The Palm Beach Story (1942)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Preston Sturges

Writer:

Preston Sturges (writer)

Release Date:

7 November 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Comedy

Plot:

An inventor needs cash to develop his big idea. His wife, who loves him, decides to raise it for him by divorcing him and marrying a millionaire.

Plot Keywords:

Money | Divorce | Florida | Train | Inventor

Cast

Claudette Colbert	...	Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
Joel McCrea	...	Tom Jeffers ('Capt. McGlew')
Mary Astor	...	The Princess Centimillia
Rudy Vallee	...	John D. Hackensacker III
Sig Arno	...	Toto
Robert Warwick	...	Mr. Hinch, Ale and Quail Club
Arthur Stuart Hull	...	Mr. Osmond
Torben Meyer	...	Dr. Kluck
Jimmy Conlin	...	Mr. Asweld, Ale and Quail Club
Victor Potel	...	Mr. McKeewie
William Demarest	...	First Member Ale and Quail Club
Jack Norton	...	Second Member Ale and Quail Club
Robert Greig	...	Third Member Ale and Quail Club
Roscoe Ates	...	Fourth Member Ale and Quail Club
Dewey Robinson	...	Fifth Member Ale and Quail Club
Chester Conklin	...	Sixth Member Ale and Quail Club
Sheldon Jett	...	Seventh Member Ale and Quail Club
Robert Dudley	...	Wienie King
Franklin Pangborn	...	Apartment Manager
Arthur Hoyt	...	Pullman Conductor
Al Bridge	...	Conductor
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	George, Club Car Bartender
Charles R. Moore	...	Train Porter
Frank Moran	...	Brakeman
Harry Rosenthal	...	Orchestra Leader
Esther Howard	...	Wife of Wienie King
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ernest Anderson	...	Club Car Steward (uncredited)
George Anderson	...	The Gent (uncredited)
Wilson Benge	...	Yacht Steward (uncredited)
Monte Blue	...	Mike the doorman (uncredited)
Ralph Brooks	...	Nightclub Dance Extra (uncredited)
James Conaty	...	Nightclub Dance Extra / Store Employee (uncredited)
Marcelle Corday	...	Elderly Maid (uncredited)
Laurie Douglas	...	Maid in Princess' Room (uncredited)
Frank Faylen	...	Taxi driver (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Gerry's Maid of Honor / Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Byron Foulger	...	Jewelry salesman (uncredited)
Alfred Hall	...	Bishop (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Dining Car Extra (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Prospect (uncredited)
John Holland	...	Member of Wedding Party (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Mate with Binoculars (uncredited)
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Officer O'Donnell (uncredited)
Edward McNamara	...	Officer in Penn Station (uncredited)
Esther Michelson	...	Near-sighted woman (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Man in apartment (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Diner on Train (uncredited)
Mantan Moreland	...	Diner waiter (uncredited)
Odette Myrtil	...	Sales Clerk (uncredited)
Lillian Randolph	...	Maid on Train (uncredited)
Keith Richards	...	Shoe salesman (uncredited)
Julius Tannen	...	Proprietor of Store (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Gateman at Penn Station (uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Tom's Best Man (uncredited)

Directed by
Preston Sturges

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Preston Sturges		writer

Produced by
Paul Jones	....	associate producer
Buddy G. DeSylva	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Victor Young

Cinematography by
Victor Milner

Film Editing by
Stuart Gilmore

Art Direction by
Hans Dreier
Ernst Fegté

Costume Design by
Irene

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Harry Lindgren	....	sound
Walter Oberst	....	sound

Music Department
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Walter Scharf	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Edwin Gillette	....	secretary: Mr. Sturges (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Pictures (1958) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Penn Station, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

In-joke: The character John D. Hackensacker performs the song "Goodnight Sweetheart", associated in the 1930s with Rudy Vallee who plays the part.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Gerry (Claudette Colbert) is referred to as "tall," "dark-haired," and "long-legged." She is in fact short, blonde, and rather shorter-than-average of leg.

Quotes:

Gerry Jeffers: Isn't it wonderful?
Tom Jeffers: Sensational. But you haven't quite answered my question yet.
Gerry Jeffers: What question, dear?
Tom Jeffers: Why this alleged old man gave you - how much is it?
Gerry Jeffers: Seven hundred dollars.
Tom Jeffers: Seven hundred dollars. Why?
Gerry Jeffers: No reason.
Tom Jeffers: Oh, is that so? He just - seven hundred dollars? Just like that?
Gerry Jeffers: Just like that.
Tom Jeffers: I mean, sex didn't even enter into it.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "American Masters: Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Isn't It Romantic

Zany Classic

Far fetched, but very humorous story of a wife Gerry, who decides to divorce her husband, Tom and go seduce & marry a rich man/widow, but she is only going to use the man to get the money to finance Tom's invention. Gerry does meet a man, one of the richest men in the world, and when Tom confronts the man down in Palm Beach, Tom is immediately introduced to the man's chatterbox, & man obsessed sister, who decides Tom is to be husband number 6 for her. How to get out of this one. Only Preston Sturges could have come up with this one and gotten away with it. Colbert is delightful as Gerry, McCrea as well as her bewildered husband, but Vallee and Astor really steal the show as the eccentric Hackensacker and his sister. Also enjoyable to watch are the Ale & Quail club, with Demarest & Horton's little skeet shooting bet in the pullman car, and Dudley as the old, but delightful Weinie King. The ending though seemed like a plot contrivance to make the film end smoothly, and appease the censors. Rating, 9.