A different way of telling a story

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Many of the movies made by Preston Sturges could be classed as "comedies of error." The Palm Beach Story is no exception. The credit titles are alarmingly and delightfully interspersed with daringly abbreviated clips of Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea rushing around madly, evidently priming themselves for their wedding. As each title card credit appears, the action suddenly freezes briefly. Although these clips are all brief, they do show us some alarming scenes. For example, we see Colbert getting herself primped up for the wedding in one shot, and Colbert, bound up with rope and imprisoned in a closet in another. Every time I see this film I seem to like it better. When I first saw it at a cinema, I was about 20 years old. I was disappointed. Was this the comedy riot I had been led to expect? I thought it was strained and artificial and far too talky. 15 years later I saw it on TV and a few months after that I enjoyed it at a theater. In fact, this third time, I liked it enormously."Palm Beach Story" is the comedy of manners par excellence. The dialogue crackles with wit and sophistication and the premise of the film (that a pretty woman can get anything anytime, anywhere, from any man for no payment whatever other than a wistful or helpless glance) is as cynical as it is true. The film follows the adventures of a young wife dedicated to proving that proposition correct — and she does just this, through contact with some of the most delightful eccentrics ever to people a Sturges comedy.For full impact, however, these larger-than-life characters must be seen on a theater screen — the Ale and Quail Club is a case in point.There are the usual long but effective Sturges' takes, mostly in medium shot, showing the characters standing full-length. And I like the witty way the plot conclusion is foreshadowed in the sharply cut, old- time, send-up credit titles.

Interesting that a couple of reviewers for the film on IMDb call this picture 'one of Sturges's best' and 'Sturges at his worst'. I guess that goes to the old saying that it takes all kinds. From the outset I had a pretty good idea that this was intended to be a screwball comedy, and the story did have it's share of quirky, fast paced dialog, but for me there was an element missing to get it over the top as a credible story. What I really couldn't understand was why Gerry Jeffers (Claudette Cobert) thought the answer to all her marital problems was to run away and get a divorce, and then behave in ways that resulted in insuring the marriage.I'll say this though - for 1942, seven hundred dollars sure went a long way. The Weiner King's generous hand out to Jerry managed to cover all the back rent, dinner, a theater show, supper, the butcher, grocer and drugstore, a trip to the hairdresser and still managed fourteen dollars left over for husband Tom (Joel McCrea) to have fun with. There were good old days and then there were good old days, but man, I sure would love to stretch a buck that far.One redeeming note to the story, I thought Hackensacker (Rudy Vallee) was a stand up guy at the finale when he got jilted by Gerry and still decided to offer the loan to Tom for the airport project. Goes to show that business doesn't have to mix with pleasure for a businessman to recognize a profitable deal. But that triple wedding!?!? What were the odds?

This being only the second screwball comedy I had ever viewed, I have to say for the most part that I enjoyed it. The acting, while a bit dated, made for an enjoyable experience. The plot was sadly similar to the previous film that i watched: My Man Godfrey; however, with obvious unexpected twists and turns along the way. Even though the plot was similar to the previous film, the story was itself very unique. Everything from the unexpected second appearance of the "weenie king," when he helps tom Jeffreys, to the clearly non-traditional ending made this film worth watching. While it did drag a bit certain parts, with the short run time of only 88 minutes, the slower parts of the film seem to fly by. The music in the film added a much needed extra touch that helped to really captivate me at key or even dull moments, for instance, the ballroom or balcony scenes. The ensemble of the ale and quail club members was for me the most enjoyable part of the film, however, the, for lack of a better term, indentured servant serving the drinks and throwing the crackers for trap shooting made me a bit uncomfortable. Obviously there were many things in the 1940's that are very different today, but to see the way that African Americans were typecast and portrayed was a bit disturbing to me personally. That aside, another item that struck a chord with me about the film was the fact that Gerry makes it through most of the film simply by the grace of her good looks. The message that the film is sending with her behavior sets forth the notion that if a woman id pretty enough, life can be easy for her, which seriously degrades and takes away from women's equal rights, at least in my opinion. In summation, while this film had several parts that were a bit uncouth for my taste, it is hard to ignore a true and classic tale of love, passion, and overcoming the odds.

After his wife leaves him for an eccentric millionaire, an inventor pursues her to Palm Beach and laughs follow. This was Sturges's follow-up to "The Lady Eve" and "Sullivan's Travels" from the previous year. That's a hard act to follow for any director. Although this is generally enjoyable, it is not at the same level of brilliance as the preceding pair. There are funny bits but the comedy is not sustained. It gets off to a hilarious start but sort of runs out of steam. Scenes go on much too long after they have been mined for comic effect. Still, Sturges is always worth watching. McCrea, Colbert, Vallee, and Astor lead a capable cast.