The Palm Beach Story
Love is fickle! Love is is blind! She runs 'round the country...with him behind!
1942 | 88m | English
Popularity: 0.7 (history)
| Director: | Preston Sturges |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Preston Sturges |
| Staring: |
| 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. | |
| Release Date: | Aug 28, 1942 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Preston Sturges |
| Writer: | Preston Sturges |
| Genres: | Comedy, Romance |
| Keywords | airport, florida, marriage, love, money, train, divorce, screwball comedy, palm beach, florida, comedy of remarriage |
| Production Companies | Paramount Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Feb 05, 2026 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Sheldon Jett | Seventh 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) |
| Bert Moorhouse | Diner on Train (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) |
| Joe Gilbert | Store Employee (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Victor Milner | Director of Photography |
| Stuart Gilmore | Editor |
| Hans Dreier | Art Direction |
| Ernst Fegté | Art Direction |
| Preston Sturges | Screenplay, Director |
| Victor Young | Original Music Composer |
| Wally Westmore | Makeup Artist |
| Irene | Costume Design |
| Harry Lindgren | Sound Recordist |
| Walter Oberst | Sound Recordist |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Paul Jones | Associate Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 7 |
| 2024 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 6 |
| 2024 | 6 | 11 | 21 | 6 |
| 2024 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 7 |
| 2024 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 6 |
| 2024 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 6 |
| 2024 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 6 |
| 2024 | 11 | 9 | 23 | 6 |
| 2024 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 5 |
| 2025 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 5 |
| 2025 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2025 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trending Position
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 c ... ast. 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.
“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. S ... he 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.