''The Lady Eve'' is a 1941 American

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

film written and directed by

Preston Sturges Preston Sturges (; born Edmund Preston Biden; August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. In 1941, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film '' The Great McGinty'' (1940), h ...

and starring

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

and

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and rai ...

."The Lady Eve."
''IMDB.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011. The film is based on a story by

Monckton Hoffe Monckton Hoffe (1880–1951) was an Irish playwright and screenwriter. Early life On 26 December 1880, Hoffe was born in Connemara, Ireland. His full name was Reaney Monckton Hoffe-Miles. Career Hoffe was known for his romantic comedies a ...

about a mismatched couple who meet on board an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

. In 1994, ''The Lady Eve'', which is included on many "Top 100" films of all-time lists, was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.""National Film Registry."
''Library of Congress.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011.

Plot

Jean Harrington is a beautiful con artist. Along with her equally larcenous father, "Colonel" Harrington, and his partner Gerald, she is out to fleece rich, naive Charles Pike, the heir to the Pike Ale ("The Ale That Won for Yale") fortune, on an ocean liner. Charles is a woman-shy snake expert just returning from a year-long expedition up the Amazon. The young women aboard the ship compete for his attention, but Charles is more concerned with reading about snakes. Jean contrives a way to meet Charles, who is smitten with her. After Jean runs off, terrified by a real snake that Charles has brought on board, the two share a steamy scene in her cabin. Charles's minder Muggsy suspects that Jean is a trickster looking to steal from Charles, but Charles refuses to believe him. However, despite the con, Jean falls in love with Charles and shields him from her

card sharp A card sharp (also cardsharp, card shark or cardshark, sometimes hyphenated) is a person who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker or other card games. "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region. The label is n ...

father. Muggsy discovers the truth and presents proof to Charlie, who dumps Jean. Furious at being scorned, Jean soon re-enters Charles's life masquerading as the posh Lady Eve Sidwich, niece of Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith, another con man who has been swindling the rich of Connecticut. Jean takes on an English accent, determined to torment Charles mercilessly, as she explains, "I've got some unfinished business with him—I need him like the axe needs the turkey." When Charles meets Jean as Lady Eve, he is so bewildered at her resemblance to the Jean that he knew that he constantly trips and falls over himself. Although Muggsy tries to convince him that "she's the same dame," Charles reasons that Jean would not come close to his home without at least disguising herself. Then, after Sir Alfred feeds him a story that the Lady Eve is Jean's sister, Charles accepts the resemblance. After a brief courtship they marry, right on Jean's schedule. And just as she had planned, on the train to their honeymoon Eve begins to confess her past, continuously dropping names of many old boyfriends and lovers. A disgusted Charles jumps off the train. Jean's con team urges her to close the deal by pursuing a huge divorce settlement, but she tells Charles' father on the phone that she wants no money, but only wants Charles to tell her that their marriage is over in person. Charles refuses. Jean is then told by Charles' father that Charles is departing on another ocean voyage. She arranges passage for herself and her father, and then schemes to happen upon Charles, just as they had met before. Charles is overjoyed to see the real Jean again, and they dash to her cabin, where they mutually affirm their love for each other. Charles confesses that he is married, and Jean replies, "So am I, darling."

Cast

Production

''The Lady Eve'' was loosely based on a 19-page story by Monckton Hoffe called "Two Bad Hats," which was also the working title for the film. Sturges was assigned to write a script based on Hoffe's story in 1938, with

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...

expected to be the star. Sturges and

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

producer

Albert Lewin Albert Lewin (September 23, 1894 – May 9, 1968) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Personal life Lewin was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He earned a master's degree at Harvard and taught ...

had some written disagreement in 1939 about the development of the script. Lewin wrote to Sturges, " e first two-thirds of the script, in spite of the high quality of your jokes, will require an almost one hundred percent rewrite." Sturges objected, and eventually Lewin acceded, writing, "Follow your witty nose, my boy; it will lead you and me and Paramount to the Elysian pastures of popular entertainment."Miller, Frank and Jeff Stafford
"Articles: The Lady Eve."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: June 10, 2013. The

Hays Office The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

initially rejected the script because of "the definite suggestion of a sex affair between your two leads" that lacked "compensating moral values," and a revised script was submitted and approved. At some point, the studio wanted

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

for the male lead, and

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

Madeleine Carroll Edith Madeleine Carroll (26 February 1906 – 2 October 1987) was an English actress, popular both in Britain and America in the 1930s and 1940s. At the peak of her success in 1938, she was the world's highest-paid actress. Carroll is rememb ...

and

Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career a ...

were under consideration as of July 1940, but in August 1940,

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

and Madeleine Carroll were announced as the film's co-stars. In September,

Darryl Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...

lent Henry Fonda to co-star with Goddard, who was then replaced by Barbara Stanwyck. Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve trailer

Production took place from October 21 to December 5, 1940."The Lady Eve Overview."
''TCM.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011. According to

Donald Spoto Donald Spoto (born June 28, 1941) is an American biographer and theologian. He is known for his best-selling biographies of people in the worlds of film and theater, and more recently for his books on theology and spirituality. Spoto has writte ...

in ''Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges'', Sturges "... invariably paraded on heset with a colorful beret or a felt cap with a feather protruding, a white cashmere scarf blowing gaily round his neck and a print shirt in loud hues ... the reason for the peculiar outfits, he told visitors, was that they facilitated crew members finding him amid the crowds of actors, technicians, and the public." Stanwyck compared Sturges's set to "a carnival." In his biography of Stanwyck, author Axel Madsen wrote: "The set was so ebullient that instead of going to their trailers between setups, the players relaxed in canvas chairs with their sparkling director, listening to his fascinating stories or going over their lines with him. To get into mood for Barbara's bedroom scene, Sturges wore a bathrobe." Location shooting for the opening jungle scene took place at Lake Baldwin of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of th ...

."The Lady Eve Filming Locations."
''IMDb.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011. In that scene, Fonda's character refers to Professor Marsdit, whose last name is an anagram of that of Raymond L. Ditmars of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

, a well-known reptile expert and popular science writer of the time."The Lady Eve Trivia."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011. The film premiered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on February 25, 1941, and went into general release on March 21. It was marketed with a number of taglines, including "When you deal a fast shuffle ... love is in the cards." The film ranked among the top-grossing films of the year. ''The Lady Eve'' was released on video in the U.S. on July 12, 1990 and was rereleased on June 30, 1993."Notes: The Lady Eve."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: June 10, 2013. Despite issues with the condition of the surviving original film elements, the film was scanned in 4K and issued on

Blu-ray disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

by Criterion on July 14, 2020.

Production credits

– director, screenplay * Paul Jones – producer *

Victor Milner Victor Milner, A.S.C. (December 15, 1893 – October 29, 1972) (sometimes Victor Miller) was an American cinematographer. He was nominated for ten cinematography Academy Awards, winning once for 1934 ''Cleopatra''. Milner worked on more than 130 ...

– director of photography *

Hans Dreier Hans Dreier (August 21, 1885 – October 24, 1966) was a German motion picture art director. He was Paramount Pictures' supervising art director from 1927 until his retirement in 1950, when he was succeeded by Hal Pereira. Hans Dreier was born i ...

– art direction *

Ernst Fegté Ernst Fegté (28 September 1900 – 15 December 1976) was a German art director. He was active in the American cinema from the 1920s to the 1970s, he was the art director or production designer on more than 75 feature films. He worked at Pa ...

– art direction * Sigmund Krumgold – musical direction *

Stuart Gilmore Stuart Gilmore (March 8, 1909 – November 19, 1971) was an American film editor who had over 45 editing credits along with 10 directing credits. He was nominated for three Academy Awards with the last nomination being posthumous. Career Gilmor ...

– editor *

Edith Head Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is cons ...

– costumes * Harry Lindgren – sound recording * Don Johnson – sound recording *

– story

Reception and themes

After ''The Lady Eve'' premiered at the Rialto, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewer

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

characterized the film as "a sparkling romantic comedy." He further described the director's work: "It isn't often that this corner has good reason to bang a gong and holler 'Hurry, hurry, hurry!' As a matter of fact, it is all too rare indeed that we have even moderate provocation to mark a wonder of the cinematic world. Too many of the films on which we comment boil down to woeful mediocrity, and too many of the people who make them betray a depressing weariness." More than 50 years later,

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film high praise: "If I were asked to name the single scene in all of romantic comedy that was sexiest and funniest at the same time, I would advise beginning at six seconds past the 20-minute mark in Preston Sturges's ''The Lady Eve''." Some have identified a theme of gender inversion, with Jean Harrington clearly in control for the majority of the film until her feelings get in the way of her original intentions. Until she realizes that she loves Charles, there is little sense of the struggle between equals that typifies most romantic comedies. The film has been lauded for a unique blend of

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

and

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

. Film scholars have observed the theme of the

fall of man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * ...

implied by the film's title; in the literal sense, the fall is evidenced in Pike's frequent pratfalls, and figuratively, he falls from innocence as he is lured into Jean's deceptive plots. Film critic

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...

identifies the theme of deceptiveness throughout the film, with things as small as the distinction, or lack thereof, between beer and ale, as well as the various disguises of Jean Harrington, adding depth to the plot line. Most of the characters have two names (Charles is Hopsie, Jean is Eve Sidwich); this lack of recognition sets the stage for the storyline. Sturges repeatedly suggests that the "lowliest boob could rise to the top with the right degree of luck, bluff and fraud."

Awards and honors

At the 14th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for

Best Original Story Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

for

but '' Here Comes Mr. Jordan'' (

Harry Segall Harry Segall (April 10, 1892 – November 25, 1975) was an American playwright, screenwriter and television writer. Segall was born in Chicago. Harry Segall's writing career spans 1933 to 1959. Segall's plays, including '' Lost Horizons'', ...

) proved victorious. The

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

nominated the film for Best Picture, and ''

'' named it as the best film of 1941. In 1994, ''The Lady Eve'' was selected for preservation in the United States

by the

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2008, ''The Lady Eve'' was selected by ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' magazine as among the 500 greatest movies of all time and one of the best 1,000 by ''The New York Times''. In 2012, the film ranked #110 on ''

Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

s critics' poll and #174 on the directors' poll as selected by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. ''The Lady Eve'' was listed by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine as one of the All-TIME 100 Movies. The film ranked 59th on ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

's'' list of the 100 greatest films of all time.

FilmSite.org Filmsite is a film-review website established in 1996 by senior editor and film critic-historian Tim Dirks, and continues to be managed and edited by him for over two decades. Overview The site contains over 300 detailed reviews of English langu ...

, a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

American Movie Classics AMC is an American multinational basic cable television channel that is the flagship property of AMC Networks. The channel's programming primarily consists of theatrically released films, along with a limited amount of original programming. ...

, placed ''The Lady Eve'' on its list of the 100 greatest films. Films101.com ranked the film as the 97th best film of all time. ''The Lady Eve'' appears on two of the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

's lists and was nominated for several others: * 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated * 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - #55 * 2002: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions - #26 * 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes: ** Jean Harrington: "I need him like the axe needs the turkey." – Nominated * 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – Nominated * 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10: ** Nominated Romantic Comedy Film The

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

ranked its screenplay as the 52nd best ever written.

Influences

In 1956, the plot of ''The Lady Eve'' was recycled for the film ''

The Birds and the Bees The talk about sex, often colloquially referred to as "the birds and the bees" or "the facts of life", is generally the occasion in most children's lives when their parents explain what sex is and how to do it. According to tradition, "the bird ...

'' starring

George Gobel George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, ''The George Gobel Show'', broadcasting from 1954 to 1959 ...

Mitzi Gaynor Mitzi Gaynor (born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber; September 4, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Her notable films include '' We're Not Married!'' (1952), '' There's No Business Like Show Business'' (1954), '' The Birds ...

and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

. Preston Sturges received a co-writer credit for the film, although he did not actually participate in the project.Miller, Frank
"Notes: The Birds and the Bees."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: November 17, 2011. The plot was also employed as the model for ''

Corrupting Dr. Nice ''Corrupting Dr. Nice'' is a science fiction novel by American writer John Kessel, published in 1997. It is a time travel novel modeled on the screwball comedies of the 1930s. The story follows the rich and klutzy Owen Vannice ("Dr. Nice") as ...

'', a 1997

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by

John Kessel John Joseph Vincent Kessel (born September 24, 1950) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. He is a prolific short story writer, and the author of four solo novels, '' Good News From Outer Space'' (1989), ''Corrupting Dr. Nice'' ( ...

involving

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

.Gevers, Nick
"Corrupting Dr Nice by John Kessel."
''infinity plus,'' October 16, 1999. Retrieved: August 29, 2012.

Radio adaptation

''The Lady Eve'' was presented on '' Hollywood Star Time'' on September 21, 1946, with

Joan Blondell Joan Blondell (born Rose Joan Bluestein; August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on ...

and John Lund in the starring roles.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Coursodon, Jean-Pierre. ''American Directors: Volume I''. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1983. . * Curtis, James. ''Between Flops: A Biography of Preston Sturges''. New York: Limelight Editions, 1984. . * Faith, Kathleen. ''The Unruly Woman: The Politics of Confinement & Resistance''. Austin, Texas:

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...

, 1995. . * Nochimson, Martha. "The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels" in ''Cineaste'', Vol. 27, Issue 3, Summer 2002. * Sarris, Andrew. ''The American Cinema: Directors And Directions 1929–1968''. New York:

E.P. Dutton E. P. Dutton was an American book publishing company. It was founded as a book retailer in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1852 by Edward Payson Dutton. Since 1986, it has been an imprint of Penguin Group. Creator Edward Payson Dutton (January 4, ...

, 1995, first edition 1968. .

External links

* * * * *
''The Lady Eve''
an essay by James Harvey at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

* ''The Lady Eve'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, Bloomsbury Academic, 2010 , pages 332-33

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lady Eve, The 1941 films 1941 romantic comedy films 1940s screwball comedy films American black-and-white films American crime comedy films American films with live action and animation American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films Comedy of remarriage films Films about con artists Films based on works by Monckton Hoffe Films directed by Preston Sturges Films set on ships Films with screenplays by Preston Sturges Paramount Pictures films United States National Film Registry films Films set in Connecticut 1940s American films