X
- 1941
- Approved
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
- 1941
- Approved
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
Summary A trio of classy card sharks targets the socially awkward heir to brewery millions for his money, until one of them falls in love with him.
Directed By: Preston Sturges
Written By: Monckton Hoffe, Preston Sturges
- 1941
- Approved
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
- 1941
- Approved
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 34 m
The Lady Eve
7.6
Where to Watch
Summary A trio of classy card sharks targets the socially awkward heir to brewery millions for his money, until one of them falls in love with him.
Directed By: Preston Sturges
Written By: Monckton Hoffe, Preston Sturges
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 17 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Nowhere was American comedy in the '40s more frivolously sophisticated than in the movies of Preston Sturges, and The Lady Eve is his most satisfying romantic film. [05 May 1988, p.C7]
A frivolous masterpiece. Like Bringing Up Baby, The Lady Eve is a mixture of visual and verbal slapstick, and of high artifice and pratfalls.
A wonderful picture set in a world of silly heirs and sharp-eyed dolls as remote from reality and yet wholly credible as that of P. G. Wodehouse.
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' The Lady Eve, and watching as Barbara Stanwyck toys with Henry Fonda's hair in an unbroken shot that lasts three minutes and 51 seconds.
A star in every genre, Stanwyck epitomized both the steely femme fatale (Double Indemnity) and the heartbreaking melodramatic heroine (Stella Dallas), but her performance in The Lady Eve was the only one to showcase her full range of ability. Her line readings sparkle with ruthless intelligence and wit, but she's also capable of surprising openness and vulnerability.
With The Lady Eve, which arrived yesterday at the Paramount, Mr. Sturges is indisputably established as one of the top one or two writers and directors of comedy working in Hollywood today. A more charming or distinguished gem of nonsense has not occurred since It Happened One Night.
The picture returns the lately heavily dramatic Barbara Stanwyck to glamor, with 25 swank costume changes, and reveals homespun Henry Fonda, with a drawing room haircut and 14 sound tailoring jobs, as one of the screen's most socially eligible juveniles.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.6
94% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.6
94% Positive
15 Ratings
15 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
National Film Preservation Board, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
National Board of Review, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
