Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

The Lady Eve Overview:

The Lady Eve (1941) was a Comedy - Crime Film directed by Preston Sturges and produced by Buddy G. DeSylva, William LeBaron, Albert Lewin and Paul Jones.

The film was based on the stage play The Faithful Heart written by Monckton Hoffe performed at the Broadhurst Theatre, NY from Oct 10, 1922 - Nov 1922.

SYNOPSIS

This is perhaps the perfect movie comedy, with a runaway heiress - or, in this case, heir - double identities, barbed wit, inspired pratfalls, and the Sturges collection of supporting characters. One could ask for no more. Beer scion Fonda would rather spend his time chasing snakes up exotice rivers than running the family business, until he becomes fascinated with con girl Stanwyck and her crooked pop, Coburn, on an ocean liner. Of course, she falls for Fonda and then loses him when he learns of her occupation. She gets another chance in the guise of visiting royalty and charms everyone at a reception in her honor, including Fonda's tycoon father Pallette. Our favorite line: after Fonda has most of the formal dinner and drinks spilled on his tux and, finally, on his out-of-season dinner jacket, Pallette intones, "Why don't you put on a bathing suit!" Well, you have to see it.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Lady Eve was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1994.

Academy Awards 1941 --- Ceremony Number 14 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best WritingMonckton HoffeNominated
See More Oscar Winners

The Lady Eve BlogHub Articles:

COMEDY GOLD #17: The horse from The Lady Eve (1941)

By Carol Martinheira on Jul 20, 2019 From The Old Hollywood Garden

COMEDY GOLD #17: The horse from The Lady Eve (1941) On July 20, 2019 By CarolIn Uncategorized Just when you thought Preston Sturges’ iconic screwball comedy The Lady Eve (1941) couldn’t get any better, in comes the horse that somehow managed to upstage both ... Read full article

5 things I love about The Lady Eve (1941)

By Carol Martinheira on Dec 5, 2017 From The Old Hollywood Garden

5 things I love about The Lady Eve (1941) On December 5, 2017 By CarolIn Uncategorized I mean, what’s not to love, really? It’s just a delight of a movie. And like any screwball comedy, this is one of those movies that you can watch over and over. So I thought I’... Read full article

Preston Sturges series: Screening of “The Lady Eve” May 24 at the Daystar Center

By Stephen Reginald on May 19, 2016 From Classic Movie Man

Preston Sturges series: Screening of “The Lady Eve” May 24 at the Daystar Center Preston Sturges series: The Lady EveWhere: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Chicago, ILWhen: May 24, 2016Time: 6:30 p.m.Hosted by Stephen Reginald Father and daughter con art... Read full article

The Lady Eve (1941) – Updated

By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 28, 2015 From 4 Star Films

“You have the darndest way of bouncing a fellow down and bumping him up again” ~ Henry Fonda as Charles Pike The story goes that screenwriting wunderkind Preston Sturgest penned The Lady Eve with Barabara Stanwyck in mind. He promised her a great picture and he most certainly delivered a... Read full article

Review: The Lady Eve (1941)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 28, 2015 From 4 Star Films

“You have the darndest way of bouncing a fellow down and bumping him up again” ~ Henry Fonda as Charles Pike The story goes that screenwriting wunderkind Preston Sturgest penned The Lady Eve with Barabara Stanwyck in mind. He promised her a great picture and he most certainly delivered a... Read full article

See More The Lady Eve Articles

The Lady Eve Quotes:

Charles Pike: I'm married.
Jean Harrington: But so am I, darling. So am I.
Jean Harrington: You know Charles?
Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith: Oh, is he the tall backwards boy always toying with toads and things? Yes, I think I have seen him skulking about.
Jean Harrington: He's not backwards. He's a scientist.
Sir Alfred McGlennan Keith: Oh is that what it is? I knew he was, mm... peculiar.
Charles Pike: You're certainly a funny girl for anybody to meet who's just been up the Amazon for a year.
Jean Harrington: Good thing you weren't up there two years.
Charles Pike: You ought to put handles on that skull. Maybe you could grow geraniums in it.
Stewart: Good morning, sir. Fruit, cereal, bacon and egg, egg and sausage, sausage and hot cake, hot cake and ham, ham and egg, egg and bacon, bacon and...
Muggsy: Give me a spoonful of milk, a raw pigeon's egg, and four houseflies. If you can't catch any, I'll settle for a cockroach.
See More Quotes from The Lady Eve
The Lady Eve Facts
One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since.
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1994.
The check that that Henry Fonda's character, Charles Pike, writes to Charles Coburn, playing "Colonel" Harrington, is dated August 29. August 29th is director Preston Sturges' birthday.
It was hibernation season during the shoot so Emma the king snake was always sleeping while also shedding her skin. Needless to say, she was very uncooperative.
At the beginning Henry Fonda makes references to the help of a "Professor Marsdit". Raymond L. Ditmars of the AMNH at the time was the best-known reptile expert in the country, the kind of popularizer that Carl Sagan later became.
See More Facts about The Lady Eve >>