GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

JohnHowardReid 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.

Claudio Carvalho In New York, Gerry (Claudette Colbert) and Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) are about to be evicted from their apartment for lack of payment after five years of marriage. Tom is an architect and has developed the design of a suspended airport, but can not find an investor and is completely bankrupted. When the aspirant tenant meets Gerry, he tells that he is a wealthy businessman from Texas that became rich with his sausage business and he gives US$ 700 to Gerry to pay her debts and start a new life. Tom does not believe that the old man gave the money to Gerry without sex and they have an argument, and Gerry concludes that she is a burden in the life of Tom. On the next morning, she decides to travel to Palm Beach to get a divorce, and marry again with a millionaire to help Tom in his project. She boards a train to Palm Beach, where she is helped by J.D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee). They leave the train and she learns that Hackensacker is one of the richest men in the world. They travel to Palm Beach in his yacht and Gerry meets his sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor). But Tom has followed Gerry and she introduces him as if he were her brother. Soon Hackensacker falls in love with Gerry and the Princess with Tom. But a zipper and twins help to solve the situation. "The Palm Beach Story" is a cynical and unethical but dated screwball comedy by Preston Sturges. I do not like this movie since Gerry Jeffers is a nasty woman and never a companion to Tom, who is a sucker; therefore I do not feel empathy for the ambitious character performed by Claudette Colbert. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "Mulher de Verdade" ("True Woman")

Steve Bailey Writer-director Preston Sturges' "The Palm Beach Story" (1942) 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 sequence of exposition (set to a cockeyed version of "The William Tell Overture") which seems to explain 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 Gerry (Claudette Colbert), his equally frustrated wife. They live in a posh apartment but are constantly dodging bill collectors, until Gerry'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' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek [1944].) Gerry tells The Weenie King of her financial plight, and he gives her a wad of money to help her, just because she's so darned cute. (Once you see Claudette Colbert, this will seem a little more plausible.) Far from feeling relieved, Tom is displeased that Gerry can solve their financial woes with only a little flirting. Gerry counters that everything in life is "about sex" (Note to censors: Flout-flout),and eventually she leaves Tom to set out on her own, solely to prove that she can get whatever she needs whatever she needs in life just by being a woman.It's never shown whether Gerry proves this to herself or not. But along the way, she meets some memorable characters: the members of The Ale and Quail Club (headed by Sturges veteran William Demarest); an oft-married millionairess (delightful Mary Astor) and her foreign-speaking boyfriend of the moment; and a soft-spoken yachtsman (Rudy Vallee), who patiently endures Gerry's systematic breaking of his every pair of pince-nez's. All of these people love to talk, and Sturges obliges them with enough epigrams for a swank 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 Gerry discuss their impending divorce. The scene begins with Tom trying to unzip the back of Gerry'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.

JRamos3 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.