“The Lady Eve” is one of my favorite comedies from the early 1940s. It has a terrific central performance by Barbara Stanwyck that still holds up today.
Despite some antiquated dialogue, “The Lady Eve” is as funny and entertaining as it was in 1941.
“The Lady Eve” starts with its male lead, Charles Pike, leaving South America after studying snakes. On the voyage back, he is targeted by the beautiful cardsharp Jean Harrington because he is the heir to a large fortune.
They fall in love, but break up after Pike learns the truth about her background. Since this is a kind of zany 1940s comedy, she disguises herself as English royalty to get her revenge.
Stanwyck is excellent as Harrington. She’s quick witted and intelligent, and the decisions she makes are constantly altering the shape of the plot. Watching her performance is practically a how-to guide for writing strong, memorable female characters.
She also gets many of the script’s best lines, such as this one that comes after her decision to get revenge on Pike: “I need him like the axe needs the turkey.”
Henry Fonda is very good as Pike. He’s an endearing romantic lead who is good at performing both earnest romantic speeches and pratfalls. Some of his lines are a bit antiquated, as when he earnestly calls “balderdash” on someone or uses the phrase “slip you a mickey.”
“The Lady Eve” was directed by Preston Sturges, who was originally a playwright before becoming one of the first in Hollywood to direct his own screenplays. This film bears a couple of theatrical touches, such as the recurring imagery of characters entering from the background of a shot.
Sturges is great at writing small character roles, many of which were played by the same rotating cast of actors throughout his career. Two members of Sturges’ stock company in this film are William Demarest and Eric Blore, and the differences in their roles show Sturges’ versatility as a writer.
Demarest plays Muggsy, Pike’s bodyguard, and his tough guy delivery causes him to hilariously mangle his dialogue. Blore, on the other hand, plays a con artist pretending to be “Sir Alfred,” a dignified English noble who would rather use 20 words in place of five.
The fact Sturges can write both kinds of characters equally as well shows his talent. He even makes the smallest bit parts memorable; one such moment comes when a fancy woman says “The fish was a poem” at a dinner party. This creates an impression of a bustling comic universe, where even glorified extras get a chance to shine.
“The Lady Eve” balances romance and comedy very well, and every part is well cast and performed. It’s a charming movie that you’ll want to see again soon after you first watch it.
