Customer Reviews

Palm Beach Story [VHS]

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, this is a work of genius. Preston Sturges wrote and directed THE PALM BEACH STORY, one of the best screwball comedies ever, made (1942) when the they weren't making many madcap comedies anymore. At least not the type that appealed to adult sensibilities. Like most screwball comedies it's a story of two slightly mismatched lovers, here caught in the fourth year of their marriage. Joel McCrea plays Tom Jeffers, an inventor and builder who's having difficulties making a go of it. Claudette Colbert is his wife Geraldine, a beautiful woman who can't cook or sew and by now feels she's become a bit of a `milestone' to her husband. So it's off to Palm Beach, where she can obtain a divorce, marry a wealthy man and get the $90,000 her husband needs to build his skyline airport. You see, she still loves him, and he still loves her....

The raw materials of comedy are also those of melodrama and tragedy. A story of love imperiled by impending poverty can be taken down Heartbreak Road, but THE PALM BEACH STORY is filled with more delightful oddballs and surreal situations than any other movie I can think of, beginning with the Colbert character, who makes any number of odd decisions based on the `logic of the situation.' Problems begin when the `Wienie King' appears. He's a little old man in an oversized coat and hat who's a bit hard of hearing and a bit gruff of manner, wonderfully played by veteran character actor Robert Dudley. Generous of nature and a fount of common-sensical wisdom beneath his crust, the Wienie King's act of largesse early on in the film starts the jealously and resentment ball rolling. Like all the secondary characters in this one, though, he's more angel than devil, and his generosity will pay off in the end. And, again like most of the minor characters, he gets more laughs than Colbert or McCrea, who more - much more, in the case of McCrea - or less play it straight while the comedy froths about them. Dudley isn't the only funny character, either. There's the Ale and Quail Club members who adopt Colbert as a mascot for a spell, and Sig Arno as a strange foreigner, language spoken and country of origin unknown, who plays gigolo to Mary Astor's Princess Centimillia. Astor's man-hungry princess is the sister of John D. Hackensacker III, son of the son of an oil baron and played to comic perfection by Rudy Vallee. It's in this fizzy sea of absurd to surreal characters that THE PALM BEACH STORY tells its tale of love triumphant.

What can you say about a comedy that still makes you laugh even though you've watched it a zillion times? Colbert is beautiful, McCrea is rock steady, and Vallee is a comic revelation. This one still breezes by every time I watch it. The highest recommendation for what's, in my opinion, one of the best comedies ever made. The print's in okay condition and the dvd offers no extras.

Ignore the carping here from other reviewers about DVD quality (just fine, if short on extras) or the merits of the film -- how ridiculous, when PALM BEACH STORY is one of the funniest, most adult comedies from Hollywood's Golden Age! Colbert has never been more charmingly pragmatic, and the underrated Joel McCrea simmers and stews with virile magnetism and ace comic timing. Throw in stellar supporting turns from Mary Astor and Rudy Vallee (whose rendition of "Goodnight, Sweetheart" sparks the film's finale), the usual Sturges suspects wrecking a train as the hilarious Ale and Quail Club, and the unforgettable Wienie King, my nominee for most endearing supporting performance in any classic movie, and this DVD is a real bargain. If you know the film, you'll be happy with this transfer. If not, sit back and relax -- visiting Paramount's blissfully loony Manhattan and Palm Beach, you're in the hands of masters.

This is an absolutely stunning comedy, with one comic shock and delight after another, and hilarious performances by a bevy of some of the best character actors in the history of Hollywood.

Highpoints include a trip on the railroad with the Ale and Quail Club; an introduction to The Weenie King, on of the funniest characters I know of in any film; Rudy Valee's unexpectedly delightful portrayal of a Rockefeller-like multi-millionaire; Mary Astor's excellent performance as Rudy Valee's sister; and a gentleman of unspecified ethnic origin known simply as "Toto."

The opening credits of the movie are among the most fascinating of the thirties or forties. While the credits are running, we see onscreen an entire prequel somehow involving two sets of identical twins (one set played by Joel McCrea and the other by Claudette Colbert).

Preston Sturges is not the best director the United States has ever produced, but he unquestionably enjoyed the finest five year period of any director we have ever seen. From 1940 until 1945, Preston Sturges enjoyed a run of amazingly crafted comedy masterpieces that by themselves place him on any list of the essential directors. In the late 1930s, Sturges built a name for himself by penning a number of first rate comedy scripts, including the classic EASY LIVING as well as REMEMBER THE NIGHT. Paramount gave him a shot at directing, and he responded with films like THE GREAT McGINTY, CHRISTMAS IN JULY, the great THE LADY EVE, SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, THE PALM BEACH STORY, THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, and HAIL THE CONQUERING HERO. But then, suddenly and without warning, his genius deserted him.

But this is one of the best of his best. Just sit back, get yourself pleasant to drink, and have a good time.

Very funny farce written and directed by Preston Sturges. Jerry (Claudette Colbert) runs away from engineer husband Tom (Joel McCrea) after feeling she's in the way of his success and tired of being poor. The Wienie King (don't ask) gives her $700. She spends it and flees to Palm Beach for a divorce with no money and no clothes. On the train, after the Ale & Quail Club pay her fare (don't ask), she is hounded by the rowdy (and I mean ROWDY) bunch until the conductor is forced to abandon the car! Then she steps on and meets "Snoodles" Hackensacker (Rudy Valee) a stiff as starch but charming multimillionaire who buys her clothes and lets her stay at his Palm Beach mansion with his husband hunting sister (Mary Astor) and her "guest" a bizarre French (?) kook who's always falling down. Then Tom shows up (after also meeting the Wienie King) and then everything gets even crazier. Alternately funny, romantic, sexy (oh yes) and surreal, this overlooked gem is packed with rapid fire dialogue, double entendres and just plain lunacy. "Palm Beach Story" must have been very adult for the time (1942) because it still tickles in the right places. Colbert's costumes are stunning and she is delightful as Jerry. The DVD print is very good. Enjoy. And try to figure out the opening title sequences....

I love this film. The weenie king alone is worth the effort to see this flick (actually, this is the best part!). I love both Colbert and McCrea. Great screen presence!

Preston Sturges's wonderful comedy about a woman (Claudette Colbert) who is married to a poor inventor (Joel McRae) who wants to divorce him and become a "kept" woman of a rich man so she can send her ex money for his inventions. It starts in NYC and works its way south to Florida by train, on which we meet the incomparable Ale & Quail Club, and on which she encounters a wealthy bachellor (Rudy Vallee) who begins to court her. McRae flies down to head her off at the pass and acts as her brother. Total lunacy results! The characters are just perfect in their looniness, from the near deaf weenie king (Robert Dudley) through the main characters to Vallee's crazy sister (Mary Astor). Madcap and screwy - and terrific all the way. Definitely worth a watch - lots of watches, actually.

Preston Sturges' 1942 comedy gem "The Palm Beach Story" posits that people are so unused to good fortune that when it's dropped right into their laps, they have no idea what to do with it. And those people include the movie's audience.

The movie begins with a whirlwind exposition sequence which explains absolutely nothing. It's Sturges' nose-thumbing at movies which have nothing *but* exposition. He seems to be saying, "Must we explain everything from the get-go? Have some patience on this trip, and I'll get you there."

Soon enough, we meet Tom (Joel McCrea), a frustrated construction designer, and Jerry (Claudette Colbert), his equally frustrated wife. They live in a posh apartment but are constantly dodging bill collectors, until Jerry's chance run-in with a meat mogul known as "The Weenie King." (You think that's flouting the censors? Wait until you see Sturges's "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" [1944].) When the Weenie King hears of Jerry's financial plight, he gives her a wad of money just because she's so darned cute. (Once you see Claudette Colbert, this will seem a bit more plausible.)

Far from feeling relieved, Tom is displeased that Jerry solved their financial woes with only a little flirting. Jerry counters that everything in life is "about sex" (Note to censors: Flout-flout), and eventually she leaves Tom and sets out on her own, solely to prove that she can get whatever she needs in life just by being a woman.

It's never shown whether Jerry proves this to herself or not. But along the way, she meets some memorable characters: the Ale and Quail Club (headed by Sturges veteran William Demarest); a millionairess (delightful Mary Astor) and her foreign-speaking boyfriend; and a soft-spoken yachtsman (Rudy Vallee), who falls for Jerry even after she accidentally breaks all of his pairs of glasses. All of these people love to talk, and Sturges obliges them with enough epigrams for a New Year's bash.

And for those who think Sturges couldn't direct as well as he wrote, I recommend the scene where a tipsy Tom and Jerry discuss their impending divorce. The scene begins with Tom trying to unzip the back of Jerry's dress for her, and it ends as one of the swooniest love scenes it has ever been my pleasure to witness.

And just when you think the movie has run out of steam, Sturges pulls a happy ending out of his hat that has you laughing through the closing credits. Smart and smarter--now, *there's* a trend Hollywood should have pursued.

A delightful Preston Sturges classic is destroyed on DVD by Universal with a cheap, VHS-quality transfer. Shame on them!

Even Rudy Vallee is funny - even if you suspect he may not have known it. Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert are both adorable, there are moments when the script approaches the surreal (look out for the 'horse in a bedroom' line)- Mary Astor breathing through her ears, the stone deaf Weenie King in the bathroom, Toto the aging toy boy from Baluchistan, the Ale and Quail club running amok are all unforgettable - if you've never seen this movie you're in for a real treat.

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. Incredibly funny! Way ahead of its time! I first saw this film when I was 17 and they showed it on TV in the middle of the night. I was desperatley tired but couldn't stop watching. Every time I tried to turn the TV off the movie just got funnier. It has some of the best lines ever used in any movie. This is a true classic. It is the way movies are supposed to be made.