Review of The Lady Eve (1941) by Blake P — 24 Aug 2013

Preston Sturges is probably one of the most entertaining directors out there, with his entertaining comedy The Palm Beach Story and his excellent dramady Sullivan's Travels. When it comes to The Lady Eve, it's been viewed as Sturges's masterpiece. And in my perspective, The Lady Eve is a memorable romantic comedy.

Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), a snake expert, finishes a trip on the Amazon and is returning to New York on the SS Southern Queen. There, women go nuts over him, but the one who really gets his attention is Jean Harrington (Barbara Stanwyck), who's father (Charles Coburn) is a card shark and intends to rip him off in a gambling match. The two start to fall in love, but Pike knows something's up, and ends the relationship. At New York, Jean plots revenge by haunting and humiliating Pike as "The Lady Eve.".

The film also features William Demarest as Fonda's guardian/valet Muggsy, who's always suspicious, Melville Cooper as partner of the card shark, Eric Blore as Sir Alfred, who's in on "The Lady Eve" plot, and Eugene Palette as Fonda's father, who's in the ale business.

Starting out in the film, I was thinking the film would be an epic nightmare. The first half of the film on the ship was a little difficult to watch. Sure, it has that famous seduction scene, which made my day, but it dragged a bit in tone and development. It also lacked humor, though there were some memorable moments in this half, such as the said seduction scene, Stanwyck's introduction scene, and the snake scaring scene. The rest bored me.

But just when things were turning for the worst, especially when Eric Blore came in the scene (man, that guy annoys me, especially in Top Hat), the second half with "The Lady Eve" was simply hilarious. So hilarious that I gave it a higher score than I intended. Without these scenes, the film would have gotten a 50 or 60% for me.

Now, the casting. Barbara Stanwyck is fantastic in this film. Even in the midst of disaster in the beginning, her screen presence and attractiveness stunned me. When hearing that Henry Fonda was playing the romantic lead, I thought it would be a miscast, due to his excellent roles in The Grapes of Wrath and 12 Angry Men, but in the end, Fonda succeeds as well. His chemistry with Stanwyck is very memorable, especially in the already mentioned seduction scene and the hilarious "Lady Eve" moments. Charles Coburn was memorable as the conniving card shark, William Demarest was pretty funny as the guardian ("That's the same girl."), and Eugene Pallette was hilarious as the ale boss, especially when he's calling for food. But Eric Bolre, once again, is annoying as today's rap music. Every role I've seen him in (Top Hat, Sullivan's Travels), annoys the living socks off of me and I can't stand it (though his brief role in Swing Time wasn't that bad). It must be my tastes in comic actors or something.

It has a dull beginning, but the film picks up, and the chemistry between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck is stunning, and in the end, The Lady Eve is a highly entertaining Preston Sturges film. While Sturges's masterpiece, in my book, is Sullivan's Travels, this is still worth your time.