|
By
NICK ZEGARAC
In the echelon of great
screwball comedy directors perhaps no one had
their finger more on the pulse of the daily acts
of hypocrisy that make us all human than Preston
Sturges. "The Palm Beach Story" (1942) is justly
one of his great bits of madcap business -- frank,
unsentimental and completely engaging.
Architect Tom Jeffers (Joel McCrea) has definite
ideas about a woman's place in the home. His wife,
Gerry (Claudette Colbert) has her own agenda.
Naturally, the two don't meet in the middle but
clash head-on like a couple of taxis on Broadway.
The film charts the couple's split: Gerry's bolts
to Palm Beach, where she quickly captures the
heart of wealthy, dimwitted John D. Hackensacker
III (Rudy Vallee). But with Tom's arrival in hot
pursuit of Gerry comes the equally direct passion
play of a predatory vixen, Centimillia (Mary
Astor, in a deliciously playful role) who is more
than willing to comfort Tom.
Sturges' script is dripping with head-snapping
double-entendres and scathing lampoons of physical
slapstick that lay bare their useless frolics and
ultimately bring Tom and Gerry back together. As
Tom, Joel McCrea is the archetypal Sturges male --
strong, idealistic, but with a certain naiveté
that makes all of his philosophies on life
vulnerable at best and completely self-deflating
at their riotous worst. As Gerry, Claudette
Colbert is ultimately the stronger and smarter
better half, pragmatic about the subtext of sex
and more than capable of exploiting her wiles to
good effect and social advancement. As comedies
go, this one's a candy box of cock-eyed craziness.
The transfer of this perennial favorite is not
what you might call outstanding. In fact it's
something of a disappointment. The grayscale is
remarkably weak and poorly contrasted. Whites are
generally a soft dull gray and not very clean or
sharp. Blacks are more deep gray than black. Fine
details occasionally shimmer. There's a hint of
edge enhancement in certain scenes. There's also a
considerable amount of age-related artifacts and
film grain to distract. Occasionally fine details
can appear fairly smooth, but most often they are
lost in a dull looking picture with few
distinctions. The audio is mono and considerably
in better shape than the picture elements. There
are no extras -- a genuine shame! |
