The Lady Eve (1941)

This isn't easy for Henry Fonda, being rather backward with a sole life interest in snakes and other reptiles and being the only son of a multi-millionaire of beer, who wants to get him married at any price with whomever, and so he meets with the worst possible death trap for a bachelor, Barbara Stanwyck at her smartest and loveliest, partnering her father in cheating at cards. Charles Coburn is that father and makes the best of it as another father who wants his daughter married at any price with whomever as long as he is rich. This film was entirely made for fun, and there are many irregularities, but it's the fun that counts. Mind all the whistles. They play an important part symbolically and make the finale. Eric Blore is another bloke cheating the heads off of all society and entering just at the right critical moment to save the situation by doubling the trouble, together with Eugene Palette in on of his many exhilarating performances, making the company of merry rogues complete. Everyone dominating the stage here is a cheat with accomplished faked identities and playing for kicks, except poor Henry Fonda, who is totally honest and innocent and is well taken care of and fares the better off for not understanding a thing. His silliness is adorable throughout the film, and his play-acting as this very odd character is a marvel, matching Barbara's resplendent superiority perfectly. No wonder she has to fall for him, while he just follows her in the fall... The music also plays an important part, and even Wagner's Pilgrim Chorus adds solemnly to the comedy at another of the film's multitude of moments of enjoying hypocrisy.One of the most hilarious comedies of all time, and you can see it many times and still enjoy its freshness.

The Lady Eve is a conflicting film. The first hour is some of the most perfect romantic comedy I've ever seen, however it falls apart around the one hour mark. However what is it that makes the first hour so perfect? Firstly it didn't take too long for me to realise that Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck are one of the most flawless screen pairings ever, the perfect combination of sexy meets innocent. Watching these two I get the impression they must have been head over heels for each other. I've read that apparently Henry Fonda would later tell his wife he was still in love with Barbara Stanwyck, dam! But then again, after having your hair caressed by Stanwyck for 3 minutes and 51 seconds, who wouldn't be?!The Lady Eve is a prime example of a "How did they get away with that?!" movie. I'm not aware of what Stanwyck's ideological or moral beliefs where but a number of her films are some of most sexually suggestive old Hollywood films I've seen. There's her pre-code work such as Baby Face but in the post code era we have Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity and of course, The Lady Eve. Call me old-fashioned but movies were sexier when the actors kept their clothes on. Vilma Banky did more with one raised eyebrow than an entire (Warning! Problem in Sector 7G).So where does it all go wrong, well about 50 minutes into The Lady Eve, the movie pulls my least favourite movie cliché of all time, "the liar revealed". You know, when a character is exposed as a fraud causing a relationship to end, even though you know they're going to get back together again by the end of the movie. Having this cliché is bad enough, however I thought it was only a contrived modern invention but here it is in 1941. At least they don't drag it out like any rubbish modern day romantic comedy would. I've found Preston Sturges' films to be indiscipline, his films all have their moments of greatness but at times they delve into over the top absurdity, even by screwball comedy standards. During the later part of The Lady Eve it's hard to buy into Stanwyck disguising herself as another woman who doesn't look massively different from her previous self in order to win back Henry Fonda. Oh and he buys into the charade, the dope! Part of me wished the entire movie could have just been the two of them on the boat and it would have been a perfect film, however the final third still has some hilarious moments, such as Eugene Palette frantically banging the table demanding his breakfast, or Fonda getting his suit destroyed three times at a party, a perfectly timed slapstick gag if I've ever seen one.On a second viewing of The Lady Eve I still have the same reaction to the first hour but I did find myself more forgiving of the last third. With my love of screwball comedies and the pairing of Stanwyck and Fonda, perhaps with additional future viewings I may become completely forgiving of the last half hour. The first hour is just that perfect.

... and probably my favorite A-list film. Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda display such chemistry and play off of each other so perfectly, and I have to credit director Preston Sturges, because in another pairing of the two at about the same time, in "You Belong to Me", their chemistry - heck the whole movie - just landed with a thud.Fonda plays Charles, somebody born to wealth, and therefore with the leisure to do whatever he wants to do without thinking about the beauty of his situation. Charles chooses to study snakes. His no-nonsense self-made man father, perfectly played by Eugene Palette, holds his egg head son in only medium esteem, to quote another film, and has therefore assigned tough guy Muggsy (William Demarest) to be his body guard since he somewhat rightly perceives that Charles has no common sense or survival instincts. Charles is naïve, Jean (Stanwyck) is a con-woman wise in the ways of the world. She starts out to fleece the guy at cards when they find themselves on the same ship, but falls in love with him in spite of herself. When Charles finds out Jean is a con artist, he rejects her and she vows revenge, which she gets in the most imaginative way possible, all the while claiming that she doesn't love Charles anymore - but she does. She is a young woman wise to the "tells" in everybody else but blind to her own true feelings.Eric Blore, usually given to expressing himself with looks and one liners, is given a rather intricate story to tell at a crucial moment in the film and carries it off wonderfully. William Demarest has never been funnier, and poor Charles gets no end of grief from his father. Sure he's clumsy, but at one point he's blamed for having the main course dumped in his lap at a dinner party caused by two servants fighting over who is going to serve the main course.I won't give away any more, because the story is truly part of the delight here, but just let it be said that Jean teaches Charles that you can't tell what is in the present by looking at the wrapping paper, although the real moral of this film is that people in love believe what that want to believe. Highly recommended.

The first half of The Lady Eve is one of my new favourite things. Film noir mixed with screwball romance, it blends them both magnificently, utilising Barbara Stanwyck's smooth femme fatale and Henry Fonda's clear lack of comfort zone in any of this. Taking place over the course of a boat trip, the dialogue is sharp and witty, lying through their teeth but grounding it in compelling and whole-heartedly engaging truth. It has a feel that Preston Sturges had a very inspired weekend and wrote this on a productive bender and that kind of thing rubs off on you in the best way. It's a truly wonderful 50 minutes or so. Unfortunately, the plot thickens and life gets complicated after the boat. The film keeps its wit but gets very messy. It becomes difficult to keep track of what's going on, what the motive is and why the characters can't plainly see the problem. An overuse of Fonda falling down proves that the second half just isn't on the same level as the first. However, it doesn't drag the film down too far for me, it only drags it off a potential spot on my all-time favourites list.8/10