棕榈滩的故事影评：A pleasing Sturges; could have been better
This movie is supposed to be among the best from Sturges, which I found hard to understand.
(1) The rich and powerful are portrayed to be teddy-bear-cute eccentrics, which, even as a comic conceit, is hard to swallow.
(2) Sturges's famous blend of melodrama and screwball comedy is a bit unbalanced for my taste: too much melodrama, and too little irony.
(3) It lacks the darker undertone in other Surges greats, such as "Lady Eve" or "Miracle at Morgan's Creek". In those better films, Sturges managed to keep tragedy looming in the background, and keep it close to our following of the plot. Although the heroines are always saved by the bell, but just barely, and Sturges made sure we not take the happy endings too seriously. We are entertained by the comedy, calmed by the happy ending, yet never lost sight of the "realness" of tragic turn of events in "real life". Not here.
In fact, even the lighting in "Palm Beach Story" conspires to emphasize the melodrama at the expense of poignancy. It is soft and hazy, in the "make-the-prima-donna-look-good" tradition of camera works, and lacks the high-definition sharpness in other Sturges. It is as if the camera agreed with the director and shy away from a harder look at life. Ironically, this persistence in merry-go-around makes the film less funny, not more.
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