Jan 13 movie: The Palm Beach Story. This is one of my favorite Claudette Colbert movies, but now that I've seen them both in rapid succession I have to say that Midnight edges it out as my favorite of her romantic comedies. But then there's It Happened One Night ... damn it, I can't decide. They're all wonderful.
As Preston Sturges tend to do, the plot is difficult to sum up in one sentence. It features Colbert running out on the husband she loves (Joel McCrae) and hooking up with a wealthy bachelor (Rudy Vallee, playing "John D. Hackensacker," and guess which real-life billionaire he was supposed to be). She hopes to manipulate Vallee into giving McCrae the $99,000 he needs for his kooky invention (an airport suspended above Manhatten), while pretending McCrae is her brother so he won't interfere. Mary Astor plays Vallee's man-crazy sister, and one of the high points of the movie is Robert Dudley as The Weinie King, a cranky old deaf man who helps both Colbert and McCrae. Another highlight is the Ale and Quail Club, proving that drunk rich guys with rifles are funny! And Vallee gets to sing which is always nice.
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