Title: The Palm Beach Story
Year: 1942
Director: Preston Sturges
Country: US
Language: English
After an off-and-on again hiatus from film reviewing, I have returned to finish my Preston Sturges series of reviews that I watched months ago. The Criterion Channel had Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), Sullivan's Travels (1941) , The Palm Beach Story (1942) & Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943) available to watch among others, like The Great McGinty (1940) that I did not have time for. From what I've seen, Sturges is a great director.
Joel McRae plays an inventor who needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife (Claudette Colbert) decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying a millionaire.
Frank Capra made best use of Colbert's comedic timing in It Happened One Night (1934), Sturges used this knowledge to his advantage by crafting a witty freewheeling script that gave her most of the whimsical dialogue. The observations & doubles entedres flowing from her lips leave audiences astonished & give our relatively straight secondary character, played by Joel McRae, a lot to gasp at. It's amazing what they were get away with during the Hays code era.
The film is glittered with moments of comedic genius; I particularly liked that mad train ride with the drunken Brotherhood of Ale & Quail. Toto, the ill-suited Euro suitor of a millionaire, is also a funny addition to the film. Sturges fills the film with wonderful moments; there are no dull moments in this mad comedy. The ending perhaps triumphs Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot's "Nobody's perfect!"
While Sullivan Travels is more accessible, and The Lady Eve more beloved, I have become quite a fan of Palm Beach Story. It's unfortunate that I avoided it for many years because the title seemed quite dull; I wish he had picked a better name. This criticism is quite minor as I encourage audiences to seek it out on Criterion for themselves.
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