The Lady Eve
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| The Lady Eve | |
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 theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Preston Sturges |
| Produced by | Paul Jones Buddy G. DeSylva (uncredited) |
| Written by | Monckton Hoffe (story) Preston Sturges |
| Starring | Barbara Stanwyck Henry Fonda Charles Coburn Eugene Pallette William Demarest |
| Cinematography | Victor Milner |
| Editing by | Stuart Gilmore |
| Release date(s) | February 25 1941 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Lady Eve is a 1941 screwball comedy film about a mismatched couple who meet on a luxury liner. The movie was written by Monckton Hoffe and Preston Sturges, and directed by Sturges.
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[edit] Plot
Barbara Stanwyck plays con artist Jean Harrington. Along with her equally larcenous father, "Colonel" Harrington (Charles Coburn), she is out to fleece rich, naive Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), a woman-shy ophiologist returning from a year-long expedition up the Amazon.
But even the best laid plans can go astray. First, she falls hard for the guy and shields him from her card sharp father. Then, when Pike's suspicious minder/valet (William Demarest) discovers the truth, he dumps her. Furious at being scorned, she re-enters his life masquerading as the terribly posh "Lady Eve Sidwich", determined to torment him mercilessly. Eugene Pallette plays Pike's wealthy businessman father, who is impressed by English nobility and eager to promote a marriage between his son and her ladyship. Soon her hapless victim is so confused and bothered, he doesn't know which way is up. In the end, though, romance wins out after all the twists and turns.
[edit] Cast
- Barbara Stanwyck as Jean Harrington
- Henry Fonda as Charles Pike
- Charles Coburn as "Colonel" Harrington
- Eugene Pallette as Horace Pike
- William Demarest as Muggsy
- Eric Blore as Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith
- Melville Cooper as Gerald
- Martha O'Driscoll as Martha
- Janet Beecher as Janet Pike
- Robert Greig as Burrows
- Dora Clement as Gertrude
- Luis Alberni as Emile, Pike's chef
[edit] Awards and recognition
The Lady Eve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story. In 1994, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
[edit] Remake
In 1956, the plot was recycled for the movie The Birds and the Bees, starring George Gobel, Mitzi Gaynor and David Niven.
[edit] Analysis
The clearest theme, and easiest to pick out very early in the film is gender inversion. Jean Harrington is clearly in control of the situation for the majority of the film, until her feelings get in the way of her previous, dubious intentions. Until that moment of crystallizing realization that she loved him, there was little sense of the struggle between equals that typifies most romantic comedies.[1]
The unique blend of slapstick and satire[2] allows this film to speak a message while still being uproariously funny. We see the “fall of man” implied by the title of the film in many ways. First is that literal, that being Pike continuously falling down in various situations and his “fall from innocence” as he is sucked into the deceptive plots laid out by Jean.[3]
Sturges also uses deceptiveness in appearance profusely throughout the film. Things as small as the distinction, or lack thereof, between beer and ale to the various disguises of Jean Harrington add depth to the plotline. Even most of the characters have two names (Charles=Hopsie, Jean=Eugenia/Eve Sidwich). This lack of recognition sets the stage for the craziness of the storyline, adding yet another layer of complexity to the film.
Sturges repeatedly suggests that the “lowliest boob could rise to the top with the right degree of luck, bluff and fraud”.[4] One can easily see how this could have been the case with Jean, as she had ample opportunity to succeed in her plans and get away with both her pocketbook full and her dignity intact. However, we see the romantic side of life burst in and how the best laid plans can end up much differently than one previously planned. Love, in the end, will do what it will and we are all just players in an often confusing, but inevitably wonderful game.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Coursodon, Jean-Pierre, American Directors: Volume I, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983
- Nochimson, Martha, “The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels”, Cineaste, Summer 2002, Vol. 27, Issue 3
- Rowe, Kathleen, The Unruly Woman, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995
- Sarris, Andrew, The American Cinema, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1968
[edit] External links
- The Lady Eve at the Internet Movie Database
- The Lady Eve at the TCM Movie Database
- The Lady Eve at Allmovie
- Criterion Collection essay by James Harvey
- The Lady Eve movie posters at MoviePosterDB.com
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