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Film: The Lady Eve
Director: Preston Sturges
Country: USA
Released: February 1941
Runtime: 94 minutes
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Studio: Paramount
Influenced: Welles, Coen Brothers, Susan Seidelman, John Hughes, Adam McKay
The Lady Eve is another classic screwball comedy from the genre's 1930s & 40s heyday, and for me it's the pick of the bunch. Just like Bringing Up Baby, the film combines visual and verbal slapstick, fast-paced dialogue and plenty of pratfalls, but what elevates The Lady Eve to become the finest example of its type is the performance of Barbara Stanwyck and the script of writer-director Preston Sturges.
Stanwyck plays Jean, who masquerades as The Lady Eve, a cardsharp on a cruise liner who ensnares millionaire scientist Charles Pike, played with charm and naivety by Henry Fonda. It's hard to describe but there's something idiosyncratic and absurd about this greatest of all Sturges' films – ranging from spontaneous farcical episodes like when Pike gets covered in meat and drinks at the Connecticut party, to subversively funny moments such as the way Eve and the horse undermine Pike's romantic speech about marriage.
The film is wickedly funny and simply a cut above any other romantic comedy. Pike, a wealthy and gullible snake enthusiast who is hoodwinked by a group of con artists led by Eve, can't help falling in love with Eve – and eventually vice versa – but their relationship is threatened when he discovers her true identity. Fonda plays the straight man to Stanwyck's comedic tour de force, but there's also a vulnerability to Eve's character that Stanwyck plays so perfectly.
Also of note is the film's stunning art direction, conjuring up its glamorous world of high society, enhanced by the stylish costumes and outfits. Preston Sturges' script was based on a short story by Monckton Hoffe, and enhanced with a litany of classic one-liners. In one memorable moment, Pike is referred to as a "tall, backwards boy"... "just peculiar", and then the conversation leads to Eve being invited to Sir Alfred's house in Connecticut as his niece and English aristocrat Lady Eve Sidwich. At the party, Alfred's asked how she got over to America during wartime? "Battleship", he says.
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