PALM BEACH STORY, why didn't the good twins marry each other?

[FredCDobbs]

Ok, I read in the Wiki review of the film that both Joel and Claudette are bad twins, and at the beginning of the movie, the two good twins had planned to get married. But the two bad twins (Joel and Claudette) took their place, with both bad twins thinking they were marrying the other (the good) twin.

 

That is, the bad female twin thinks she is marrying the good male twin, and the bad male twin thinks he is marrying the good female twin. But both bad twins marries a bad twin, and then they break up after a few years of marriage. That is where the movie begins.

 

At the end of the movie, the good male twin marries Mary Astor, and the good female twin marries Rudy Vallee. We know this because the two original married bad twins remain married and they are together in the last scene as best man and bridesmaid, but they are not getting married there at the wedding at the end. So, the two bad twins remain married, while the two good twins marry someone else, who they don't know very well.

 

Ok, my questions are:

 

Why didn't the first two bad twins break up as soon as they learned they had married the wrong twin? They would have learned that by the afternoon of the wedding, when the other twins showed up and were mad.

 

Why didn't the two good twins then get married that same day or the next day, at the beginning of the movie, since that is what they wanted to do all along?

 

Why did the two good twins, at the end, marry people they hardly knew?

 

Is this one of those kinds of films that has confusing sequences in it, just so audience members will try to figure it out and talk about it a lot, and tell friends about it, and maybe even go back and see the movie again?

[twinkeee]

It was so much easier to keep track of 'which twin was which' in A STOLEN LIFE with Bette Davis then in this crazy movie, I find it annoying. :|

 

Twink

[FredCDobbs]

I agree, but with the help of the Wiki explanation, and by carefully watching the very beginning of this film, I finally understand it.

 

The good Joel, at the church, ran out of the church and got into the limo to go find the missing good Claudette, who was locked up in the closet.

 

Then the bad Joel is seen in a limo, putting on his wedding coat, on the way to the church.

 

At the church, the bad Joel shows up and the bad Claudette shows up, and they marry each other, while both thinking they are marrying the good twin.

 

That's why I say that both good twins AND both bad twins would have learned about the complete mixup by the afternoon of the wedding day.

 

Therefore, the two good twins SHOULD have gone ahead and gotten married to each other that same day, or at least by the next day.

 

----------------------

 

At the beginning......

 

The two bad twins get married:

 

http://cf.drafthouse.com/_uploads/galleries/16440/palm-beach-story.jpg

 

 

In the final scene, the two good twins look very skeptical about the whole situation, because they became involved in this double marriage just recently.

 

The last scene: Left to right: the two bad twins are still married; the good female twin marries Rudy; the good male twin marries Mary:

 

http://www.austinfilm.org/view.image?Id=2954

[twinkeee]

I love the way you are trying to explain this to me Oh. so. sloww-ly ! You're cute

 

Just when I was finally starting to get the hang about Paul Henreid's scar, now along comes this !

 

I'll work on it and try to figure it out, glad you were able to but then, you always do !

 

Twink

[FredCDobbs]

>glad you were able to but then, you always do !

 

That was part of my job as an investigative reporter. To go over the known facts and try to solve the mysteries. I usually have to see the films several times.

 

One really confusing thing about this film is when we see Joel run out of the church and get into the limo, then we see him putting on his coat in the limo. Well, he already had his coat on when he got into the limo. So, the second scene must have been the bad Joel going to the church, while the good Joel had gone out of the church to look for the bride.

[twinkeee]

...we see him putting on his coat...he already had his coat on when he got into the limo..

 

One has to wonder if people caught that back then considering they probably only saw the movie 'Once'.

 

No wonder everyone is confused at the end of the movie, it is a bit of a let down when you can't figure it out, unlike A STOLEN LIFE (which was a 'piece of cake', compared to PALM BEACH STORY, but you fell asleep because you were bored.

 

Twink

[FredCDobbs]

>One has to wonder if people caught that back then considering they probably only saw the movie 'Once'.

 

No they didn't.

 

I didn't even pay much attention to the pictures behind the titles during the first three times I saw the film.

 

I thought the wedding at the end was just a funny lucky ending since the original couple could stay married and the two other actors could marry people who looked like them.

 

But even in figuring out what the movie really shows, that doesn't make any sense, because the original two love birds never married each other and married strangers at the end.

[swimminginaqua]

This is the second time I've tried to watch this movie (half watching it) and didn't realize the twins were in the beginning...I thought they just showed up at the end, met the millionaire and his princess sister and happened to marry them for money (they sure looked uncomfortable). It is screwy or rather a screwball movie.

[twinkeee]

That was part of my job as an investigative reporter. To go over the known facts and try to solve the mysteries .

 

WOW ! That must have been Exciting ! To solve mysteries would be like detective work and I would assume also be very difficult, not something that everyone can do. I would think it would take a 'special skill' and at the same time, also be very gratifying. This also explains your inordinate ability of patiance, which you seem to have an abundance of !

 

Did you ever unearth anything salacious ?

 

Twink

[sewhite2000]

I just read four pages of debate on imdb and am still utterly confused about what exactly is going on in the opening credits sequence of this movie! I swear for years I thought this film was surely a sequel to an equally zany one with the same two stars that I simply hadn't seen, and that the opening credits were simply showing some highlights recapping that other film. But as I look over Sturgess' resume, no such film seems to exist.

 

My best guess in response to Fred C.'s questions (if the "bad" twins married each other at the beginning of the film, why didn't they just divorce right away as soon as they discovered the mistake, and why didn't the "good" twins ever just go ahead and get married like they wanted?) is that this is NOT what happened, otherwise no one's actions make any sense. I think the "bad" Claudette tied up the "good" one and did end up marrying the "good" Joel, who somehow eluded his brother's efforts to replace him. If you read the imdb message boards, a lot of people say you can tell the difference between the "good" and "bad" Joels because they're wearing different colored ties. So, "bad" Claudette got what she thought she wanted, but now we immediately jump ahead five years and find she's not so satisfied with this marriage after all.

[FredCDobbs]

No need to get into an argument about this, but see this at Wiki:

 

The end result is that the two siblings, not the original bride or groom, are married, and those two were not in love with each other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Palm_Beach_Story

 

And see this at TCM dot com:

 

A bride and groom are inexplicably prevented from attending their wedding by their exact doubles, who then marry.

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/86154/The-Palm-Beach-Story/#