"The Palm Beach Story"*** 1\2 (out of ****)
Is it love or money that makes for a happy marriage? The answer in Preston Sturges' classic comedy, "The Palm Beach Story" (1942) is both.
"The Palm Beach Story" may be overlooked by movie fans in favor of Sturges comedies such as "The Lady Eve" (1941) or "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) but it is equal in the number of laughs those movies offer. The movie supplies us with the typical combination of broad slapstick comedy and wonderful dialogue so often found in Sturges' comedies.
Watching "The Palm Beach Story" again, I kept comparing it to Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" (1932). I don't know about other movie fans but I've placed the two great directors side by side. Although Lubitsch pre-dates Sturges (Lubitsch made films in the silent era) both men, I believe, exemplified the standard of sophisticated, witty, adult comedies. Sturges' comedies usually had more physical comedy written into them but "The Palm Beach Story" may be the closest Sturges came to writing an Ernst Lubitsch comedy.
We follow a poor but happily married New York couple (that suspiciously lives in a very nice apartment) Tom and Gerry Jeffers (Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert). Being behind on their rent their apartment is on the market and being shown with them living in it. One potential tenant, credited as the Wienie King (Robert Dudley), takes a liking to Gerry (short for Geraldine) and offers her money to pay off her debts. He also gives her some life lessons and warns her of the downfalls of old age and the realization of allowing valuable years to slip by.
Inspired by these words of wisdom from the Wienie King Geraldine asks Tom for a divorce. She says she is tired of being poor and struggling. However, this allows Sturges' screenplay to comment on sex and the sexes. Gerry begins to argue that she has had many opportunities to help Tom advance his career but his pride would not allow him too. One fantastic line of dialogue Gerry delivers is "you have no idea what a long-legged gal can do without doing anything". It is a funny, well-written line but as it goes with comedy, every joke contains a kernel of truth thus making Sturges' screenplay not only funny but observant and smart.
Essentially what "The Palm Beach Story" becomes is a story of will they or won't they, meaning will Tom and Gerry (reminds you of the famous cat and mouse) get back together or won't they? Gerry may ask for a divorce and may be tired of financially struggling but the viewer never doubts for a moment Tom and Gerry love each other. Story-wise that may the flaw of the movie. We know how it will end and the movie does nothing to suspend disbelief.
Gerry heads to Palm Beach for a quick divorce and to find a rich husband. She unknowingly stumbles across one, John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee), one of the richest men in the world and an obvious swipe at John D. Rockefeller. Hackensacker takes a liking to Gerry and she takes a liking to his money. Sturges could have made Hackensacker a viable suitor for Gerry's affection but doesn't take the movie in that direction. Yes, I know such a situation would have become the cliche of the poor woman having to chose between love or money but tell me since when has Hollywood been above using cliches?
In the Hackensacker character though Sturges has created a wonderful character and Vallee plays the part perfectly. Vallee and Colbert play off each other wonderfully, showing a lot of chemistry and I must admit, many of the big laughs I experienced were a result of the Hackensacker character. Younger audiences may not know it but Vallee was a tremendously popular singer during the 1920s and often the butt of jokes because of his nasal voice. He mostly appeared in movies as himself at this point but here Sturges really allows him to shine. Vallee even won an award from the National Board of Review for his performance.
Not wanting to leave Tom out of the action, Sturges creates a scenario where Hackensacker's sister, Centimillia (Mary Astor), takes a liking to him. You see, Tom follows Gerry to Palm Beach and not wanting to reveal the true nature of their relationship, Gerry tells everyone Tom is her brother. If all goes well, there could be a double wedding with Tom and Gerry hitting the jackpot.
"The Palm Beach Story" has more in common with depression era comedies centered around get rich quick schemes and characters concluding love is more important than money (reinforced by the popular songs of the day) than American cinema from the 1940s. Depending on the month this movie was released, America had either not entered the war yet or it was the early days of U.S. involvement and thus lacks the patriotism found in other movies of the era.
This was the fifth movie Sturges had directed in what would become his creative peak between 1940 - 1944 when it seemed as if he could do no wrong. He wrote and directed eight feature-length comedies during this period, scoring a total of three Academy Award nominations for best original screenplay, winning one for "The Great McGinty" (1940), his directorial debut. For me, this may have been his best movie at the time with only "Sullivan's Travels" giving it competition.
Still Sturges creates some unnecessary confusion with a sub-plot involving twins. The twins begin and end the movie but Sturges doesn't offer a proper explanation for what we have seen. By the end of the movie if we go back to the beginning it will either confuse you more or creates a situation that is so conniving it deserved its own movie.
Featured among the cast in various supporting roles is a rollcall of Sturges regulars including Franklin Pangborn, William Demarest, Al Bridge, Robert Greig and Jimmy Conlin. The names may not mean anything to you but trust me when you see their faces you will knowingly recognize each of them as "oh, that guy"!
The movie was included among the American Film Institute's top 100 funniest American comedies ranked in the 77th spot. Three other Sturges comedies made the list, each ranked higher. "The Palm Beach Story" could be a nice place to start for those not familiar with the great comedy director's work. All of his usual traits are on display here.
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