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The Lady Eve - Criterion Collection

The Lady Eve - Criterion Collection

List Price: $39.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Now Playing In Satan's Multiplex ---
Review: The most tortuously unfunny comedy before the advent of Jerry Lewis. Henry Fonda proves that he has absolutely no sense of comedy whatever. Not a single laugh to be had in this monstrosity, which has somehow gained classic status. A complete and total waste of time. Watch The Palm Beach Story to see what Preston Sturges could do when he was rolling. Avoid this one.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The right stuff
Review: This film has all the makings of a real classics, sadly it is underrated and under-appreciated. True, there are comedies more packed with gags and action, but this one definitely has all the right ingredients in just the right measure and pace. Love it or leave it, I'll stick to the former :-)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: All-time classic screwball comedy
Review: This gem, deservedly, is one of Barbara Stanwyck's best-known movies, and is a textbook example of the screwball comedy by the genre's past master, Preston Sturges. The sequence where Babs spoils outfit after outfit of Henry Fonda's at a swanky dinner party is absolutely not to be missed. Remade in a somewhat inferior sequel starring George Gobel and Mitzi Gaynor, "The Birds and the Bees".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Clever and VERY funny...
Review: This is a fantastic screwball comedy! Like all of Sturges films, it is very witty and fast paced. Additionally, like many of the other Sturges films, it manages to get away with a lot for a movie made in the 1940s (when movies were still under the Hays production code).

Essentially, The Lady Eve is the story of a naive (but very wealthy) adventurer right out of the Amazon, played by Henry Fonda (in his only screwball performance) who meets a sly and sexy girl named Eve, played by Barbara Stanwyck on a boat and immediately falls for her. When, however, he realizes she and her father are really professional gamblers who roam around getting money from people by playing card games, he is furious and leaves her. The rest of the movie deals with her hilarious efforts to win him back under a different name - that of the Lady Eve Sidwich.

This movie keeps the laughs coming at a frantic pace! The DVD is great - this is a must have. If you haven't seen it yet, get ready for a great time!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Must Have
Review: This is a great movie, one of my all time favorites. Stanwyck and Fonda make a perfect couple as they fall in and out of love with each other, sometimes literally. It's about a con artist name Jean played by Stanwyck who planned to seduce the millionaire Charles aka Hoppsy played by Fonda. But things went awry when she fell for him but it's too late when he found out her plans. After rejecting her she orchestrated a perfect revenge that even psychology cannot topple. The rest you have to watch.

Fonda is perfect for the part where his dignified persona was put into good use. I mean it's triple as amusing if not exactly laugh out loud funny in his multiple pratfalls. I wish he did more comedy in his career. But this film really showcased Barbara Stanwyck's gift as an actress. She gets to be funny, dramatic and sexy. In the classic scene where she and Fonda are in the bed seducing each other through words, it was just pitch perfect. Love it!

The film was silly due to its plot because it's definitely a screwball comedy only that it's more sophisticated and verbose than most in the genre. But because it was so well written how silly the plot may seem, the movie just works. The ending was particularly witty and clever.

I'm a little disappointed with the special features since this is criterion and it's really expensive compared to the other DVDs. I would really love to see a documentary on the making of the film.or a tribute to Stanwyck or Fonda. But there's a commentary here which I haven't listened to yet. There's some production photos which to my surprise was good and interesting by the way.

Grade: A- (I want more special features)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Romantic and hilarious!
Review: This is one of my all-time favorites--it's nonstop funny andone of the most romantic films of all time. The chemistry betweenBarbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda is palpable, and her and her father's elaborate con is a hoot. Just watch the scene where Stanwyck changes shoes in front of Fonda, just recently returned from a long trek up the Amazon--the sexual tension and humor are terrific.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Preston Sturges at his best!
Review: This is one of my favorite romantic/screwball films of all time. It such a neat blend of clever comedy and dialogue. Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck are terrific- I mean it's a flawless film! Preston Sturges has done some excellent films(Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Miracle at Morgan's Creek), but this one has really got to be my all time favorite. Show it to someone you love!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Clever, sparkling romantic comedy. A must for Barbara fans.
Review: This is one of the best romantic screwball comedies. Though it failed to really grab me the first time, the second viewing had me laughing. Barbara Stanwyck is perfect. If only she had done more comedies. The best, and the most romantic scenes occur when Barbara is the cardsharp Jean. Pretty hot too, when Henry is putting on Barbara's shoe, and when they discuss their ideal partners. No wonder Henry has said that he's been in love with Barbara since this film. Fluff this may seem to some, but Lady Eve is a well crafted, cleverly written and directed film, intelligently put together by real first class pros. Preston Sturges was one mad-cap talented man who really knew how to write. My favourite script of his, however, is "Remember The Night", a little known film, but what a knockout it is. And as great as Barbara and Hank are together in this film, I believe they were even funnier in that wonderful gem "The Mad Miss Manton(1938)". However, this is truely sophisticated stuff and an essential video to have in any collection.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Excruciating. Torture. Sheer agony.
Review: This is one of those movies that has acquired a reputation as a "classic." If Mark Twain's dictum that a classic is a book that people praise but don't read applies to films, then this is truly a classic. No one who has the patience to sit through this painfully unfunny movie could possibly think of it as a classic. Henry Fonda, the most overrated actor in American cinema, shows that he has absolutely no flair for comedy. Barbara Stanwyck is rather more fortunate, but she is trapped is a script by the alleged genius Preston Sturges that just goes on and on and on and on, piling unfunny moment on top of unfunny moment, until the whole tedious mix collapses under its own weight. Do not see this movie. Avoid it like the plague. I sat through it no less than three times in various film classes in college. Finally the teachers had to withdraw it from circulation because students hated the damn thing so much. This is worse than not funny. It is downright unfunny.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a very nice film with nice extras
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

This movie starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda remains a classic to this day.

In this film, a woman and her father meet the heir to a brewery company on a cruise ship and attempt to sucker him at a card table. The daughter soon falls in love with their would-be victim. He later learns of her plan and she tries to win his heart. The movie has much slapstick humor in it and is comparable to the kind seen in the Three Stooges shorts.

The film was also selected by the Library of Congress for the highly coveted National Film Registry and Preservation Board.

The Criterion DVD has many special features including a theatrical trailer, a large number of publicity photos and stills, costume design sketches and other ephemera generously shared by director Preston Sturges' family . There is also a video introduction by writer Peter Bogdanovich and audio commentary by scholar Marion Keane. As a bonus there is the unabridged Lux Radio Theater audio drama adaptation of the film presented by Cecil B. De Mille.

This is truly a classic of American cinema.


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