Claudette Colbert Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Good news, just in time for writer-director Preston Sturges' birthday: Universal is releasing a boxed DVD set of seven Sturges movies on Nov. 21. Some of the films are being released on DVD for the first time in this country, such as Christmas in July and The Great McGinty. Other movies, such as The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels, have been available only as pricey Criterion DVDs. The only problem is that the movies aren't being released individually, so if you already own The Palm Beach Story on DVD (like I do) and you want to see the newly released movies, you're forced to double-dip and buy the whole boxed set. Bleah.

The above photo is from the opening credits of The Palm Beach Story, which is probably my favorite Sturges film. So many romantic comedies of the Thirties ended with a wedding, but this movie begins with one, and then the ominous sentence: "And they lived happily ever after ... or did they?" Several years after the screwball wedding in the opening credits, Tom (Joel McCrea) and Gerry (Claudette Colbert) are having money and other problems, and Gerry decides to run away to Palm Beach for a divorce. The film is full of bizarre characters like The Weinie King, the Ale and Quail Club, and the oft-married Princess Centamillia (Mary Astor). And Toto, too! The film is also full of one-liners, from Gerry's "You have no idea what a long-legged woman can do without doing anything at all" to Princess Centamillia's "You will care for me, though. I grow on people. Like moss." And let's not forget "Nothing is permanent in this world ... except Roosevelt." The final shot is a classic spoof on the traditional romantic comedy -- I wish I could include it here, but I'd ruin a very funny movie.

I'm not obsessed with Claudette Colbert -- it's coincidence that I found lovely images of the actress two weeks in a row. I noticed that today was character actor Francis Lederer's birthday, and that reminded me of Midnight, one of my favorite films (which stars Colbert), and one thing led to another.

When Lederer died in 2000, he was over 100 years old. He played Louise Brooks' young love interest in the German film Pandora's Box in 1929, and started making American movies in the mid-1930s. Lederer's part in Midnight as a debonair playboy was typical of his early Hollywood roles. In the early 1950s he switched mainly to guest-star spots on television shows. Eventually he retired from acting on the large and small screens, and helped start a school for acting -- a friend of mine, after hearing how much I liked Midnight, once remarked that she'd taken classes with Lederer when she was growing up.

Midnight is a slight, sweet, witty Thirties comedy that I accidentally caught on cable one afternoon a dozen years ago and have liked ever since. The 1939 film was directed by Mitchell Leisen, a master of frothy filmmaking, and written by the incomparable team of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. This riff on the Cinderella story has one of my favorite lines, ever: "From the moment you looked at me, I had an idea you had an idea." Colbert, a golddigger stranded in Paris, says that to John Barrymore (in one of his last roles), a millionaire willing to strike an odd deal to save his marriage. Mary Astor plays Barrymore's erring wife, Hedda Hopper has a small role as a society hostess, and Monty Woolley pops in briefly as a French judge. And did I mention Don Ameche as a Czech cab driver? Sadly, Midnight isn't available on DVD, so you'll have to catch it on cable yourself if you want to enjoy this charming little film.

[Image found on Classic Movie Favorites, which contains many lovely stills from Colbert's early movies.]

Director Frank Capra, whose best known film is perhaps It's a Wonderful Life, was born on this day in 1897. Some film historians credit Capra with the invention of the romantic comedy film in 1934: It Happened One Night. The film was the first (and one of the few) to win Oscars in the five major categories: Director, Picture, Actress, Actor, and Screenplay.

It's difficult for me to say much about It Happened One Night because it's such a landmark film that it feels like everything has already been said. If you've seen it, you don't need me to tell you about the wonderful dialogue ("Do you love her?" "Yes, but don't hold it against me. I'm a little screwy myself!"), Clark Gable with his shirt off, Claudette Colbert in men's pajamas, the iconic hitchhiking scene, or Walter Connolly's amusing performance as Colbert's father. If you haven't seen the movie, you've probably seen dozens of movies it influenced, particularly the climactic scene at the wedding. (Some theorize that the movie inspired Fritz Freleng in creating Bugs Bunny.) And if you haven't seen it, you're probably allergic to romantic comedy and don't want to hear much about it -- too bad for you. I first saw this movie in college, at a theater showing classic movies at the end of the semester for 25 cents admission (the long-gone Varsity Theater in Baton Rouge). I fell in love with it instantly and just looking at the above photo makes me want to see the movie again. If you're fond of Thirties movies, It Happened One Night makes a great double-feature paired with another film from the same year, Twentieth Century: both movies share several character actors, and you can argue afterwards about which film was actually the first romantic comedy.