The Palm Beach Story 1942

Gerry (Claudette Colbert) and Tom (Joel McCrea) are six years into their marriage and broke. 

 Gerry is home when the landlord brings over new tenants since they are being shoved out for unpaid rent. Turns out to be "The Weenie King". An old, deaf man who takes a liking to Gerry when he runs into her in the bathtub in her wrap!

 The weenie king thinks she is a cutie and gives her $700 to pay off her dues. She is ecstatic and pays the bills, gets her hair done, and buys a new dress. Hubby Tom comes home and is irritated at her new found wealth and the way he thinks she earned it.

Now that the bills are paid they can get a divorce according to Gerry. They think they are unhappy together and Gerry wants to use her looks to get money to help Tom's business. He thinks she is crazy.

The next morning she shoves out and runs away to Palm Beach to get a divorce and meet a new rich guy to give her money. Tom wants to chase after her but he has no money. Good thing the weenie king turns up and gives him the cash! He plans to meet her at her in Palm Beach with open arms. 

Meanwhile, Gerry uses her hotness to score a ticket on the train for free. This ticket comes with a price, as she is followed around by a mob of crazy drunk hunters who sing songs and shoot out train windows. 

 The conductor leaves the rowdy bunch's train car on the tracks and takes off, but that includes Gerry's purse, makeup, clothes, and ticket! She is trapped in her train bunk with noting but men's pajamas. As she is fixing how to get out of this mess, she meets her bunk neighbor and breaks his glasses. Fail.

He is forgiving and wants to help Gerry. He buys her lunch and she gets off at the next stop wit him and he spoils her with a new wardrobe and diamonds! Who is this guy? He is sweet, apparently rich, and quiet the OCD case. He writes all his expenses in a notebook for organization.

 He's planning to get to Palm Beach by boat and asks Gerry to go wit him. She does and finds out he is J.D., one of the richest men in the world, and a bachelor to boot! He is meeting his 5 time divorced sister Princess Centimillia and her latest boy toy. Guess who is also waiting at the dock? Tom, with roses.

The four meet and Gerry tells the gang that Tom is her brother! He goes along with it but is mad. 

Rich J.D. is falling for Gerry and Gerry realizes she is still in love with her hubby.

Gerry is in a pickle. If she marries J.D. she is set for life and Tom can get his business going too, but she won't have Tom, and Princess Centimillia is taking quite a liking to Tom as well. Should she choose for her pocketbook or her heart? 

The plot of this film is weird and so unrealistic. But the costume design is great and I love a good Claudette film. Silly but fun viewing!

Happy America Day!

Happy Fourth of July from The Affair!! 

Be safe with that over sized firecracker Bette!!

Everyday Alfred

Ho hum...

For Miss Hepburn

Today is the 10 year anniversary of Katharine Hepburn's death. While I don't typically like to celebrate the date someone died, LIFE magazine has released some fabulous pictures of Kat and crew filming The African Queen in her honor. 

Here are a few for your viewing pleasure...

All photos courtesy of LIFE Magazine

Check out the rest of these photos at www.life.time.com

If these pictures strike your fancy I suggest you march to the library right now and check out Katharine's book, The Making Of The African Queen or How I Went To Africa With Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind all about her wild adventures with Bogie (who drank so much with Huston they were the only ones to never got sick while filming), Lauren (the team mom who nursed, cooked, and wifed like a champ for the crew), and Huston (who missed the birth of daughter Angelica during the process, talk about commitment). It's funny and quirky just like the author.

We miss you Kat!

Picture Of The Day

It's hot out there! So be like Rita - head to the beach 

with a big ol' sandwich! 

(And don't forget your stuffed monkey...)

Everyday Alfred

Watcha digging for Alfred...?

Keeper Of The Flame 1942

What better for a Sunday afternoon than a Spencer and Kat flick, their second together. This film stars Spence as newspaper journalist Stevie O'Malley, who has just come back from Europe to research and write about an American hero, Forrest, who has just died. Forrest's wife (Kat) won't see any reporters. 

Stevie starts to snoop around the estate and stumbles upon the gatekeeper's son. He is sad and after some buttering up he tells Stevie how to get into the house. Naturally, Stevie breaks in.

"Who the hell are you?"

 Mrs. Forrest spots Stevie and doesn't tell him to leave.       

(I mean, he may be there to kill her for all she knows but he's kinda cute after all...)

Stevie tells her he wants to research and write about what a swell guy her hubby was, but she has no interest. He leaves.

After some coaxing, Mrs. Forrest decides to meet with Stevie and they start to learn about each other. 

Mrs. Forrest learns Stevie is a huge admirer of her dead hubby, and Stevie starts to suspect something is up when it comes to how he died. 

We learn that Mr. Forrest had some assistants who were to get "a key" and destroy some "paperwork". Mrs. Forrest knows all about this too and is not about to give it up. Stevie starts to think that maybe Mrs. Forrest killed her man because she was having an affair.

Eventually Stevie is lead to Forrest's mother, who seams like a nut job but might contain the truth. She is interrupted while spilling the beans when Mrs. Forrest comes in and shuts her up.

Stevie learns possibilities of an affair are out of the question and more sneaky business is being done on the Forrest estate. 

Stevie finds Mrs. Forrest burning more documents and she finally tells him the truth, and that she loves Stevie, and that she wants him to write the book about the man that Forrest really was. Before you know it, some of Forrest's people find them together and try to bust in.

It gets heavy someone doesn't make it out. What will happen next? Go watch this picture and find out!