The Lady Eve
“See anything you like?”, asks con woman Jean Harrington innocently when she sees the naïve heir Henry Pike staring at her. Together with her two partners-in-crime, Jean devises a plan to wrap Charles around her finger and steal a portion of his fortune. But when she unexpectedly falls for the clumsy Charles, she wants to change her ways for him. Unfortunately, her true identity is revealed and Charles rejects her. Out for revenge, Jean dresses up as Lady Eve Sidwick and fools Charles not once, but twice. There’s nothing like a woman scorned…
Preston Sturges wrote the screenplay of THE LADY EVE specifically with Barbara Stanwyck in mind for the role of Jean/Eve. He construed his screwball classic as a real ‘battle of the sexes’, but let’s be honest: from the moment Jean stuck out her leg Henry Fonda’s Charles never stood a chance. Barbara Stanwyck as Jean and Lady Eve proofs once more why she is the uncrowned queen of screwball comedy. Her screwy dames are tough women with a heart of gold, who offer their unsuspecting victims the time of their lives. This is also the case with THE LADY EVE, where she ultimately just tries to mend her broken heart… in a memorable way. “You see, Hopsi, you don’t know very much about girls. The best ones aren’t as good as you probably think they are and the bad ones aren’t as bad. Not nearly as bad.”
Henry Fonda himself, who acted alongside Stawyck in THE LADY EVE, THE MAD MISS MANTON and YOU BELONG TO ME, fell hard for his leading lady. “Everyone who is close to me knows I’ve been in love with Barbara since I met her. We’ve never had an affair. She’s never encouraged me, but dammit my wife will verify it, my children will confirm it, and now you can testify tot he truth. I don’t know a person who has been so loved by everyone as Stanwyck.”
