The Lady Eve Synopsis: A trio of classy card sharks targets a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.
Directed by: Preston Sturges
Written by: Preston Sturges
Released: 02.25.1941
Runtime: 97 minutes
Rated: Approved
Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck) and her father, Colonel Harrington (Charles Coburn), are professional card sharks and con artists who make a living swindling wealthy men. Their newest target, Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), is the socially awkward heir to a brewery fortune. Soon, Jean falls for Charles but is heartbroken when he discovers her deception and breaks things off with her. To exact revenge, Jean re-enters his life as an aristocrat, Lady Eve Sinwich.
The Lady Eve is generally considered one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, so I have no excuse for not having seen it yet. But I have finally remedied that problem and am pleased to say that I loved it. It’s directed and acted so effortlessly that it doesn’t matter that it’s quite a preposterous film. Honestly, that’s part of its charm.
Barbara Stanwyck is brilliant as Jean/Lady Eve. She plays the character with a complexity you rarely find in rom-com heroines. Machiavellian and vulnerable at the same time, Jean has no qualms about swindling men who fall in love with her until she falls in love with one herself. When Charles wants nothing to do with her, she concocts an improbable plan of revenge. She wants to punish Charles, yet I don’t think she realizes how she is punishing herself, too. Stanwyck’s performance is one for the ages as she embraces the madness of Jean Harrington and commits fully.
Henry Fonda plays the straight man who keeps the entire film grounded. He’s shy and clumsy but eager to show off his card tricks and pet snake, Emma. He loves reading books like “Are Snakes Necessary?” and going on expeditions to the Amazon to study and retrieve reptiles. He has no clue how to handle himself in a room full of women who are quite eager to get their claws into him – and his fortune.
Fonda is a fantastic actor, but his comedic contribution to the movie is mostly restricted to physical pratfalls. It just reminded me of more modern rom-coms, where they try to endear a female character to the audience by making her insanely clumsy… maybe Charles Pike was the prototype? My only nitpick of this movie is that maybe there were too many pratfalls, though quite a few of them were pretty amusing.
The Lady Eve’s supporting cast was also fantastic. Charles Coburn, Jean’s father, has an amusing scene where he tries to cheat Charles in a game of cards. Jean attempts to derail the attempt with some humorous results. Eugene Pallette garners quite a few laughs as Charles’s boisterous father. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when he sits down for breakfast, but every silver tray is empty. So desperate he is for food, he ends up beating the lids together in an attempt to get someone’s attention. Ah, rich people. I laughed quite a bit, I won’t lie.
One of the smaller but more significant roles belongs to William Demarest, who plays Muggsy, a man who looks after Charles when he is away from home. Muggsy is initially suspicious of Jean and her father and sets out to protect Charles from being scammed. But he’s also the only one who sees “Eve” and tells Charles, “That’s the same dame!”—the audience’s voice, no doubt.
This is a movie I’ll likely watch again, and I understand why it’s so highly regarded. The Lady Eve is one of those lightning-in-a-bottle rom-coms. It has a ridiculous premise that works, thanks to two talented leads with the right amount of chemistry, effortless direction, and a genuinely funny script.
Watched: 05.09.2024
Notable Song: With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair by Jack Lawrence and Clara Edwards
