- The Lady Eve is an entertaining screwball romance that pairs up two acting talents not normally associated with comedy: Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. As Jean Harrington, Stanwyck gets to play her femme fatale image for laughs as a chiseler who, with the eager aid of her crooked father (Charles Coburn), is happy to woo rich young men right out of their savings. The rich young man in this instance is Charlie Pike (Fonda), who can afford his interest in ophiology (the study of snakes, as Charlie gladly explains) by being the son of a corpulent ale magnate (Eugene Pallette). Though he may be an expert on snakes, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about women, and that's precisely what Jean is counting on.
- One of the film's best scenes takes place early on, when Jean is vying for Charlie's attention in a cruise ship bar. After a hilarious play-by-play narration of the unsuccessful plays made by nearly every other women on ship, Jean sticks out a leg and trips Charlie as he's walking by. Call it the brute force approach, I suppose. Soon she's stroking his hair and whispering sweet nothings in his ear, but somehow they still find time to play cards with Jean's father. And would you believe it, Charlie wins! Naturally, there will be a rematch for higher stakes tomorrow. Before the con really gets going, however, Jean is surprised to learn that she's actually falling in love with her mark. Could it be that she'll make this fortune legitimately by becoming Charlie's wife?
- While the film's plot takes some odd turns, The Lady Eve is a treat whenever the two leads are both onscreen. As Charlie, Fonda converts his usual indomitable honesty into a innocent sappiness, while Stanwyck proves that her immense talents extend to comedy, too. If you don't think these two can be funny, you should see them try to exchange a loving embrace in the presence of an unusually curious horse. Or watch Fonda trip over himself as Stanwyck passes herself off as the British niece of a local sham artist (Eric Blore). By the film's end, even the uproarious litany of Jean's alleged former lovers can't keep the two of them apart. There are disappointingly few romantic comedies that recognize the full importance of silliness, but thankfully this acclaimed Preston Sturges offering is one of them.
