One of those movies whose battle-of-the-sexes themes are still relevant more than 50 years on.
The Lady Eve (1941)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:27
Fresh:27
Rotten:0
Average Rating:8.7/10
Consensus: A career highlight for Preston Sturges, The Lady Eve benefits from Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda's sparkling chemistry, and from a script that has inspired countless battle-of-the-sexes comedies.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Directed by Preston Sturges, THE LADY EVE stars Barbara Stanwyck as Jean Herrington, a sly con artist aboard a transatlantic ocean liner who happens to run across Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), a... Directed by Preston Sturges, THE LADY EVE stars Barbara Stanwyck as Jean Herrington, a sly con artist aboard a transatlantic ocean liner who happens to run across Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), a snake expert returning from a year in the Amazon jungle. Since Pike is the wealthy and shy heir to a beer fortune, he seems like the perfect target for one of Jean's cons, but as she deceives him she finds herself falling in love. One of Sturges's most hilarious comedies, THE LADY EVE is a romantic comedy masterpiece with two of Hollywood's stars at the top of their form. [More]
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, William Demarest, Eric Blore, Melville Cooper, Martha O'Driscoll
Director: Preston Sturges
Director: Preston Sturges
Producer: Paul Jones
Screenwriter: Preston Sturges
Composer: Sigmund Krumgold
Reviews for The Lady Eve
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.
A beguilingly ribald sex comedy, spattered with characteristic Sturges slapstick.
Crackles with a level of wit and sexual innuendo that makes you wish they still made sex comedies for adults.
Screwball comedy at its finest and one of Preston Sturges' best. This deliciously funny battle of the sexes has Barbara Stanwyck as a smart, sexy con artist who wraps a bewildered Henry Fonda around her little finger. There's also a great supporting cast.
Stanwyck and Fonda are great. Another masterpiece from Sturges. A movie that can be enjoyed over and over.
Now there's no question about it: Preston Sturges is definitely and distinctly the most refreshing new force to hit the American motion pictures in the past five years.
...as powerful a feminist statement as it is a smart comedy, and all the more so for hardly seeming to break a sweat in the process.
Preston Sturges extended his range beyond the crazy farces that had made his reputation with this romantic 1941 comedy, and his hand proved just as sure.
It's just not simply an hilarious and witty battle of the sexes farce but amazingly has a tender romantic side.
Preston Sturges' most brilliant film deftly combines deftly witty dialogue and slapstick comedy, splendidly acted not only by Stanwyck and Fonda but by every single member of the ensemble.
As usual with Sturges, you wonder how he was able to get away with so much innuendo during Hollywood's Hayes Code period.
Preston Sturges' delirious humor sets up Henry Fonda's wealthy dope to be taken by Barbara Stanwyck's seductive con artistry.
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