The Palm Beach Story (1942)

Directed by Preston Sturges. Starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Rudy Vallée, Mary Astor, Robert Dudley, Sig Arno, Esther Howard.

Typically zippy Preston Sturges screwball riot, not as clever as the one that preceded it (Sullivan’s Travels) or as side-splitting as the one that came next (The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek), but it’ll do in a pinch. Struggling financially, married couple Colbert and McCrea figure it’s best to part ways despite continued shared affection, and after she splits, they attract the attentions of a wealthy but puny nebbish (Vallée) and his insatiable, oft-divorced “princess” sister (Astor)—for love or money, that is the question. Robert Dudley’s eccentric “Wienie King” and Sig Arno’s dim, bumbling beau steal the show in their handful of appearances. The wacky deus ex machina-style wrap-up is rushed, but it serves as one half of a memorable bookend along with the confounding, snapshot antics during the opening sequence. Some Sturges regulars (William Demarest, Robert Greig, etc.) appear in minor parts as members of the Ale and Quail Club; Sturges himself makes a fleeting cameo as a luggage handler.

79/100