidden Identities<\/li>\n<li>Millionaires<\/li>\n<li>Preston Sturges Films<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary notes that this &#8220;delightful screwball comedy by Preston Sturges&#8221; is &#8220;fast-paced and consistently funny&#8221;, and accurately points out that &#8220;McCrea and Colbert are an engaging screen couple&#8221; (though their relationship, naturally, is strained from the get-go). Indeed, as brilliant as I find this film &#8212; it remains a comedic treasure, and one of Sturges&#8217; best &#8212; I&#8217;ll admit to feeling a vague sense of discomfort throughout (which is likely exactly what Sturges intended!). While Colbert&#8217;s plan may be &#8220;noble&#8221; at heart, it&#8217;s genuinely difficult to watch her romancing a likeable schmuck like Vallee and know that, in a romantic comedy like this &#8212; with an &#8220;engaging screen couple&#8221; like Colbert and McCrea waiting in the wings &#8212; there&#8217;s really only one outcome possible. (Though to his credit, Sturges soundly blasts that notion with an inspired &#8212; if dubitable &#8212; ending, about which I&#8217;ll say no more.) <\/p>\n<p>Despite its decidedly discomfiting premise, however, the film remains consistently amusing and engaging, with &#8220;stars McCrea, Colbert, Vallee, and Mary Astor (as Vallee&#8217;s sister, who takes a liking to McCrea when he poses as Colbert&#8217;s brother) weaving their way through a crazy world of landlords, cops, cabbies, eccentrics, men named Toto, and the gun-toting, boozing, harmonizing Ale &#038; Quail members&#8221; &#8212; yes, the storyline really is as wacky as that rundown indicates! I&#8217;m especially tickled by the performances given by Vallee and Astor, who prove beyond a doubt that the idle-rich are indeed &#8212; as Sturges himself believed &#8212; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/this-month\/article\/1212|0\/The-Palm-Beach-Story.html\">&#8220;funny&#8221;<\/a> folk; and Robert Dudley is note-perfect as the deaf old coot who starts the narrative ball rolling. Meanwhile, Colbert is at her loveliest (it&#8217;s nice to see her with her hair down here &#8212; literally!), and handsome McCrea is well-cast as her perpetually affronted husband. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rudy Vallee as John D. Hackensacker<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Vallee.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Vallee-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Vallee-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Vallee-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Vallee-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Vallee.png 1593w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Mary Astor as Princess Centimillia<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Astor.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Astor-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Astor-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Astor-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Astor-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Astor.png 1591w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Robert Dudley as The Wienie King<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Old-Man.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Old-Man-1024x566.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"354\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Old-Man-1024x566.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Old-Man-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Old-Man-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Old-Man.png 1595w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Claudette Colbert as Gerry Jeffers<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Colbert.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Colbert-1024x568.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"355\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24274\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Colbert-1024x568.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Colbert-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Colbert-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Palm-Beach-Story-Colbert.png 1595w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Plenty of clever and\/or zany dialogue:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Chivalry is not only dead, it&#8217;s decomposed.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a certified comedic classic. Nominated by Peary as one of the Best Movies of the Year in his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0035169\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9500E4D7173FE33BBC4952DFB4678389659EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s2186stur.html\">DVD Savant Review (scroll down)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/palm.html\">Greatest Films Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/86154\/the-palm-beach-story#articles-reviews?articleId=1212\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/ADO64ah9oR0\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything.&#8221; Synopsis: A woman (Claudette Colbert) plans to divorce her financially unsuccessful husband (Joel McCrea) so she can seduce a millionaire and convince him to finance one of McCrea&#8217;s business inventions. On her way to Florida to obtain the divorce, she meets one of the wealthiest men in the world (Rudy Vallee), who falls in love with her &#8212; but will McCrea allow Colbert to follow through with&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24264\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24264"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60871,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24264\/revisions\/60871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}