The Lady Eve

Unrated

2/25/19411h 37m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ When you deal a fast shuffle, love is in the cards. ~

Overview:

It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles' fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles' life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich.

Director:

Preston Sturges

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

daughter
ship
snake
gambling
passenger
fraud
romcom
deception
con artist
money
revenge
wealth
hair
black and white
cardsharp
screwball comedy
gold digger

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck

~ as ~

Jean Harrington

Henry Fonda

~ as ~

Charles Pike

Charles Coburn

~ as ~

'Colonel' Harrington

Eugene Pallette

~ as ~

Horace Pike

William Demarest

~ as ~

Muggsy

Eric Blore

~ as ~

Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith

Melville Cooper

~ as ~

Gerald

Martha O'Driscoll

~ as ~

Martha

Janet Beecher

~ as ~

Janet Pike

Robert Greig

~ as ~

Burrows

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 5 month(s) ago
7
Barbara Stanwyck is on great form in this slightly far-fetched caper, but it’s really a strong supporting cast which includes co-star Henry Fonda and Charles Coburn that add together to make this an enjoyable romp through the courting process tempered with some double-identities and a deck with five aces. She is travelling with her father (Coburn) and both are sought by the authorities for being accomplished confidence tricksters. Their mark on this particular voyage is the ridiculously wealthy “Pike” (Fonda) whom she strings along merrily whilst they fleece him at cards. Then something entirely unexpected happens. She falls for the man. His innocence and naivety strike a chord and she even begins to rebel against her father! Luckily, for “Pike”, he is tipped off just in time and manage to escape her venal clutches - or so he thinks. “Jean” (Stanwyck) is determined on an unique sort of revenge which sees her adopt the identity of a visiting British aristocrat (“Lady Eve”) and visit her uncle who just happens to be in the same social circle as you know who. Surely he will recognise her? He can’t be that gullible? Though it’s not so obvious at the start, there develops an entertaining chemistry between Stanwyck and the rarely upright and constantly flustered Fonda who seems to be able to trip over just about anything and everything! Of course, there isn’t really a great deal of jeopardy as the plot thickens, but with Coburn holding a steady course and both Eugene Palette and Eric Blore - this time not the butler - having a decent amount of the latter play, this is an enjoyably eccentric look at greed tinged with love. Or is that the other way around?