THE LADY EVE (1941)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Comedy / Romance

Director: Preston Sturges

Cast: Barbara Stanwyck / Henry Fonda / Charles Coburn

Plot

Con artist Jean Harrington seduces wealthy innocent Charles Pike on a cruise ship with the intent to fleece him of his money, but soon finds she has actually fallen in love with him.

What I Liked

From the opening credits on, “The Lady Eve” plays around with the Garden of Eden myth here and there.  Once the plot gets going, it’s clear that the lead female, Barbara Stanwyck as Jean Harrington, is not at all the innocent tempted by the snake.  She is the temptress, long ago corrupted by her father, out to con Charles “Hopsy” Pike out of his cash.  Even when she later adopts the actual name of Eve in another ruse, she ends up revealing a great deal about just how very un-innocent she is.

In fact, perhaps the most amazing facet of this film is just how suggestive Stanwyck is allowed to get with her dialogue.  The entire film, but particularly the beginning, is full of sexual innuendos and euphemisms that must have been down-right staggering right in the middle of the Motion Picture Production Code era of Hollywood.  When her looks, charisma, and fun dialogue are all working at once, Stanwyck is definitely the source of vivacity for this picture, which I found otherwise lackluster.

What I Didn’t Like

Most importantly, it’s just not funny.  Billed and produced as a screwball comedy, very little of the dialogue is all that funny and none of the physical comedy evokes the slightest giggle.  The slapstick gags in particular feel contrived, lifeless, and laughless.  Henry Fonda, although convincing as honest-to-a-fault Hopsy, doesn’t seem to have a knack for comedy.

Most Memorable Scene

When the Harringtons get Hopsy at the card table and start playing poker, this movie absolutely earns its placement on the 1001 movie list.  Each actor and their characters are boiled down to their quintessential essence as they set about their tricks, mis-directions, seductions, double-crosses, and gambles.  One of these scenes in particular, where Jean Harrington must use all her guile to save Hopsy from the cheating ways of her father without Hopsy even realizing what she’s done, has to rank among the most satisfying and ingenious poker scenes ever filmed.

My Rating: 2.5/5