Paramount Pictures
Not part of a collection.
The Palm Beach Story
Love is fickle! Love is blind! She runs 'round the country...with him behind!
A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.
- Original title
- The Palm Beach Story
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Jun 5, 2025 · via TMDB
“Men don’t get smarter as they get older, they just lose their hair”! That’s the view of “Gerry” (Claudette Colbert) who is married to frustrated designer “Tom” (Joel McCrea). He needs $90,000 to build a state of the art airport but all of the traditional investment sources have politely declined. She decides that he would do better on his own, or better yet - she could divorce him the go marry a millionaire and try to fund him that way. He thinks this is bonkers, but next thing she is on a train to Palm Beach where she encounters “J.D.” (Rudy Vallee) who just happens to be a very rich gent who is happy to dispense his largesse generously. Hooked up with this man, they meet his open-minded sister (Mary Astor) to whom “Gerry” spins some fanciful yarns about her husband that only come home to roost when that poor soul, determined not to give up on his wife, arrives and risks spoiling her carefully stacked line of fibbing dominoes. What chance they can get the money without someone in this ostensibly spoiled and vacuous scenario cottoning on? The story is a bit on the far-fetched side, but Colbert has excellent comedy timing and there are quite a few pithy gems amidst the fairly relentless dialogue as the story takes aim at the owners of inherited wealth and at attitudes to the wealthy from those who aspire and despise in equal measure. There’s some fun chemistry on display between all four here and though the denouement is a little rushed and disappointing, this is still a fun romp that I did quite enjoy.
barrymost
Oct 4, 2019 · via TMDB
A woman leaves her inventor husband, believing that it would be better for him if she were gone. She heads to Palm Beach to get a divorce, and meets kind billionaire John D. Hackensacker the III during crazy train ride there. The energy is bursting in every scene thanks to film's great, seasoned cast. Watch for early scenes with the endearing, little old "Wienie King". The film is a wonderful, joyfully hilarious romp. Would I recommend? Yes. The quintessential screwball comedy.
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Claudette Colbert
Geraldine 'Gerry' Jeffers
Joel McCrea
Tom Jeffers
Mary Astor
The Princess Centimillia
Rudy Vallee
John D. Hackensacker III
Sig Arno
Toto
Robert Warwick
Mr. Hinch
Arthur Stuart Hull
Mr. Osmond
Torben Meyer
Dr. Kluck
Jimmy Conlin
Mr. Asweld
Victor Potel
Mr. McKeewie
William Demarest
First Member Ale and Quail Club
Jack Norton
Second Member Ale and Quail Club
Robert Greig
Third Member Ale and Quail Club
Roscoe Ates
Fourth Member Ale and Quail Club
Dewey Robinson
Fifth Member Ale and Quail Club
Chester Conklin
Sixth Member Ale and Quail Club
Robert Dudley
Wienie King
Franklin Pangborn
Manager
Arthur Hoyt
Pullman Conductor
Al Bridge
Conductor
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones
Colored Bartender
Charles R. Moore
Colored Porter
Frank Moran
Brakeman
Harry Rosenthal
Orchestra Leader
Esther Howard
Wife of Wienie King
Frank Faylen
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
J. Farrell MacDonald
Officer O'Donnell (uncredited)
Edward McNamara
Officer in Penn Station (uncredited)
Marcelle Corday
Elderly Maid (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Gerry's Maid of Honor/Nightclub Extra (uncredited)
Max Wagner
Tom's Best Man (uncredited)
Byron Foulger
Jewelry Salesman (uncredited)
Irene
Costume Design
Wally Westmore
Makeup Artist
Preston Sturges
Director
Victor Young
Original Music Composer
Preston Sturges
Screenplay
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Pennies from Heaven
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Man's Favorite Sport?
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High Society
Chasing Papi
The Wrong Paris
Fun with Dick and Jane
That Uncertain Feeling
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Love Is in the Air
Yoh! Bestie
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Runaway Bride
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Dec 9, 1942
Greenville, South Carolina
Dec 10, 1942
New York City, New York
Dec 17, 1942
Detroit, Michigan
Jan 1, 1943
