The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor Young contributed the musical score, including a fast-paced variation of the William Tell Overture for the opening scenes. Typical of a Sturges film, the pacing and dialogue of The Palm Beach Story are very fast. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures.
theatrical release poster
Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert, stars of The Palm Beach Story, from the trailer for the film
Rudy Vallée and Claudette Colbert
Mary Astor and Joel McCrea
Screwball comedy is a film subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1950s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristics similar to film noir, distinguished by a female character who dominates the relationship with the male central character, whose masculinity is challenged, and the two engage in a humorous battle of the sexes.
Bringing Up Baby (1938) is a screwball comedy from the genre's classic period.
A still from a trailer for It Happened One Night
In The Lady Eve, Jean (center, played by Barbara Stanwyck) passes herself off as an upper-class woman.
A promotional photo for the 1940 screwball comedy His Girl Friday