Now here’s an interesting little film that Preston Sturges made. It’s a romantic comedy/screwball comedy, but in a very impressive way, as it almost works as a commentary on the genre, and it certainly shows the depth and talent of Sturges. In many ways I find it the most fascinating of Sturges’ films, although it’s not among his best, certainly not The Lady Eve and Sullivan’s Travels. Still, it’s an essential part of the Sturges canon, and a fascinating little film that should be studied.
The story is fairly simple: Gerry and Tom are married, but poor. Tom has a brilliant idea that could make him rich, but he needs a load of cash to get the project underway. So Gerry decides to divorce Tom so that she can marry a rich man and get him the money. It’s a fascinating idea where two people are getting divorced, not out of hate, but out of love. Of course Tom isn’t too thrilled about the idea and tries to stop her. Gerry figures out that she has to go to Palm Beach to get the divorce, so a sort of a chase is on. He says she can never get there without any money, but she thinks she can. There’s a great scene where she wants to get on a train to Palm Beach, and does so by flirting with the gatekeeper and some of the passengers, and gets her own room for the trip, while Tom gets chased out of the train station by the guards as she says he “wants to molest me”. Hilarious. While overall not Sturges’ funniest film, it does have one of the funniest moments in any Sturges film, although it is somewhat controversial, at least it seems so from the comments on IMDb. Gerry gets lodging with a bunch of rich gun & hunting enthusiasts, and during the evening when they are getting quite drunk, things get out of hand and they grab their guns and start shooting wildly; inside the carriage! Besides being truly funny, it’s also an interesting early criticism of the liberal gun laws in the US.
On the way to Palm Beach Gerry meets a shy millionaire, who of course falls in love with her. She takes advantage and accepts his proposal to stay with him for a while at his house in Palm Beach. But when they arrive there Tom has gotten ahead of her and is waiting, where she presents him as her brother. Another character who joins the fold is the “loose” Princess Centimillia, who immediately falls for Tom. She is played by Mary Astor, who is without a doubt the funniest person in the film, she is simply wonderful. It all opens up for a funny and interesting final act. One thing I should mention is that this film has one of the truly most bizarre endings I’ve ever seen. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that it’s connected to the equally bizarre opening, which at first seems to have little connection to the film itself. It’s one of the things that make the film really interesting. There are a lot of set pieces and characters that are hilarious in this movie that I haven’t mentioned yet, but it all goes to show how much Preston Sturges’ films have to offer. What he does so wonderfully with his central cast of characters that he uses over and over again is that he adds a lot of flavor to his films, every minor character has something funny to say or has some small quirk, and this is one of the things that make his films remarkable and funny. I will say that Joel McCrea is really underrated in Sturges’ films. He may not have the greatest dramatic range, but his dead pan seriousness is perfect for the kind of comedy that Sturges works with, and the two are a perfect match.
The Palm Beach Story is fascinating in its own rights, and truly an interesting and unique film in the works of Preston Sturges. I feel that even though all of Preston Sturges’ films have something in common, they all also have their own unique identities and themes that separate them. That’s what’s impressive about Sturges, is that although he has his own unique style, he also managed to make several interesting films without repeating the trick, and instead incorporated his style into several very different films, as well as use the cast over and over again without anyone seeming tired or boring.
No comments:
Post a Comment