The Lady Eve
Tags: revenge, comedy, entertaining, storytelling, romantic

Plot synopsis:
Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck) is a beautiful con artist. Along with her equally larcenous father, "Colonel" Harrington (Charles Coburn) and his partner Gerald (Melville Cooper), she is out to fleece rich, naive Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), the heir to the Pike Ale fortune ("The Ale That Won for Yale"). Pike is a woman-shy snake expert Ophidiologist, just returning from a year-long expedition up the Amazon. Though surrounded by ladies desperate for his attention, Charles is putty in Jean's hands.
But even the best laid plans can go astray. First, Jean falls hard for Pike and shields him from her card sharp father. Then, when Pike's suspicious minder/valet Muggsy (William Demarest) discovers the truth about her and her father, Pike dumps her. Furious at being scorned, she re-enters his life masquerading as the posh "Lady Eve Sidwich", niece of Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith (Eric Blore), another con man who's been swindling the rich folk of Connecticut. Jean is determined to torment Pike mercilessly, as she explains, "I've got some unfinished business with him—I need him like the axe needs the turkey."
When Pike meets "Eve", he is so bewildered he constantly trips and falls over himself. Although Muggsy tries to convince him "she's the same dame", Pike reasons that Jean would never come close to his home without at least disguising herself, so he concludes the resemblance is only a coincidence. After a brief courtship, they marry, and on the train to their honeymoon, "Eve" begins to confess her past, dropping name after name after name of old boyfriends and lovers. Pike finally gets fed up and jumps off the train.
Now separated, Jean's con team urges her to close the deal, saying she's got him over a barrel and can make a killing in a settlement. While Charles' father and lawyers are on the phone with her pleading to settle quickly, Jean says she doesn't want any money at all, just for Pike to tell her it's over to her face. Pike refuses, and through his father Jean learns that he's departing on another ocean voyage. She arranges her own passage, and "bumps into" Pike, just as they met before. "Hopsie" is overjoyed to see Jean again, and they instantly dash to her cabin where they mutually affirm their love for each other. Charles confesses that he is married, and Jean replies tenderly, "So am I, darling."

Review: Let us be crooked, but never common.") and eccentric characters, from the leading lady Jean (a marvellous Barbara Stanwyck) and her much-beleaguered main man Charlie Pike (Henry Fonda) down to the other con artists that make up Jean's circle, including her dad Harry (Charles Coburn), sidekick Gerald (Melville Cooper) and Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith (Eric Blore)...
Pair that with the surreal touches added into the film by Preston Sturges (take for example the supposedly climactic scene in which Charlie repeats his words of love to Eve--Fonda never gets to play the scene straight, even though he has to maintain a stony face as his horse keeps butting into his speech...
Eve and Charlie are married, but it is only when Charlie asks Jean for forgiveness and vice versa is it possible for the fact that they are married (to each other, as poor Charlie does not know!) to become significant and actually positively affirmed.This isn't the only interesting point the film makes while appearing to be little more than a fluffy piece of entertainment--when Charlie breaks Jean's heart, she tells him, "The best [girls] aren't as good as you think they are and the bad ones aren't as bad.
Like all Sturges' Paramount films, EVE is an embarrassment of riches - a boudoir farce, a slapstick clinic, a cynical dialogue comedy AND a love story of great, soulful heart.
Though the unfailingly superb Sturges Players are on hand, in fine form (including of course his human rabbit's foot, Wm Demarest) EVE features a number of actors making their first and only appearances in a Sturges-directed film: Stanwyck, Fonda, Eric Blore, Melville Cooper and perennial Fonda cohort Eugene Pallette.
In this period of Henry Fonda's career, most of the good films was stuff he made away from his studio at 20th Century Fox. The Lady Eve is one of the best examples of that, With the success that Preston Sturges had with Christmas in July and The Great McGinty the year before, Paramount decided now they could trust Sturges with a big budget and an A list pair of leads.
Hired of course by Eugene Palette in another one of his crotchety millionaire father roles.Best scene in the film is right at the beginning as Stanwyck analyzes all the moves a lot of the other females on board are using to attract Fonda before she decides on a very direct approach.The Lady Eve holds up very well as do all of Preston Sturges's work after over 60 years.
Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda make the ideal players for Jean Harrington aka Lady Eve Sidwish, and Charles Pike.
Ms. Stanwyck shows in this film her great timing; she is seen at her most attractive as the devious Jane/Eve. Henry Fonda is excellent playing comedy.
I don't think Sturges was ever better (although I haven't seen all his films), and certainly he was never blessed with a better star pairing than Fonda and Stanwyck, plus his usual wonderful array of character comedians in the supporting roles.
A double bill of Eve with "Hail the Conquering Hero" reveals that, while both still have their charms, Eve can still have a theatre rocking with laughter, while Hero leaves them a bit cold with its descent into Capra-cornish patriotism and mother love.The Lady Eve has one of my favourite performances ever from Henry Fonda, showing that his grave sincerity could serve screwball comedy equally as well as Fordian moral uplift.
It's apparent everyone involved knows they're in something good and enjoys it - Eugene Palette as Fonda's wealthy Father, William Demarest(think Uncle Charlie in My Three Sons)in one of his best supporting roles as Fonda's crusty valet, and Charles Coburn and Eric Blore doing brilliant comic character turns as card sharks on Eve's side.
There are other scenes - Stanwyck sizing up the room with commentary as seen thru her makeup mirror...the dinner party where Fonda can't get over how much Eve looks like the girl he left on the ship...a sequence where Fonda's horse started to move in on a romantic scene so Sturges rewrote and reshot other parts, making Fonda the foil of the intrusive horse.
"The Lady Eve" has many of the elements familiar to screwball comedy, and yet it is something a little different, a little more than the oddball characters and comical plot developments.Barbara Stanwyck has quite an interesting role that allows her at times to assume several different personas.
He is wisely used as a straight man most of the time, and even his occasional stiffness actually fits the role.Much of the supporting cast gets only limited opportunities, but they are generally good also, especially Charles Coburn, who is perfectly cast as Stanwyck's shifty father.There are many amusing moments, yet often with a current of humanity underneath.
The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels, The Palm Beach Story, Miracle of Morgan's Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero remain cornerstones of 40s comedy.The Lady Eve is a must see for fans of great comedy and the likes of Sturges, Stanwyck, and Fonda!.
Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck light up the delightful Preston Sturges comedy, "The Lady Eve." Stanwyck plays a dual role as a con artist who falls for a mark, Henry Fonda, on board a ship and then, angry with his rejection of her, reappears in his life later as a member of the British upper class - you got it, the Lady Eve.Fonda is hilarious as a clueless child of privilege.
The funniest scene takes place on a train when, as the train races along the tracks, Eve recounts her various love affairs while Fonda becomes more and more flummoxed.Betty Grable got a lot of publicity for her legs, but Stanwyck's were the best, shown to great advantage here, as is the rest of her gorgeous figure.
I don't know how I missed seeing this until now, but tonight I watched THE LADY EVE unfurl on TCM and took notice of how great the chemistry was between BARBARA STANWYCK and HENRY FONDA.
Stanwyck, of course, had a role tailored to her abilities and was at the top of her form as an actress.I would have liked a better role for Melville Cooper who is somewhat wasted in his rather thankless supporting role but Charles Coburn, William Demarest and Eric Blore have no such trouble with full-bodied character parts.
Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda display such chemistry and play off of each other so perfectly, and I have to credit director Preston Sturges, because in another pairing of the two at about the same time, in "You Belong to Me", their chemistry - heck the whole movie - just landed with a thud.Fonda plays Charles, somebody born to wealth, and therefore with the leisure to do whatever he wants to do without thinking about the beauty of his situation.
Sure he's clumsy, but at one point he's blamed for having the main course dumped in his lap at a dinner party caused by two servants fighting over who is going to serve the main course.I won't give away any more, because the story is truly part of the delight here, but just let it be said that Jean teaches Charles that you can't tell what is in the present by looking at the wrapping paper, although the real moral of this film is that people in love believe what that want to believe.
Though many consider DOUBLE INDEMNITY to be Barbara Stanwyck's best film, I personally prefer THE LADY EVE because this role has a wider range.
(For instance, Fonda falls in love with Barbara Stanwyck, and six months later doesn't recognize her when he sees her again?)This could have been much better with more emphasis on the con games between the two main characters, and more realism in the story.Summary: one of the most overrated, stupid classic screwball comedies ever made.
Until that is, Jean starts to fall for Charles and a turn of events will see The Lady Eve Sidwich put in an appearance.The Lady Eve is one of Preston Sturges' best romantic comedies.
Barbara Stanwyck (Jean/Lady Eve) and her father Charles Coburn are tricksters who take money from the wealthy by cheating at cards.
The film starts with some hope as Stanwyck dominates in some amusing scenes, eg, her running commentary as she watches the interaction of flirtatious women with Fonda through her face mirror before taking her own more direct way of effecting an introduction.
While the film is certainly better than his complete failure which is "Sullivan's Travels" which was released in the same year, it is still not entertaining enough and riddled with slapstick scenes like all his efforts which tediously drag on - "Unfaithfully Yours" and "Miracle at Morgan's Creek" are two good master-classes of his in how to bore an audience with slapstick and irritating actors.The film started with promise but Fonda is sooo irritatingly naive and given such crass dialogue, eg 'you sure are a strange woman for a man who's spent a year up the Amazon to be meeting' - what the hell kind of rubbish dialogue is that - that it's just impossible to relate to the guy.
If you are a fan of Stanwyck or Fonda, you'll probably want to see it anyway, but if you are looking for a good classic romantic comedy, I'd recommend watching Sabrina instead..
small time card cheats Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck meet up with Henry Fonda, the rich heir to Pike's Ale, on a cruise ship.
Preston Sturges directed this well-regarded comedy with Henry Fonda playing Charles Pike, a rich but unsophisticated heir to a brewing family who is returning from the Amazon by ship after studying snakes.
The supporting cast (Sturges mainstays like Charles Coburn, William Demarest, and Eric Blore) play their roles to perfection, as always Sturges manages to wring every drop out of his actors.If you've never heard of Preston Sturges don't waste any time moping around about it, just get out and latch onto a copy of both 'The Lady Eve' and 'Sullivan's Travels.' The guy should be pointed out as one of the all-time greats, Hollywood wasn't big enough to hold him and he made frustratingly few movies but if you haven't seen these two yet then get cracking..
The Lady Eve (1941)Wickedly clever and heartwarming screwball...not the very best, but who cares?I'm not sure either Fonda or Stanwyck make the best comedic actors (compare to Grant and Hepburn or, for something more apples to apples, Gable and Colbert), but Preston Sturges makes this silly and smart enough to work anyway.
One has to like the chemistry between a very dapper and young Henry Fonda (Charles Pike) and a very beautiful and young Barbara Stanwyck (Jean Harrington/Lady Eve).
Henry Fonda's physical comedy at the dinner (tripping over couches a la Dick Van Dyke) and constantly having food and assorted other things spilled all over him is truly funny, and the scene on the train after they marry, as "Eve" takes her revenge by telling her new husband about all the men in her life, whom he knew nothing about, got me laughing.I was never clear about the importance of the snake, except to draw some sort of connection between this Eve and the Eve of the biblical creation narrative, although I'm not sure why that connection was necessary to the story.As I said at the outset, this is a pleasant movie, but in my view nothing more than that.
The story is pretty simple (and unoriginal) as a con woman (Barbara Stanwyck) tries to sink her teeth into a naive rich boy (Henry Fonda) but naturally they end up falling in love.
Immensely enjoyable, but his best stuff all suffered from such choppy or convoluted unbelievable plots that detracted from what was going on.Of the scintillating lead quartet Coburn would definitely be someone to avoid at the card table, Fonda needed a bodyguard to protect him from the ever flailing Demarest and while Stanwyck was very alluring, but she wasn't cut out to act the part of an English Lady, even in comedy.
Another example of the Sturges touch is the way he segues into the third and final segment of the film: Stanwyck's "Eve" sits back and fantasizes about how she will avenge herself on Fonda, and then as one shot follows another it slowly dawns on the audience that we are watching not the fantasy but the reality.
Part of me wished the entire movie could have just been the two of them on the boat and it would have been a perfect film, however the final third still has some hilarious moments, such as Eugene Pallette frantically banging the table demanding his breakfast, or Fonda getting his suit destroyed three times at a party, a perfectly timed slapstick gag if I've ever seen one.On a second viewing of The Lady Eve, I still have the same reaction to the first hour but I did find myself more forgiving of the last third.
Barbara Stanwyck is as lovable as she could be in this film and is intelligent and beautiful, and Henry Fonda plays the role of naïve Charles "Hopsie" Pike perfectly.
You just HAVE to watch the film to see how great the train scene is when they are off to their honeymoon because the editing, sound, and the visuals work well together to fit the mood and feel of what is going on between Charles and Jean.I will leave you with this (as if I didn't say so already), The Lady Eve is a film that is worth a watch whether you will like it or not.
Director Preston Sturges may be much beloved by the intellectual elites and ignored by most everyone else, but "The Lady Eve" is a robust laugh-getter in the classic screwball tradition, aiming to please from its opening title sequence (introducing its indelible samba-like theme with the help of a friendly snake) to its door-slamming finale.At the heart of the film are Stanwyck and Fonda delivering killer performances.
Barbara Stanwyck is Jean Harrington, a con-artist who falls in love with her own target and Henry Fonda is Charles Pike, the poor, sincere and naïve heir of the Pike Ale empire, a nerd by our standards, probably a virgin, more expert in the snakes he's been studying one year in the Amazon than any woman, let alone the Amazon-type.
Few "old movies" have been so bold in their depiction of sexual tension and it's remarkable how the film inventively exchanges the roles making the woman the one who makes the moves.Usually, romantic comedies follow the kind of tortuous roads made of back and forth moves from the two protagonists that ultimately ends with the pair getting together for the final kiss, in "Lady Eve", it's Jean who traces the route, and when she meets an obstacle take another turn, the dynamics are never reversed.
Fonda falls quite often by the way and it's another miracle that it never falls on the redundancy trap, each fall from "Hopsie" works because we can't take Fonda as a clown, he plays it straight to the point, though he's not the only actor who's used for a corny running gag, his valet or bodyguard Muggsy (William Desmarest) gets a few funny ones.But the best gags come from moments that don't follow any patterns, besides the poker game, there's Pike's father (Eugene Pallette) asking for his breakfast, the climactic honeymoon scene in the train with the classical music played in the background while learning about his newlywed's wife history, and finally that splendid declaration of love that would've been too corny if it wasn't for the horse constantly disrupting Fonda's serenade.
Barbara Stanwyck is perfect as the con-artist who becomes "Lady Eve", and even Henry Fonda manages to be funny.
The two characters take the audience through another film that you really don't need to understand as long as you are laughing.A great film done by Preston Sturges probably one his best I have seen with a great set of actors that make the comedy so good..
Henry Fonda is perfectly cast as an innocent, typical, lovable guy who falls in love with a girl on a cruise ship (Barbara Stanwyck) until he learns that she and her father are con artists.
Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), heir to the Pike's Pale Ale fortune, is pursued by Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck), the daughter of a card sharp and a pretty good swindler herself.
The Lady Eve is a charming little romantic comedy starring two major stars, in the form of Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda, who run through a wild gambit of cons, false identities and broken hearts in their tumultuous relationship.
On an ocean liner, poker-faced card-sharp Barbara Stanwyck (as Jean Harrington) sets her sights on handsome snake enthusiast Henry Fonda (as Charles Pike).
Some cleverly inserted allegory is the film's main calling card.****** The Lady Eve (2/25/41) Preston Sturges ~ Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, William Demarest, Charles Coburn.
The Lady Eve is possibly the best screwball comedy EVER for four reasons: 1) a brilliant, hilarious script; 2) perfect direction from the master, Preston Surges; 3) Henry Fonda's right-on (funny!) performance as an intelligent but extremely naive scientist; and 4) the always appealing Barbara Stanwyck, who steals the show with her streetwise character.
Outstanding Preston Sturges comedy featuring Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck.
Directed by Preston Sturges, the whole cast is terrific and includes (many from Sturges' other great films): Henry Fonda, Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Coburn, Eugene Palette, William Demarest, Eric Blore, and Al Bridge (uncredited).
The story is pure hokum, but has so many funny moments that you can't help but like it, and the cast is top notch – Fonda and Stanwyck (who never looked lovelier), crusty old Charles Coburn, rotund Eugene Palette, William DeMarest, Eric Blore: all of them are on top of their game here.
Sturges cast Henry Fonda as Charles, Barbara Stanwyck as Jean, and Charles Coburn as Stanwyck's father and card shark "Colonel" Handsome Harry Harrington in the lead roles.