The Palm Beach Story

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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.

[edit] Plot synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert play Thomas and Geraldine 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 (in the hopes of gaining funds from a wealthy second husband to 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 much-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.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Production notes

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).