Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea in Preston Sturges's "The Palm Beach Story"

The Palm Beach Story (1942) is an American screwball comedy written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor, and Rudy Vallee. The cinematography is by Victor Milner, and the music is by Victor Young.

Tom Jeffers (McCrea) is an inventor going through a rough patch with his wife, Gerry (Colbert). Used to living an upper-class life in New York City, their current financial situation (not good) isn't helping the relationship.

Gerry, still in love with her husband, develops a plan that seems to make no sense to anyone but her. Will her plan throw her marriage into greater peril or save it?

Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. Sturges was one of the first film directors to direct his own screenplays, opening up the door for Billy Wilder and Joseph L. Mankiewicz to do the same. Sturges was a successful playwright and Hollywood screenwriter, and script doctor. As a writer-director, Sturges had an amazing output of films in a period of five years, all considered classics today. These films include The Great McGinty (1940), Christmas in July (1940), The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan's Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). After leaving Paramount Pictures in a dispute with upper management, Sturges's career declined, and he never produced anything close to the quality of his earlier successes. In spite of this decline, Sturges is considered one of the greatest talents to come out of Hollywood.

Claudette Colbert (1903 -1996) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Ellie Andrews in Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934). For her role in that film, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was nominated two other times in that category. Colbert got her start in the theater, where she played a variety of ingenue roles. In 1928, she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures, where she quickly made a succession of movies. Her breakout role came in 1932 in The Sign of the Cross (1932) starring Fredric March and Charles Laughton. In 1934, she made three films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: Imitation of Life, Cleopatra, and the eventual winner, It Happened One Night. No one had been able to match that record. Other popular films include I Met Him in Paris (1937), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Midnight (1939), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Since You Went Away (1944), and The Egg and I (1947).

Joel McCrea (1905 – 1990) was an American movie star who appeared in over 100 films. During his almost-five-decade career, McCrea worked with some of the top directors in Hollywood, including Alfred Hitchcock (Foreign Correspondent 1940), Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels 1941, The Palm Beach Story 1942), and George Stevens (The More the Merrier 1943). McCrea worked opposite some of the top leading actresses of the day, including Miriam Hopkins, Irene Dunne, Veronica Lake, Claudette Colbert, and Barbara Stanwyck, with whom he made six films. He was the first actor to play Dr. Kildare in the film Internes Can’t Take Money (1937), co-starring Stanwyck. McCrea married actress Frances Dee in 1933. The two were married until McCrea died in 1990.

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to watch the movie on YouTube.

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The Palm Beach Story trivia

• Carole Lombard was scheduled to star alongside McCrea but was replaced by Colbert when Lombard was killed in a plane crash in 1942.
• Preston Sturges makes a cameo appearance carrying Colbert's luggage after departing Rudy Vallee's yacht.
• The studio didn't want Rudy Vallee to be cast in the role of J.D. Hackesacker III but Sturges persisted and got his way.
• The $700 that the Wienie King gives Gerry would be worth over $10,000 today.
• The Palm Beach Story was the fifth film writer-director Preston Sturges made in two years!

Why watch this film?

• The Palm Beach Story is considered one of the best screwball comedies ever made. 
• Preston Sturges is one of the true geniuses of Hollywood's classical period which makes watching his films practically mandatory.
• It's an opportunity to see Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert at the peak of their powers and appeal.
• The supporting cast includes Mary Astor and Rudy Vallee, and the members of The Preston Sturges Stock Company.
• Few people could write sophisticated comedy like Preston Sturges, and The Palm Beach Story is just one example of the director's talent.

Discussion questions

1. Gender Roles and Expectations: How does the film challenge or reinforce traditional gender roles of the 1940s? Consider the characters of Gerry and Tom and their respective approaches to money, marriage, and independence.
2. Money vs. Love: The central conflict in the film revolves around money. Does the movie ultimately suggest that money is a necessary evil for a successful marriage, or is it a corrosive force that undermines genuine affection?
3. Screwball Comedy Elements: Identify and analyze the classic elements of screwball comedy present in "The Palm Beach Story." How do these elements, such as fast-paced dialogue, zany situations, and mistaken identities, serve the film's satirical commentary on class and relationships?
4. Symbolism of the Ale & Quail Club: The Ale & Quail Club and its chaotic journey on the train are a significant part of the film's humor. What might this group symbolize? What is their function within the narrative, and how do they reflect the film's broader themes?
5. Frankness and Modernity: For a film made in 1942, "The Palm Beach Story" is remarkably frank about divorce, remarriage, and a woman's desire for financial security. How does this film's treatment of these topics compare to other films of the era, and in what ways does it feel surprisingly modern?

Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea in Preston Sturges's "The Palm Beach Story"

The Palm Beach Story (1942) is an American screwball comedy written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor, and Rudy Vallee. The cinematography is by Victor Milner and the music is by Victor Young.

Tom Jeffers (McCrea) is an inventor going through a rough patch with his wife Gerry (Colbert). Used to living an upper-class life in New York City, their current financial situation (not good) isn't helping the relationship.

Gerry, still in love with her husband comes up with a plan that seems to make no sense to anyone but Gerry. Will her plan throw her marriage into greater peril or save it?

Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert

Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. Sturges was one of the first film directors to direct his own screenplays, opening up the door for Billy Wilder and Joseph L. Mankiewicz to do the same. Sturges was a successful playwright and Hollywood screenwriter and script doctor. As a writer-director, Sturges had an amazing output of films in a period of five years, all considered classics today. These films include The Great McGinty (1940), Christmas in July (1940), The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan's Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). After leaving Paramount Pictures in a dispute with upper management, Sturges's career declined and he never produced anything close to the quality of his earlier successes. In spite of this decline, Sturges is considered one of the greatest talents to come out of Hollywood.

Claudette Colbert (1903 -1996) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Ellie Andrews in Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night (1934). For her role in that film, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was nominated two other times in that category. Colbert got her start in the theater where she played a variety of ingenue roles. In 1928, she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures where she quickly made a succession of movies. Her breakout role came in 1932 in The Sign of the Cross (1932) starring Fredric March and Charles Laughton. In 1934, she made three films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: Imitation of Life, Cleopatra, and the eventual winner, It Happened One Night. No one had been able to match that record. Other popular films include I Met Him in Paris (1937), Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Midnight (1939), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Since You Went Away (1944), and The Egg and I (1947).

Joel McCrea (1905 – 1990) was an American movie star who appeared in over 100 films. During his almost-five-decades career, McCrea worked with some of the top directors in Hollywood including Alfred Hitchcock (Foreign Correspondent 1940), Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels 1941, The Palm Beach Story 1942), and George Stevens (The More the Merrier 1943). McCrea worked opposite some of the top leading actresses of the day including Miriam Hopkins, Irene Dunne, Veronica Lake, Claudette Colbert, and Barbara Stanwyck with whom he made six films. He was the first actor to play Dr. Kildare in the film Internes Can’t Take Money (1937) costarring Stanwyck. McCrea married actress Frances Dee in 1933. The two were married until McCrea’s death in 1990.

To watch the film on YouTube, click on the link below.

To join the discussion on March 28, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time, click here. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to the discussion on Zoom.

The Palm Beach Story trivia

• Carole Lombard was scheduled to star alongside McCrea but was replaced by Colbert when Lombard was killed in a plane crash in 1942.
• Preston Sturges makes a cameo appearance carrying Colbert's luggage after departing Rudy Vallee's yacht.
• The studio didn't want Rudy Vallee to be cast in the role of J.D. Hackesacker III but Sturges persisted and got his way.
• The $700 that the Wienie King gives Gerry would be worth over $10,000 today.
• The Palm Beach Story was the fifth film writer-director Preston Sturges made in two years!

"The Ale and Quail Club" with Claudette Colbert

Why watch this film?

• The Palm Beach Story is considered one of the best screwball comedies ever made. 
• Preston Sturges is one of the true geniuses of Hollywood's classical period which makes watching his films practically mandatory.
• It's an opportunity to see Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert at the peak of their powers and appeal.
• The supporting cast includes Mary Astor and Rudy Vallee and the members of The Preston Sturges Stock Company.
• Few people could write sophisticated comedy like Preston Sturges and The Palm Beach Story is just one example of the director's talent.

Discussion questions

1. Do you think the director had a message about marriage and relationships buried beneath the comedy?
2. What did you think of the comedic talents of Colbert and McCrea and Astor and Vallee?
3. Was there any wisdom in Gerry's plan to help her husband succeed?
4. Did you have a favorite actor or character actor?
5. Was there anything that surprised you?
6. Was the ending satisfying, confusing, brilliant?

10 Things You May Not Know About Joel McCrea

Joel McCrea (1905 – 1990) was one of the most underrated stars from Hollwyood’s Golden Age, in my opinion. Unfairly labeled as the poor man’s Gary Cooper, McCrea was a talented actor in his own right. Here are some things about McCrea that you may not know.

1. Joel McCrea was Cecil B. DeMille’s paperboy.

I wonder if Cecil B. DeMille was a good tipper.

2. As a high school student he worked as a stunt double for silent movie cowboys William S. Hart and Tom Mix.

3. He was the first actor to play “Dr. Kildare” on the screen in Internes Can’t Take Money (1937).

McCrea was the first actor to portray Dr. Kildare.

4. When Gary Cooper turned down the part of the hero in Foreign Correspondent (1940), McCrea got one of his best known roles in the iconic Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

5. Writer-director Preston Sturges wrote Sullivan’s Travels (1941) and The Palm Beach Story (1942) with McCrea in mind for the male leads.

6. He starred in six films with Barbara Stanwyck; their first film together was the pre-Code Gambling Lady (1934).

7. McCrea married actress Frances Dee in 1933; they were married for 57 years (his death).

McCrea and Dee were considered one of the most glamorous couples in Hollywood.

8. He and his wife had three sons: David, Peter, and Jody.

9. Due to his shrewd financial and real-estate investments, he was a multi-millionaire by the end of the 1940s.

10. McCrea was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1968.

2017 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (#TCMFF) Recap: The Fourth Day

Hollywood, Sunday April 9
Sunday! The last day of the festival! The last day is always bittersweet. Plenty of good movies to see, but you know it’s going to end and you don’t want it to. I had plenty of good choices for morning viewing, but once again, I opted for a comedy.

I chose The Egg and I (1947) as my first Sunday movie. It’s a movie I have on DVD, but haven’t seen in a long time. The movie was shown in a digital restoration in the Egyptian Theatre. It stars Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray and is based on the bestselling memoir by Betty MacDonald. Tiffany Vasquez interviewed Kate MacMurray, the daughter of Fred MacMurray and June Haver before the screening. MacMurray shared some insights into her childhood and what it was like having movie stars for parents. She had nothing but praise for her father and seemed to be a delightful person in her own right. MacMurray has a Master’s degree in film studies. She is an ambassador for Gallo of Sonoma’s MacMurray Ranch wines. Her family sold the MacMurray Ranch to Gallo in 1996. Back to the movie! The Egg and I is a funny film with its fish-out-of-water tale of “city folk” trying to turn a dilapidated, crumbling chicken farm into a thriving business. In the hands of comedy pros like Colbert and MacMurray, it’s hard to go wrong. This was the film that introduced audiences to Ma (Marjorie Main) and Pa (Percy Kilbride) Kettle to movie audiences. There’s also a young Richard Long (Jarrod Barkley from The Big Valley) as Tom, the Kettles’s oldest son. This was MacMurray’s first time seeing The Egg and I on the big screen; she was excited to be able to see it in such a beautiful movie palace like The Egyptian, and so was I!

Next up for me was another comedy—The Palm Beach Story (1942)—at the Chinese. This Preston Sturges classic is one of my favorite screwball comedies. Film historian Cari Beauchamp introduced the film and interviewed Wyatt McCrea, star Joel McCrea’s grandson. We learned from Wyatt that his grandfather started parting his hair on the right side of his head halfway into production. He saw some of the rushes and thought his hair looked as if he was balding when parted on the left side. He didn’t tell Sturges and I had never noticed it before. In the audience were relatives of Mary Astor who played a much-married princess and sister to Rudy Vallee’s straightlaced and incredibly rich J.D. Hackensacker III. Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea play a couple in financial straits, which puts a strain on their marriage so Colbert comes up with a crazy scheme to finance her husband’s inventions. Like The Awful Truth, the laughs were fast and furious, and once again, first-times missed about 20% of the jokes because of the continuous laughter. Presented in a beautiful digital format, The Palm Beach Story never looked better.

What’s Up Doc? (1971) was a movie I saw in the movies with my parents (I was 14). I thought is was hysterical. But now, knowing the movies—the great screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s—that inspired it has made me admire it all the more today. Director Peter Bogdanovich introduced the film and shared some of the behind-the-scenes goings on and the casting of Madeline Kahn as Eunice Burns. Even though the film stars Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal, both at the peak of their popularity and fame, it’s Kahn who, in my opinion, steals the picture and in her movie debut no less. The laughs never stopped inside The Egyptian!

Oh no. It’s the last movie of the festival for me. I had the following choices: Casablanca (1942), Lady in the Dark (1944), Speedy (1928), Red-Headed Woman (1932), and Beat The Devil (1953). I’ve seen Casablanca a million times and I love it, but I’ve seen it on the big screen before. Speedy, a silent film that features Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and stars Harold Lloyd is a movie I would have liked to have seen. Red-Headed Woman I have on DVD and it’s far from my favorite Pre-code favorite. Beat The Devil is another movie I would have liked to have seen, but I chose Lady in the Dark for two reasons: 1. It’s rarely ever shown anywhere (I don’t think it’s ever been on TCM) and 2. it’s in Technicolor and it was the last of the nitrate screenings at The Egyptian. The Technicolor in Lady in the Dark was beautiful, almost eye-popping in its luminosity. The story concerns Liza Elliot (Ginger Rogers), the editor-in-chief of Allure magazine who seems to have it all, but is suffering from depression. She’s involved with the magazine’s married publisher (Warner Baxter) and she is constantly at odds with Charley Johnson (Ray Milland), second-in-command at Allure, who makes no bones about wanting her job. Liza goes to see a psychiatrist (Barry Sullivan) who suggests that something from her childhood has caused her to have such a serious take on life, which includes avoiding looking glamorous, even though she’s in charge of a fashion magazine. Putting it in the context of 1944, part of Liza’s problem is she hasn’t met the right man. And in today’s terms, she doesn’t have the proper life/work balance. The film directed by Mitchell Leisen has incredible production values. The costumes, the sets and Liza’s elaborate dream sequences are outstanding. The performances are uniformly good and Rogers is impressive and believable as Liza. The ending may be predictable, but it’s an interesting slice of life, love, and psychoanalysis 1940s style. I’m glad I saw it.

That’s it…until next year (Lord willing). Now it’s a rush to Club TCM to say goodbye to my fellow bloggers and social media pals, but not too late; I have to catch that early flight out of LA!

Preston Sturges: Master of the Cockeyed Caravan, Part 3

A writer-director is born
As the story goes, Sturges sold the screenplay for The Great McGinty to Paramount for $10, under the condition that he would also be allowed to direct. Since this seemed like a fairly reasonable risk for the studio, they acquiesced.

The Great McGinty (1940) didn't have big stars to pack the movie palaces, but it did have good reviews from some of the top critics of the day. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said this: "In the trade they call them 'sleepers'—these pictures which come drifting in without benefit of much advance publicity and which turn out delightful surprises." And a delightful surprise it was, and with its success, Sturges was on his way to the big leagues. At the 1941 Academy Awards, Sturges took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Without taking a breath, it seems, Paramount released another film in 1940 written and directed by Sturges,  Christmas in July. Again, the film had no big stars, and again, Crowther called the film "another of those one-man creations by Preston Sturges for Paramount, is just about as cunning and carefree a comedy as any one could possibly preordain . . . ." Crowther ended his review by saying,  "As a creator of rich and human comedy Mr. Sturges is closing fast on the heels of Frank Capra."

The lady is a champ
It wasn't too long for the folks at Paramount to realize that Sturges as a writer-director was turning into a goldmine. Armed with a big budget and top-flight movie stars, Sturges jumped into production of The Lady Eve (1941) with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, both turning in brilliant performances under his direction. Sturges was at his peak. At the end of 1941, The New York Times named The Lady Eve the best picture of the year, beating Citizen Kane!

Veronica Lake is on the Take
More hits followed in the financial success of The Lady Eve: Sullivan's Travels (1942), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944) , and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944). In a span of roughly four years, Sturges wrote and directed seven classic films! If you count The Great Moment (1944), a film that Sturges fan Crowther praised, you can make it an even eight classics in four years. It appeared that Sturges could do nothing wrong.

The shooting star crashes to earth
Almost overnight it seemed, things started going south for Sturges. At the height of his fame, he left Paramount and formed California Pictures Corporation with Howard Hughes. Nothing much came from this venture and eventually Hughes shut things down, bought RKO, and left Sturges without a home studio or any projects on the horizon.

Phoenix rising at Fox?
It would be four years before Sturges would release another film. Darryl Zanuck, at Twentieth Century Fox, hired Sturges to write and direct Unfaithfully Yours (1948) starring Rex Harrison and Linda Darnell. The film, although popular in the eyes of some critics (yes, Crowther was still a fan), didn't fare as well with the public at large. The humor, gags, and amazingly complicated narrative were all there, but as Crowther noted, "... a shade of something fatal to a champion may be perceived in his new picture at the Roxy. That's a slip in his timing and his speed. Like a boxer who takes too long a lay-off, Mr. Sturges has slowed up a bit. And this is something which his public will be the first to note and deplore." And the public did take notice and Unfaithfully Yours didn't turn out to be the next great Sturges hit. Sturges had one more chance at Fox with The Beautiful Blonde From Bashful Bend (1949) starring Betty Grable. But by then, the magic had completely rubbed off. The film was a disaster for Sturges and the studio. Sturges fan and supporter, Crowther ended his review of the film with this zinger: "Put out in Technicolor, The Beautiful Blonde looks good. But, to paraphrase the theme song, it looks pretty well shot in the end."

A lasting legacy
Although Sturges's film career basically ended with The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend, his legacy lives on in the ground-breaking comedies he wrote and directed at Paramount. The body of work he produced in those four short years is a feat that has yet to be matched.

Preston Sturges was a man of uncommon intelligence and one of the most talented writer-directors to come out of Hollywood. He paved the for other writer-directors like Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Billy Wilder, and most importantly, he left us his wonderful films that still amaze, surprise, and delight us to this day.