Tag: Claudette Colbert

Classic Films · Comedies · Uncategorized

The Palm Beach Story

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: The Palm Beach Story, 1942

What’s smitten, kittens? This week I’m writing to you from the Treasure Coast of Florida, where the Lilly Pulitzer is abundant and the cocktails are strong. Of course I had to revisit the Preston Sturges classic The Palm Beach Story (Disc/Download) prior to my trip down here, though thankfully, my transportation did not include a Pullman train car with the Ale & Quail club. I also did not step on any millionaires, alas.

Starring Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert as Tom and Gerry Jeffers, the unhappily married couple at the center of this screwball comedy, The Palm Beach Story is the type of zany movie that makes you wonder if Sturges was just making it up as he went along. There are characters that, while memorable, seem to go nowhere, as well as a crazy intro involving twins, a kidnapping, and a wedding. Keep in mind, this is all in the first 60 seconds! My suggestion- make your cocktail before the opening credits and settle in, knowing not everything will make sense, but everything will be funny. This is the kind of film that gets better and better with each viewing, and one I appreciate for its plethora of scene stealers. From the deaf “Wienie King” to the sarcastic and horny Princess Centimillia, to the unfortunate bartender forced to dodge bullets and saltines, there is literally nobody on this screen who isn’t interesting to watch.

In terms of cocktails, I will spare you the “Prairie Oyster” Colbert drinks on the train because I’m not not exactly one for raw egg yolks and Worcestershire. Instead, join me in imbibing a classic Palm Beach cocktail, which will definitely appeal to the Negroni lovers out there.

Palm Beach

2 1/2 oz Gin

1/2 oz Sweet Red Vermouth

1 oz Fresh Squeezed Grapefruit Juice

Maraschino cherry and dried citrus wedge (for garnish)

Combine gin, vermouth, and grapefruit juice in a shaker with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a cherry and dried citrus wedge.

If 2020-2022 was my Billy Wilder period, then 2023-2024 is fast becoming my Preston Sturges era. I can’t get enough of his imaginative plots, the social commentary, and all that brilliant dialogue. This isn’t the first Sturges film on Cinema Sips, and it won’t be the last. But Snoodles, it might just be the craziest. Cheers!

Classic Films · Comedies

It Happened One Night

LizLocke3 Comments
Image Credit: It Happened One Night, 1934.

I don’t know what this says about me, but I have a thing for grumpy heroes in popular culture. I guess when I really stop to think about it, I’m the grumpy hero of my own life: I don’t have time for nonsense, my baseline descriptors are sarcastic and pessimistic, but deep down inside I’m a romantic puddle of mush. Maybe that’s why I adore Clark Gable so much in this week’s film It Happened One Night (Disc/Download)—we are two cynics who found love, despite our better instincts.

Hailed as one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, It Happened One Night 100% lives up to the hype. It’s amazing to me how this 1930s screwball comedy about a scandalized socialite falling for a wisecracking journalist still manages to feel fresh and relevant nearly a century later. Featuring tropes as old as time (enemies-to-lovers + forced proximity), Frank Capra’s ode to romance on the road is smart, daring, and unbelievably funny. While the script is great, it’s the acting that really sells it for me. Claudette Colbert is both ballsy and vulnerable, so desperate to get to The Wrong Man that she jumps off a yacht, hops on a Greyhound, spends the night with a total stranger (The Right Man), and flashes her gams while hitchhiking. And yet, she still needs Clark Gable to tell her how bus schedules work, and the proper way to dunk a donut, and how to not stand out like a sore thumb among the plebeians. Meanwhile, he needs a woman who makes him laugh, calls him out on his oversized ego, and is ready and willing to take the leap into a life of adventure. These two may be on opposite sides of the curtain, but we know it’s only a matter of time before those walls of Jericho come tumbling down.

Claudette Colbert’s character Ellie Andrews is described as a spoiled brat, but I think she’s more of a pissed-off brat. She’s tired of other people calling the shots in her life, and she’s ready to take the reins. This cocktail I found a few months ago in the New York Times cooking section seems tailor-made for Ellie- The Bitter Heiress!

The Bitter Heiress

3 oz Lillet

1 oz Fresh-squeezed Orange Juice

½ oz Campari

Orange peel

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, and add the first three ingredients. Stir until chilled, then strain into a chilled martini glass. Take the orange peel, hold it over the glass with the skin facing down, then strike a match and hold it between the peel and the drink. Squeeze peel toward match to spray citrus oil onto the surface of the drink, and discard. Garnish with a fresh slice of peel.

If you need a fun romp for an at-home date night, or just a solo screening that’ll make you feel a little less pessimistic about the world, quit bawlin’ and give It Happened One Night a chance. Here’s to the merry go round!