You Should Taste My Popovers

The Palm Beach Story, 1942The other night I was watching TCM (shocker) and finally saw Preston Sturges' hilarious movie The Palm Beach Story. I won't try to explain it all here because it's just too crazy, but suffice it to say, it is a film that has earned its screwball comedy stripes. Made deep within the Hayes Code era in 1942, the script is still racy, saucy, and even a little bit scandalous.

Take for instance Claudette Colbert losing all of her clothes to the Ale and Quail Club train car; the Ale and Quailers were so rowdy that the porter disconnected their car, leaving them somewhere on the track between New York and Palm Beach. With them went the clothes. Luckily, our heroine was provided with a lovely set of oversized men's striped pajamas before this happened, but what does one do with those come breakfast?

I always liked Claudette Colbert. She's prim and petite, but very funny. She doesn't take her self too seriously and always keeps up with her leading man. In this circumstance, her character Gerry Jeffers shows the no-nonsense side of Colbert perfectly - the same one that stopped that car in It Happened One Night. Instead of borrowing clothes, (being used to far more fashionable duds than those on loan from other passengers) she puts together an outfit using the same men's pajamas she slept in. The result? Chic, untroubled, and even appropriate: pajama top gets its sleeves rolled up and tucked into a Pullman blanket made into a wrap skirt, while the pajama pants get wrapped and tied into a turban. (This was the 1940s when turbans were a normal thing, not a freakish throwback a la Prada Spring 07.) The look succeeds because of Colbert's (Gerry's) own confidence - with chin held high, she makes it all look as though it were the most fashionable thing on the entire train.

When arriving in the dining car, her travel-mate Mr. John D. Hackensacker III smiles appreciatively.

Hackensacker: "If there's one thing I admire it's a woman who can whip up something out of nothing."

Gerry: "You should taste my popovers."

Not one for wit, Mr. Hackensacker then goes on to order a Prairie Oyster on the half-shell.

I'm a big fan of oversized men's pajamas myself, but I don't think I could have pulled off making them into a turban and pairing them with a Pullman blanket. (My next batch of popovers will be made in Claudette Colber/Gerry Jeffers' honor.) Instead, I'd take up with these Paul Smith pajamas, which are far too fantastic to be worn only to bed.

I wonder, how does one make a turban out of pants anyways?

Comments

[CHICKDOWNTOWN.COM Cristina]

I love Preston Sturges! There's always great style in his movies, like Barbara Stanwyck in the Lady Eve. Nice article Annie =)