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!

1940's Remember the Night

One of my favorite Christmas movies is not as well known as classics like White Christmas, or It's a Wonderful Life, but full of sentiment just the same. Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in their first of four pairings, Remember the Night follows John Sargent (MacMurray) and Lee Leander (Stanwyck) on an unlikely journey considering their circumstances. 

Lee is in trouble for stealing some jewels. She tries to make a run for it, but gets caught in the chase. She winds up in court with a wacky defender and John as the prosecutor. After a feeble attempt to acquit her, the judge orders the court to resume after Christmas leaving Lee stuck in the slammer. John has a soft spot and makes her bail so she won't be locked up over the holidays. 

Before John knows it, Lee is out on bail and in his apartment!  This puts a stick in John's spokes as he plans to take a road trip to visit his mother for Christmas. Lee doesn't have anywhere to go, and even after suggesting she go back to jail, John decides to buy her dinner and think of a solution.  He takes her to a swanky place with draped walls and chandeliers courtesy of interior decorator, A.E. Freudeman. Lee explains why she steals, they realize they are from the same place, and John decides to give her lift to her mother's house along the way. 

As their journey begins they end up in cow pasture, and get taken in for trespassing and stealing milk. After some quick thinking by Lee they are back on the road - but as fugitives! They reluctantly stop by Lee's mother's house. John learns that Lee's mother is still upset about her actions and shows no love by their impromptu visit. Feeling pity for Lee yet again, he decides to take her to his family's house for Christmas.

Lee is falling for John but knows that with her reputation she would not be a good fit for him. She is proud of his accomplishments as a lawyer and doesn't want to jeopardize his career. Once they arrive at the family home, she is welcomed and adored, even after hearing about her legal situation. The family celebrates the holiday together and John starts to have affections for Lee. They leave for New York by route of Canada as to avoid the cops from the farm fiasco. They spend a night at Niagara Falls and it's clear the two are "falling" for each other.  John suggests they skip town and run away together. Lee wants to go back to NYC and set things straight. 

Once back to the city Lee's trial resumes. John tries to do a lousy job so Lee will get off. Lee, knowing John is too good and decent for her, decides to plead guilty. You'll have to watch to see what transpires in the end, but this film does not have your your typical happy ending, especially for a Christmas film. I happen to love the ending as it is both romantic and realistic. 

This film was written by Preston Sturges who would continue to succeed at his craft with screenplays for The Palm Beach Story, Sullivan's Travels, and one of my favorites, The Lady Eve, of which also stars Stanwyck. It's important to note the film has a racial stereotyped character named Rufus played by Fred Toones. Toones's career included 225 credits, and most of his acting consisted of roles playing janitors, cooks, servants, and bellhops, which was typical for the times. Toones acted in six Oscar nominated films including Imitation of Life, 1937's A Star is Born, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. When he wasn't on set, Fred ran the shoe shining stand on the lot when he was contracted with Republic Pictures.  

Sturges became pals with Stanwyck during production and told her he would write a film just for her, which turned out to be The Lady Eve. He was so unhappy with the decisions made by director Mitchell Leisen on this film that he decided to direct his screenplays going forward. He started a brief production company with one of my favorite players, Howard Hughes, called California Pictures. This ended shortly after it started due to production disagreements and Howard being, well, Howard. Soon after, Hughes would buy RKO Pictures.