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The Lady Eve

1941

Preston Sturges

Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette ...

7.4

3,980

Romance. Comedy Barbara Stanwyck stars as Jean Herrington, a sly con artist aboard a transatlantic ocean liner who happens to run across Charles Pike (Henry Fonda), a snake expert returning from a year in the Amazon jungle. Since Pike is the wealthy and shy heir to a beer fortune, he seems like the perfect target for one of Jean's cons, but as she deceives him she finds herself falling in love.

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"'The Lady Eve' is all Stanwyck's; the love, the hurt and the anger of her character provide the motivation for nearly every scene (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"A more charming or distinguished gem of nonsense has not occurred since 'It Happened One Night' (...) Exceedingly well-turned dialogue [and] a perfect sense for the ridiculous"	POS
United States	Variety	"[It] is laugh entertainment of top proportions with its combo of slick situations, spontaneous dialog and a few slapstick falls tossed in for good measure."	POS
United States	Scott Tobias AV Club	"Masterpiece (...) [Stanwyck's] line readings sparkle with ruthless intelligence and wit (...) but she's also capable of surprising openness and vulnerability."	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Preston Sturges extended his range beyond the crazy farces that had made his reputation with this romantic 1941 comedy, and his hand proved just as sure"	POS
United Kingdom	Time Out	"Fonda and Stanwyck are superbly paired (...) Very nearly perfection, and quintessential Sturges."	POS
United Kingdom	Tony Sloman Radio Times	"This wonderfully witty masterpiece was written and directed by the inimitable Preston Sturges. The plot gives a couple of near career-best roles to two of Hollywood's finest (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Kim Newman 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 (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Max O'Connell IndieWire	"One of the warmest, funniest, most romantic movies ever made, a film that knows when to be cynical and when to drop the cynicism for sweetness."	POS

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