The Lady Eve (1941)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Preston Sturges

Writers:

Monckton Hoffe (story) and
Preston Sturges (writer)

Release Date:

25 February 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Eve Sure Knows Her Apples !

Plot:

Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Con Artist | Ship | Snake | Lady

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Eugenia 'Jean' Harrington
Henry Fonda	...	Charles 'Charlie' Poncefort Pike
Charles Coburn	...	'Colonel' Harry Harrington
Eugene Pallette	...	Horace Pike
William Demarest	...	Ambrose 'Muggsy' Murgatroyd
Eric Blore	...	Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith
Melville Cooper	...	Gerald
Martha O'Driscoll	...	Martha - the Maid
Janet Beecher	...	Janet Pike
Robert Greig	...	Burrows - Pike's Butler
Dora Clement	...	Gertrude
Luis Alberni	...	Emile, Pike's chef

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:15 | South Korea:12 (2004) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden - 301 N. Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Charles and Jean are standing on the deck talking, the ambient, background sounds - of people talking and birds singing - can be heard running on a loop. The scene lasts several minutes, but the ambient sounds repeat every several seconds.

Quotes:

Steward: Breakfast, sir?
Charles: What'd you say?
Steward: I said, "Breakfast, sir?"
Charles: Two scotch and sodas with plain water.
Jean Harrington: Don't you take cream and sugar?
Charles: No, I always take it black.
[pause]
Charles: Say, what am I talking about?
Jean Harrington: That's what I was wondering.
Steward: How about a nice bicarbonate of soda with an egg in it? It does wonders!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Holiday (2006)

Soundtrack:

Lover

Outstanding classic comedy.

The Lady Eve is one of the most memorable comedies of the golden age, and today it stands as a highly entertaining movie that has a lot of enjoyably dated comedy. Particularly hilarious are the scenes in which Stanwyck spills her life story to Fonda as they swoosh under the train tunnel, and the scenes in which the food trays keep spilling on Fonda. The performances are great, and though it seems more like Stanwyck falls for Fonda out of pity more than love, the two work well together. And Barbara Stanwyck in that black, bare-midriff dress is one of the most breath-takingly beautiful images ever to appear on the screen.