Wordiezett So much average

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Bill Slocum F. Scott Fitzgerald told Ernest Hemingway "the rich are different from you and me." For Preston Sturges, "different" hardly covers it. In his "The Palm Beach Story," they are out of their minds.Rich people can't wait to give Geraldine Jeffers (Claudette Colbert) their money. Sure, she's beautiful, but she's also married to the possessive if indigent Tom (Joel McCrea). Deciding that he's better off without her as a "milestone" around his neck, and that she's certainly better off finding more crazy rich guys to give her dough, she leaves for a quickie divorce in Palm Beach, Florida, with Tom in hot pursuit.Perhaps Sturges' dizziest comedy, "Palm Beach Story" is a clever, grown- up entertainment, feet quite detached from the ground. Just imagine how the Paramount brass reacted after screening the first two-and-a-half minutes of this, a galloping credit sequence having nothing to do with the plot of the next 80 minutes. It's certainly amusing, but even knowing what Sturges was setting up here doesn't make me sure it was the right approach.Sturges is called the anti-Capra for the way he played with the Frank Capra formula where little people win against the mighty with equal parts pluck and sentimentality. If Capra was the enlightened communitarian, Sturges was the eccentric patrician, and "Palm Beach Story" his paean to capitalist endeavor at its warped and wackiest.The capitalists with whom the Jeffers come across are a cross-section of craziness that proves money talks loudest when it makes the least sense. There's the "Wienie King" (Robert Dudley) who gives Gerry $700 and a warning to lay off his product if she wants to live longer. There's the Ale And Quail Club, who gift her passage to Florida on their train and then scare her away by holding target practice in the club car. Finally, you have the Hackensackers, a brother and sister whose oil fortune has completely divorced them from any practical reality, and who settle upon the Jeffers as ideal companions for their cloud-cuckoo land.As John D. Hackensacker (Rudy Vallée) tells his sister (Mary Astor), "You know Maude, somebody meeting you for the first time, not knowing you were cracked, might get the wrong impression."Whimsy predominates over everything else in "The Palm Beach Story;" the one quality everyone possesses equally. "I like peace but I ain't morbid about it," is how a cop warns Tom to watch his step. Thanked for his "chivalry" by Gerry, a ticket attendant replies: "Anytime from 8 to 12."Watching all this zaniness is pretty charming, even if the story it decorates is somewhat undernourished. Neither Jeffers is that engaging as personalities go; hard enough as it is to believe, the richie-rich Hackensackers come off more vulnerable and worth your time, what with their personality quirks and their weird need for love.Sturges' taste for story detours is on full display here; the Ale And Quail Club taxes your patience with non-stop singing, barking, and shooting, not to mention all the Sturges stock players putting in their appearances. Sturges found William Demarest funny for some reason, giving him center stage in the movie's trailer. At least his part in the film isn't so much as that.But what a clever ending, all the more so for being so utterly random! There's a line of thinking that "The Palm Beach Story" is screwball comedy, but it's way beyond that to me. Sturges throws so many balls in the air there's a bit of wonder when he manages to catch a few.The object is entertainment, and it succeeds in that well enough. It also seems there's a lesson about capitalism tied up somewhere, that leaving people to make their own ways in life is the best course to take, no matter how mixed up they are. Does it work in life? No idea, but it certainly seems to here!

Jackson Booth-Millard From director Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels), I found this film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, it was well rated by critics, the title didn't suggest anything particular to me, but I was hoping I would agree with the positive opinions. Basically in New York, Gerry (Claudette Colbert) and Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) have been married for five years, but with a lack of money coming in they are due to be evicted from their apartment, Tom is an architect and inventor near bankruptcy and unable to find an investor for his latest idea. As time has gone by Gerry finds herself unable to cope and realises that their marriage has been over for some time, so she leaves him and is heading to Palm Beach for a quick divorce and marry a millionaire to help Tom's project, but Tom is determined to do whatever he can to stop her. It is boarding a train when Gerry meets one of the richest men in the world, eccentric billionaire bachelor J.D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee), and travelling on the yacht to Palm Beach she also meets his sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor), eventually Tom catches up to his wife, but introduces himself to them as her brother. The situation becomes more complicated with Hackensecker falling in love with Gerry, and the Princess falling in love with Tom, after some embarrassing and near ridiculous situations, the truth is eventually revealed that Tom is actually Gerry's husband, but the other siblings come into it, in the end Hackensecker marries Gerry's twin sister and the Princess marries Tom's twin brother. The cast all do their parts well, Colbert being the wife who thinks the husband would be better without her, and McCrea as the husband trying to better himself and reignite her feelings, I did laugh at the moments with the mildly deaf man mistaking what is being said, and the mixed relationships and absurdities are funny, I admit it might not be something I would want to see again, but it is a likable enough screwball comedy. Good!

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")

j-catanzaro Funny enough, even for modern viewers. I am not and never will be interested in romantic comedies, however, this movie was entertaining enough to hold my attention throughout. Different style of romantic comedy than the one we're so used to seeing today. The screwball comedy lives up to the name with numerous gaffs and goofs throughout the film, I enjoyed it, though. Nothing too fancy with camera angles or lighting or any other special effects, just story and plot driven entertainment with an excellent twist! Not my favorite of an of the older films I have been seeing lately, but again the story is intriguing and funny enough to keep me interested. I'm sure it was a hit when it debuted in 1942, and as previously mentioned, today's viewers can still relate. Divorce is even more prominent today than it was at the time this movie came out! Definitely worth seeing.*Note- This movie came out after the "code" was enforced in 1934, and there were a few scenes I felt were almost provocative enough to garner attention from "code' proponents. In the beginning when Tom has Gerry sit on his lap and he begins kissing the back of her neck. Also, toward the end Gerry is wearing a bit of a suggestive black dress which just seemed a bit, risqué, if you will for the time. Just some food for thought.