Preston Sturges the same scene. A tender love scene between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Lady Eve" was enlivened by a horse, which repeatedly poked its nose into Fonda's head. Prior to Sturges, other figures in Hollywood (such as Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and Frank Capra) had directed films from their own scripts, however Sturges is often regarded as the first Hollywood figure to establish success as a screenwriter and then move into directing his own scripts, at a time when those roles were separate. Sturges famously sold the story for "The Great McGinty" to Paramount Pictures for $1, in
The Palm Beach Story The Palm Beach Story The Palm Beach Story is a 1942 romantic screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, and starring Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Mary Astor and Rudy Vallée. Victor Young contributed the lively musical score, including a fast-paced variation of the "William Tell Overture" for the opening scenes. Typical of a Sturges film, the pacing and dialogue of "The Palm Beach Story" are very fast. Tom and Gerry Jeffers (Joel McCrea and Claudette Colbert) are a married couple in New York City who are down on their luck financially, which is pushing the marriage to an