Synopsis
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.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Barbara StanwyckJean Harrington
- Henry FondaCharles Pike
- Charles Coburn'Colonel' Harrington
- Eugene PalletteHorace Pike
- William DemarestMuggsy
- Eric BloreSir Alfred McGlennan Keith
- Melville CooperGerald
- Martha O'DriscollMartha
- Janet BeecherJanet Pike
- Robert GreigBurrows
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
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. - 100
TV Guide Magazine
Chic, sly little masterpiece of comic seduction. - 100
The Guardian
Stanwyck supplies a bravura double performance, a showcase for her brilliant versatility. - 100
Empire
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. - 100
Los Angeles Times
Preston Sturges was arguably the most gifted writer-director of sound comedies Hollywood has ever produced, and this Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda standoff is his masterpiece. [03 Apr 2020, p.E1] - 90
The New York Times
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. - 90
Variety
Laugh entertainment of top proportions with its combo of slick situations, spontaneous dialog and a few slapstick falls tossed in for good measure. - 90
The A.V. Club
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.
