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The Lady Eve

373 votes

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.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1941-02-25

Runtime: 97 mins

Director: Preston Sturges

Spoken language: English

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Original title: The Lady Eve

Production Companies: Paramount Pictures

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck

Henry Fonda

Charles Coburn

Eugene Pallette

William Demarest

Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith

Eric Blore

Melville Cooper

Martha O'Driscoll

Janet Beecher

Robert Greig

Dora Clement

Luis Alberni

Ship's Waiter with Toupee (uncredited)

Bobby Barber

Chauffeur (uncredited)

Eddie Hall

Reviews

Geronimo1967

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?

2025-07-11

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