Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck on Cable TV at the same time that I was going to choose a movie for this day... I couldn't resist, even if I've never heard about The Lady Eve before.
Barbara Stanwyck made 85 movies between 1929 and 1956 - after that she was seen on many television productions. 85 movies on 37 years - on some years, she was in 4, 5 movies (it is a lot even on the context of the studio system at the time) -, and I don't remember ever seeing one of them (that I remember), despite knowing who she was. And that was another perk of this by chance movie on the end of the 6th month of OMAD (Party! Party!!!).
Her strong, witty presence made the movie for me. Henry Fonda's character is such a stereotype that he became a burden in the story. The scene is entirely Stanwyck. Seeing her on this 1941 movie could explain why I've knew her despite not remembering any of her movies.
There's many funny details in here, and they usually are a perk on the films of this time. There's one scene in which the chef passes his hand on his sweaty forehead after concluding a very big wedding cake, and we can see his poor assistant below him cleaning the sweat that spilled on him. I really love this kind of funny detail on productions of the time. I remember cry laughing on the scene where the Larrabee father, industry tycoon and all, tries to reach an old nutmeg inside a tiny jar in Sabrina, 1954. This kind of humour seems silly, but they are witty and clever instead. The Lady Eve had some of them, and I could enjoy the movie for that and, as said before, the intensity of Barbara Stanwyck on screen.
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| The Lady Eve. Directed and writtern by Preston Sturges based on a story by Monckton Hoffe. With: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn. EUA, 1041, 94 min., Mono, Black and White (Cable TV). |
PS: Here's the scene from Sabrina I've talked about. A practical traditionalist this Larrabee :)
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