Cinema
The Lady Eve
Preston Sturges · 1941
Synopsis
An ocean liner brings Charles Pike back from the Amazon, a snake specialist and heir to a brewery, after a year-long expedition; he reads only his book on reptiles and ignores the young women on board who court him. Jean Harrington, a card cheat travelling with her father, the “Colonel”, and their accomplice Gerald, trips him up as he leaves the dining room, draws him to their cabin and engages him in games in which they mean to fleece him. She falls in love with him. Muggsy, his bodyguard, suspects her.
Context
The director had promised Barbara Stanwyck to write a great comedy for her; the part had first been intended for Claudette Colbert, then for Paulette Goddard. Rarely cast in this genre, the actress found in it, according to Filmsite, her first real comic role. Henry Fonda takes one pratfall after another; Sturges was advised to cut their number from five to three. The New York Times named it the best film of 1941, and it was among the biggest earners of the year.
Who it is for
A comedy of around an hour and thirty-four minutes; the DVDs sold in France offer French and English.
Prizes and reception
Inscribed in 1994 in the National Film Registry; TCM sees in it the jewel of its author's career.
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