This movie is renowned as Preston Sturges' masterpiece. The first half is certainly excellent.  The jokes and innuendo come thick and fast as a man and a woman meet on a cruise ship and begin a complex, sexually charged game of cat and mouse. Barbara Stanwyck is scorchingly sexy as the witty, confident con woman who sees an easy mark in Henry Fonda's nerdy millionare scientist. Fonda is equally good, projecting a shy, awkward air, but gradually we warm to him as he falls in love with the woman who's aiming for his wallet, and she begins to fall for him. Together they have amazing chemistry and make every scene they're in sparkle. We start to root for this couple to have a happy ending, even though we know someday Fonda will have to learn the painful truth.

When the action leaves the ship it's like a switch has been turned off. The movie starts to drag and resort to painfully unfunny slapstick (Fonda gets something spilled on him at least three times. What hilarity!). The magical suspension of disbelief that was created so effortlessly during the first half is shattered by a truly ridiculous plot device.

The chemistry between the two leads evaporates as Stanwyck becomes shrill and obnoxious and Fonda dull and non-responsive. The ending resolves the buildup through the clever device of ignoring the consequences of everything that happened in the last third of the movie. It left me hating the characters and wishing that the first half hadn't been so damn good.

I do plan on seeing more of Preston Sturges' movies in the hope that he was capable of creating a second act that matched the first, but The Lady Eve is only half of an awesome movie.
This movie is renowned as Preston Sturges' masterpiece. The first half is certainly excellent. The jokes and innuendo come thick and fast as a man and a woman meet on a cruise ship and begin a complex, sexually charged game of cat and mouse. Barbara Stanwyck is scorchingly sexy as the witty, confident con woman who sees an easy mark in Henry Fonda's nerdy millionare scientist. Fonda is equally good, projecting a shy, awkward air, but gradually we warm to him as he falls in love with the woman who's aiming for his wallet, and she begins to fall for him. Together they have amazing chemistry and make every scene they're in sparkle. We start to root for this couple to have a happy ending, even though we know someday Fonda will have to learn the painful truth. When the action leaves the ship it's like a switch has been turned off. The movie starts to drag and resort to painfully unfunny slapstick (Fonda gets something spilled on him at least three times. What hilarity! ). The magical suspension of disbelief that was created so effortlessly during the first half is shattered by a truly ridiculous plot device. The chemistry between the two leads evaporates as Stanwyck becomes shrill and obnoxious and Fonda dull and non-responsive. The ending resolves the buildup through the clever device of ignoring the consequences of everything that happened in the last third of the movie. It left me hating the characters and wishing that the first half hadn't been so damn good. I do plan on seeing more of Preston Sturges' movies in the hope that he was capable of creating a second act that matched the first, but The Lady Eve is only half of an awesome movie.