Palm Royale

It's all a blur.

A hazy, crazy blur.

Try, Maxine.

All I do is try.

All I ever wanted was to belong.

To be a somebody in this world.

But there's a catch when a woman wants to be a somebody.

And that catch is everyone else.

It was the beginning of the season.

Those heady months, when the wealthiest descend on Palm Beach

to mix and mingle like crabs in a barrel.

Question is, which crab bit me?

Was it...

Evelyn Rollins,

the self-appointed Queen Bee,

and stalwart adversary in the fight against pediatric cancer?

Her advocacy made her a superstar.

Volunteer of the Year nine years in a row.

I am one humbled volunteer.

Or was it Dinah Donahue?

The ambassador's wife.

Have a good day.

See you at the club.

She was poised to dethrone Ms. Evelyn...

if her libido didn't get the better of her.

It could've been any one of the ladies in The Shiny Sheet.

The widow, who was as fizzy and dizzy as a glass of champagne.

Or the sugar heiress with thirty million to spare.

And a mobster husband.

There's an old saw here that goes: When you first come to Palm Beach,

you think you're the oldest and the richest,

and then you realize you're the youngest and the poorest.

I had only been in Palm Beach two weeks.

But I already knew the Palm Royale, the most exclusive club in the world,

was where I belonged.

Crabs be damned.

Your Grasshopper.

You found the crème de cacao after all.

We sent someone out for it.

Well, that is what I call "going above and beyond."

Wait. Don't you need me to sign for it?

Excuse me?

- Did I spill? - In a manner.

You're not going to believe this.

Perry said the women stormed into the Oak Room,

demanded a table, said it was their right.

It's a men's only lunch.

I'm all for segregation of the sexes.

Private spaces for our private faces, I say.

If this is the state of the feminine world in 1969,

can you imagine what 1970 will bring?

Communists.

Ladies, a country can fall. No thing of beauty is safe.

No thing of beauty is safe.

Palm Beach is the last American sanctuary, ladies.

It goes to hell, I'm fleeing to Capri, and this country can lose my number.

I long for a kinder, gentler time,

when a woman's capacity to humiliate herself wasn't so bottomless.

So true.

Mrs. Nixon weighed in, said women already have equal rights.

They simply need to choose to exercise them.

Exactly. Did you know she was a teacher?

Yeah, Pat Nixon,

before becoming First Lady. A teacher.

Fascinating.

She lifted herself up from that lowly station all the way to the White House.

I marvel, Mrs. Rollins.

You know my name.

Of course I do. You're in The Shiny Sheet.

All y'all are.

Read about you every day. You're family to me.

Mrs. Davidsoul.

Mrs. Donahue.

Mrs. Kimberly-Marco.

- We don't know you. - I'm Maxine Simmons. Charmed.

- I'm not interrupting, am I? - Actually...

I loved what you said about the death of gentility. I mourn. I mean, I mourn.

We certainly live in opportunistic times.

Hear, hear.

Now, where were we?

Ladies, let's raise a glass to the feting of our dear Dinah.

Pleasure.

To the volunteer of the year,

our very best friend and pediatric cancer's worst enemy.

Don't make me blush, Evelyn.

Who's doing your gown for the ball?

Grayman for Ceil Chapman, as one does.

But it isn't about the gown or the party. It's not my night.

It's cancer's night.

Yes.

To be honest, I really thought it was going

to be Evelyn's year again.

- We all did. - I may not be volunteer of the year,

but that only opens up my calendar to rise to a higher station.

Oh, yeah.

- Who needs a top up? - Darling you know I do.

Well, thank you.

Do you mind if I just finish my drink?

This kind sir went through quite an ordeal commandeering the crème de cacao.

I will allow you your dignity another four seconds,

or that kind sir will drag you out by your toenails.

He's a veteran of Korea. He can do things.

Thank you for your service, soldier.

How did you get past security?

I came in the back.

There are no doors in the back of the Palm Royale.

I never said I used the door.

- I used the wall. - Most athletic.

My athleticism is just one of my many positive attributes

that would make me a wonderful addition

to the roster of members here at the Palm Royale.

You will never be a member of the Palm Royale.

It's a high bar, I know.

But one I could surely reach, just given the chance.

As you know, to even start the membership process,

I need another member to nominate me.

And how can I get that if I can't get to know anybody?

I'm just a really nice person,

new to Palm Beach, looking to make a friend or two.

The Palm Royale represents safety in a rapidly changing world,

embodying that which is sacred.

Refined companionship, sanctity and a deep heart conviction

that beauty is not dead.

Okay. Stand up.

Robert will take your picture.

You will not regret this.

- Come on. - I promise. Thank you!

- Come on, let's do this. - Thank you! Here? Okay.

Oh, my gosh. This is so exciting. Okay.

No, no. Wait. No. How about this?

It's the Grand Ballroom.

So much bigger than it is in pictures.

Why, on this very dance floor,

Marjorie Merriweather Post refused the advances of one Joseph Kennedy...

- Wow. - Father to the deceased president.

Incredible. Hey, hey.

- This way, please. - It smells good.

- Someone making a graham cracker crust? - Sourdough.

Top of the morning, pals.

All right. Well, okay. Until next time.

- Hope not. - Well, Robert, I hardly knew you.

Ever since my pageant days,

I've maintained a posture of relentless positivity.

When I was doing pageants,

the other contestants would always underestimate me.

The same seemed true for the entire isle of Palm Beach.

The ladies who ruled it all vying for a shot at being one thing:

queen of the season.

But soon they'd love me.

Soon these old money mavens would see my value

and affirm what I've always known...

that I belong.

One simply must trust that the path to personal glory will reveal itself

if one remains resolutely sunny.

I'm so glad we're the same size, Norma. This one was a real hit.

Hydrangea print maxi, dare I?

Dare I do.

These are some impressive baubles, Norma!

Purses.

Gucci croc clutch. Should I? Yes, I should.

You are too good to me, Norma.

I'll have these back by tomorrow. It's a scorcher out there.

The weather lady said you could take an egg and actually fry it on the asphalt.

I might just try it.

Okay.

I'm gonna make you so proud.

You get some rest. Okay.

True, at the present moment,

I found myself in less than stellar accommodations.

But this was merely a temporary base of operations

until I stepped into my destiny.

Urgent problem: The war in Vietnam.

Since I took office four months ago,

nothing has taken so much of my time

and energy as the search for a way to bring lasting peace to Vietnam.

I know that some believe that

I should have ended the war immediately after the inauguration.

I want to end it.

The American people...

I have tried to present the facts about Vietnam with complete honesty,

and I shall continue to do so in my reports to the American people.

Thank you.

Hiya! Have a moment for your sex?

Pardon and excuse me.

Well, maybe you've heard,

monumental change is in the air, and you're a part of it.

I'm Linda Shaw.

Maxine.

Yeah, you are.

I'm part of a group of women

dedicated to raising the collective consciousness of the global sisterhood.

- I love that. But listen, Linda... - Yeah.

I do have a nail appointment.

I would love a couple minutes of your time to ask you about yourself.

- About me? - Yeah.

Well, fire away.

Do you work, Maxine?

- Oh, God, no. - You want to work?

God, no.

Studies have shown that women who stay at home