#742: STURGES, Preston: The Palm Beach Story (1942)

-
STURGES, Preston (United States)
The Palm Beach Story [1942]
Spine #742
Blu-ray


This wild tale of wacky wedlock from Preston Sturges takes off like a rocket and never comes down. Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert play Tom and Gerry, a married New York couple on the skids, financially and romantically. With Tom hot on her trail, Gerry heads for Florida on a mission to solve the pair's money troubles, which she accomplishes in a highly unorthodox manner. Both witty and utterly absurd, The Palm Beach Story is a high-water mark of Sturges's brand of physical comedy and verbal repartee, featuring sparkling performances from its leads as well as hilarious supporting turns from Rudy Vallee and Mary Astor as a brother and sister ensnared in Tom and Gerry's high jinks.

88 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2015
Director/Writer


Preston Sturges was 44 when he wrote and directed The Palm Beach Story.

Other Sturges films in the Collection:

#103: The Lady Eve (1941)
#118: Sullivan's Travels (1941)
#292: Unfaithfully Yours (1948)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek.

Commentary

None.

Interview 1

With writer and film historian James Harvey.

Interview 2

With actor and comedian Bill Hader.

Safeguarding Military Information

A 1941 World War II propaganda short written by Sturges.

Screen Guild Theater

Radio adaptation of the film from March 1943.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Criterion Collection By Spine #

-
The Complete Criterion Collection By Spine # 0000A: No spine #: Ingmar Bergman's Cinema (BERGMAN, Ingmar) [1946-2003] {Sweden} Crisis [1946] A Ship To India [1947] Port Of Call [1948] Thirst [1949] To Joy [1950] Summer Interlude [1951] Waiting Women [1952] Sawdust And Tinsel [1953]  [ 89 ] Summer With Monika [1953] A Lesson In Love [1954] Dreams [1955] Smiles Of A Summer Night [1955] The Seventh Seal [1957] Wild Strawberries [1957]  [ 93 ] Brink Of Life [1958] The Magician [1958] The Devil's Eye [1960] The Virgin Spring [1960] Through A Glass Darkly [1961] The Silence [1963] Winter Light [1963] All These Women [1964] Persona [1966]  [ 94 ] Hour Of The Wolf [1968] Shame [1968] The Passion Of Anna [1969] The Rite [1969] Fårö Document [1970] The Touch [1971] Cries And Whispers [1972] Scenes From A Marriage [1973] The Magic Flute [1975] The Serpent's Egg [1977] Autumn Sonata [1978] Fårö Document 1979 [1979] From The Life Of The Marionettes
Read more

#331: OZU, Yasujiro: Late Spring (1949)

-
Image
OZU, Yasujiro (Japan) Late Spring [1949] Spine #331 DVD One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu's family portraits, Late Spring (Banshun) tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever — almost alone justifying Ozu's inclusion in the pantheon of cinema's greatest directors. 108 minutes Black & White Monaural in Japanese 1:33:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2006 Director/Writers Based on the novel Chichi to musume (Father and Daughter) by Kazuo Hirotsu . Script by Kogo Noda and  Yasujiro Ozu . Ozu was 46 when he directed Late Spring . Other Ozu films in the Collection: Eclipse Series 42: Walk Cheerfully (1930) Eclipse Series 42: That Night's Wife (1930) Eclipse Series 10: Tokyo Chorus (1931) Eclipse Series 10: I Was Born, But . . . (1932) Ec
Read more

#304: ROEG, Nicolas: The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976)

-
Image
ROEG, Nicolas (United States) The Man Who Fell To Earth [1976] Spine #304 DVD OOP The Man Who Fell to Earth  is a daring exploration of science fiction as an art form. The story of an alien on an elaborate rescue mission provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg's visual tour de force, a formally adventurous examination of alienation in contemporary life. Rock legend David Bowie, in his acting debut, completely embodies the title role, while Candy Clark, Buck Henry, and Rip Torn turn in pitch-perfect supporting performances. The film's hallucinatory vision was obscured in the American theatrical release, which deleted nearly twenty minutes of crucial scenes and details. The Criterion Collection is proud to present Roeg's full uncut version, in this exclusive new director-approved high-definition widescreen transfer. 139 minutes Color Stereo 2:35:1 aspect ratio Criterion Release 2005 Director/Writers From the novel by Walter Tevis . Screenplay
Read more