| Rachel Buhman |
The Palm Beach Story and Midnight play at the Trylon Cinema from Friday, July 17th, through Sunday, July 19th. For tickets, showtimes, and other series information, visit trylon.org.
“You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” rings out as the most clangy criticism of rom-coms. Funny enough, it’s one of film’s most famous romantic characters, Kathy Selden, that utters those words in Singin’ in the Rain. Just before she admits to actually seeing a few of her male lead, Don Lockwood’s, pictures
But if watching Sheep Detectives earlier this week taught me anything, it’s that Hugh Jackman loves telling a whodunit story. Just like your uncle loves finding a new nu metal band. For those in love, there’s always room for another one. Shout out DJ Khalid. That’s how I feel about rom-coms.
So, I chose to watch two, new-to-me, flicks, Midnight (1939) and The Palm Beach Story (1942). Two classic screwball comedies starring Trylon’s featured actress, Claudette Colbert. Going into the double header, I presumed I’d be reporting back on how Colbert grew as an actress or how the stories progressed. Instead, as the end credits rolled for the second time, I found myself awed by their similarity.
It was like looking at a particularly challenging spot-the-difference. Midnight begins with a zoom in on a clock, while The Palm Beach Story begins with a whole wedding montage. I preferred Taxi driving Don Ameche in the former to the latter’s penniless Joel McCrea. John Barrymore knows how to play an eccentric charismatic old man while Robert Dudley’s less debonair Wienie King still can’t be denied. It’s wild being able to compare each element on a one-to-one basis. So wild that I refuse.
Instead, I will be mounting a somewhat reluctant defense of the studio system. Believe me, I never in a thousand years thought I would be here. I know there is more to criticize than love about Hollywood’s golden age of filmmaking. That’s an article for another time. And I promise before my final breath that I will tell it. But not today. Because, as I said, I was awed by the similarity of two different films written by two distinct filmmakers. So, here I will be speaking to the absolute distillation of storytelling into a tight 90 minute vehicle for the star du jour. A feat that could only be achieved through the old Hollywood system that married talent with repetition. Let me bring you back into the time of starlets and leading men.
During the golden age of Hollywood, producers wanted to make sure you got your quarters-worth when you showed up to see your favorite starlet’s new film. Because if you didn’t, you might now show up to the next. It’s all dollars and cents. Mostly cents back then. Watching through Claudette Colbert’s filmography, you can see a studio system spending a decade plus figuring out her best selling rom-com. In the end, it was probably her earlier film It Happened One Night. But Midnight and The Palm Beach Story showcase a brand at its peak. Colbert’s version of Sandra Bullock’s strong career women that get softened by a relationship, or JLo’s women who have it all but the man. For Colbert, the brand was women who would talk their way into money and marry for love.
In It Happened One Night we see an early version of this where Colbert plays an heiress that runs away for love. Then a shift happens. In Midnight and The Palm Beach Story she plays a singer who eschews her romantic interest to find a wealthy benefactor and in the end it also all works out. That’s Hollywood for ya. But the adjustment allows Colbert’s wit and charm to crackle with slightly overly familiar dialogue and risky behavior compared to more hemmed in heiresses. That puts Colbert in the lead.
But there’s more than just Colbert’s character that they honed. They figured out it’s best to have her spend films in fancy dresses, which means a poor girl to rich girl story instead of rich girl to poor girl. Subsequently, her later films feature my favorite thing, which is, rich people buffoonery. Little barbs poked at the upper class through eccentric yachtsmen, married women with wandering eyes, men who are rakes, gossips, and gamesmen. All terrible people who are going about their terrible ways.
Coming out of the depression, no one would buy that money isn’t important. It’s incredibly important and it’s incredibly important to our main character. But as Colbert tries to become part of the terrible rich circle we see, she never could be happy there. She has to marry the working class man. What a lovely little indictment of the wealthy elite. It’s like what The Materialists could have been. And yet, these films were made 90 years earlier. It begs the question, what changes would Celine Song make to her script if she had seen Midnight and The Palm Beach Story?
This is where I bring you all back to my reluctant defense of the Hollywood Studio System. If Malcom Gladwell is right and it takes 10,000 hours to master something. Then Hollywood certainly mastered the types of stories they were telling back in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Repetitive yes. Similar to the point of being just about indistinguishable. Sometimes. But if you want to know how to tell a romance with comedic elements, they’ve done it just about every way possible. They’ve run into all the second act issues and unlikeable characters. They figured out what works.
By “they”, I mean Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges. Two of the greatest writers from this era. Both taking a crack at Claudette Colbert’s brand with Midnight and The Palm Beach Story respectively. Each filmmaker has larger, flashier, titles in their pocket. But what a treat to see their flourishes here. Wilder’s characters have a chemistry bubbling up from the dialogue. While Preston Sturges finds ways to present even the most formulaic story with his madcap spin. These films serve as incredible base knowledge for every rom-com filmmaker. But, now I sound like my dad again.
In the end, it doesn’t matter if you want to be a filmmaker or the audience. The reason I have to give it to the studio system is that these films are designed to give rom-com lovers exactly what they want. Another one. And another one. Shout out DJ Khalid.
**rides off into sunset**
The End
Edited by Olga Tchepikova-Treon