According to Donald Spoto in Madcap: The Life of Preston Sturges, Sturges "... invariably paraded on [the] set with a colorful beret or a felt cap with a feather protruding, a white cashmere scarf blowing gaily round his neck and a print shirt in loud hues ... the reason for the peculiar outfits, he told visitors, was that they facilitated crew members finding him amid the crowds of actors, technicians, and the public." Stanwyck compared Sturges's set to "a carnival." In his biography of Stanwyck, author Axel Madsen wrote: "The set was so ebullient that instead of going to their trailers between setups, the players relaxed in canvas chairs with their sparkling director, listening to his fascinating stories or going over their lines with him. To get into mood for Barbara's bedroom scene, Sturges wore a bathrobe." Location shooting for the opening jungle scene took place at Lake Baldwin of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia, California. In that scene, Fonda's character refers to Professor Marsdit, whose last name is an anagram of that of Raymond L. Ditmars of the American Museum of Natural History, a well-known reptile expert and popular science writer of the time. The film premiered in New York City on February 25, 1941, and went into general release on March 21. It was marketed with a number of taglines, including "When you deal a fast shuffle ... love is in the cards." The film ranked among the top-grossing films of the year. The Lady Eve was released on video in the U.S. on July 12, 1990 and was rereleased on June 30, 1993. Despite issues with the condition of the surviving original film elements, the film was scanned in 4K and issued on Blu-ray disc by Criterion on July 14, 2020. Production credits Preston Sturges – director, screenplay Paul Jones – producer Victor Milner – director of photography Hans Dreier – art direction Ernst Fegté – art direction Sigmund Krumgold – musical direction Stuart Gilmore – editor Edith Head – costumes Harry Lindgren – sound recording Don Johnson – sound recording Monckton Hoffe – story Reception and themes After The Lady Eve premiered at the Rialto, The New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther characterized the film as "a sparkling romantic comedy." He further described the director's work: "It isn't often that this corner has good reason to bang a gong and holler