The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 2, 2015

Preston Sturges' "The Palm Beach Story" (1942) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interview with writer and film historian James Harvey; new video interview with actor and comedian Bill Hader; radio adaptation of the film; and the short film "Safeguarding Military Information (1941)". The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The couple

Gerry (Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night) and Tom (Joel McCrea, Union Pacific) have been together for years and are still very much in love, but their marriage is falling apart and nearing its end because of serious financial problems. After a series of arguments in which they question their decisions and feelings, Gerry finally decides that the best thing to do is get a divorce in Palm Beach and look for a fresh start. Visibly upset, Tom attempts to change Gerry’s mind, but repeatedly fails and only further solidifies her belief that they must part ways.

What happens next isn’t always believable, but it is difficult not to agree that it feels right.

First, Gerry manages to avoid Tom and convinces a group of overly enthusiastic millionaires to buy her a train ticket and let her stay in their luxurious stateroom. But when the boys get seriously drunk and start emptying their rifles inside the train, Gerry runs away and bumps into John D. Hackensacker III (Rudy Vallee, The Admiral Was a Lady), a polite gentleman who not only invites her to have breakfast with him, but later on buys her a mountain of those special gifts that make women dream beautiful dreams. Hackensacker then welcomes Gerry on his big yacht where she is served caviar and champagne.

Meanwhile, an extravagant and almost completely deaf businessman who calls himself The Wienie King (Robert Dudley) meets Tom and gives him a couple of hundred dollars after he realizes that he is the husband of the same beautiful girl whose rent he paid after she admitted to him that she and the man she loved were having financial problems. (Earlier in the film, Gerry and The Wienie King meet while the latter is looking to rent an apartment for his pretentious wife). The old timer then urges Tom to buy a plane ticket and get to Palm Beach and do whatever it takes to save his marriage.

In Palm Beach, Tom meets Gerry and Hackensacker, who has already fallen madly in love with his wife and is planning to marry her. Tom is also introduced as Gerry’s brother to Hackensacker’s divorced sister, Princess Centimillia (Mary Astor, The Maltese Falcon), who has been looking for the right kind of man to settle down with once again.

Preston Sturges wrote and directed The Palm Beach Story for Paramount Pictures in 1942. Though slightly less effective than Sullivan’s Travels, it has all the key attributes that define his trademark style -- witty dialog full of outstanding one-liners, razor-sharp satire, fantastic characterizations, and of course a great sense of humor.

The dynamics of the relationships aren’t always believable, but once the audience befriends the main characters it is very difficult to actually question their decisions. It is all part of the magic that makes Sturges’ films so entertaining -- for a short period of time they transport the audience to a different place where good things happen to good people and at the end true love always wins.

The cast is wonderful. Colbert and McCrea are the film’s undisputed stars, but Vallee, Astor and a myriad of fantastic supporting actors also leave lasting impressions. (The great German actor Sig Arno is particularly funny as Princess Centimillia’s bubbly toy).

Sturges shot The Palm Beach Story with Oscar winning cinematographer Victor Milner (Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra, Ernst Lubitsch’s Trouble in Paradise).

The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from a 35mm nitrate fine-grain and a safety duplicate negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix and Pixel Farm's PFClean were used for small dirt, grain, noise management, flicker, and jitter.

Scanning supervisor: Russell Smith.
Film scanning: Sony Colorworks, Culver City, CA.
Colorist: Lee Kline."

Recently restored in 4K, the film has a very stable and pleasing organic appearance. Depth and clarity are very good, while contrast levels remain stable throughout the entire film. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. However, there are some minor density fluctuations that are responsible for some sporadic small variations in terms of grain exposure. Usually, in these specific areas the image appears marginally softer. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Color stability is very good -- the blacks appear natural and stable, while the whites and the variety of grays are well balanced. Overall image stability is excellent -- there are no frame jumps, problematic transitions, or edge flicker. Damage marks, debris, dirt, cuts, and stains have been carefully removed as well. Lastly, there are no encoding anomalies to report in this review. All in all, time has certainly left its mark on this very entertaining film, but it has a convincing organic appearance that should please its fans as well as viewers that will experience it for the fist time on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Clarity and depth are good. The music is also well balanced with the dialog, though during select transitions there is some flatness in the high frequencies (check the music around the 00.43.56 mark where the train is seen passing by). Also, occasionally some extremely light background hiss makes its presence felt. Still, overall the sound is very well balanced and there are no serious issues that might affect negatively your viewing experience.

The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• James Harvey on Sturges - in this new video interview, writer and film historian James Harvey discusses Preston Sturges work for Paramount Pictures, his image as a writer and director, the origin of The Palm Beach Story (and specifically its relation to other screwball comedies) and the manner in which different stereotypes are utilized in his films, the director's relationship with his father, etc. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080p).

• Bill Hader on Sturges - in this new video interview, actor and comedian Bill Hader (Superbad, Hot Rod) discusses The Palm Beach Story and its narrative structure, the rhythm of the script and the very specific descriptions Preston Sturges left, the film's surprising finale, etc. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080p).

• Radio Adaptation - presented here is a radio adaptation of The Palm Beach Story starring Claudette Colbert, Randolph Scott, and Rudy Vallee. The Screen Guild Theater radio anthology series broadcast the adaptation on March 15, 1943. In English, not subtitled. (30 min, 1080p).

• Safeguarding Military Information (1941) - this semi-doclumentary short film was written by Preston Sturges and distributed by the War Activities Committee of the Motion Picture Industry. The film promotes the idea that military men must be on their guard at all times. It is presented courtesy of the Academy Film Archive. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek.

The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is great to see that many of these fantastic classic American comedies are entering Criterion's catalog. After Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, now we have a lovely restoration of Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story, a witty and very charming film with a truly outstanding cast. Hopefully, later this year Criterion will also delight us with a Blu-ray release of Sturges' excellent Sullivan's Travels. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.