The Lady Eve

Dir: Preston Sturges, 1941, bw (8.5*)

This is one of the original con artist films, as Barbara Stanwyck and her scheming father, Charles Coburn, as good as ever, decide to bilk gullible and nerdish capitalist Henry Fonda, aboard an ocean liner. The pair steals the comedy, which also throws some good lines to William Demerest ("she's the same dame, I tell ya!"). Of course, it wouldn't be a classic bw comedy unless the lead stars become romantically involved. The terrific story has some twists and complexity that made it stand out from others of its era. One of the best from the heyday of Preston Sturges.