"The Lady Eve" directed by Preston Sturges, is based off an adaptation of Monckton Hoffe's "Two Bad Hats". The Lady Eve is in part successful because of the two main leads, Jean Harrington/Lady Eve Sidwich played by Barbara Stanwyck and Charles Pike played by Henry Fonda. These two actors play the roles of their characters so well that it changed the minds of the studio crew. According to an article from Medium, "Though Stanwyck and Fonda were not not the studio's first choice, the two soon-to-be acting icons easily proved that the studio's previous beliefs were way off." This movie keeps the audience entertained by setting up three parts in the movie. The first part takes place on board an ocean liner. In this first part of the film, we are introduced to the con artist Jean and her father Colonel Harrington (Charles Coburn). Their first plan is to have Charles fall in love with Jean, so that they can steal his fortune. During the beginning act we are introduced to jean's ability to read people, as shown in the video down below. As the video goes on we see multiple attempts of different types of women trying to get Charles's attention. After a while Charles stands up and starts walking away and just as hes about to leave, Jean sticks out her leg and he trips. This small event is what leads to everything else that happens in the movie. From there Jean and Charles go to her cabin, where Charles changes her shoes. This is where we start seeing the relationship of the two characters building. After a while they end up in Charles's cabin and when Jean sees Emma, the snake, she runs back into her cabin. This is where Stanwyck's character really shines. In the video down below we see how Jean starts to really influence Charles and his feelings for her. After that the movie goes on and we learn that Jean also loves Charles. This leads to the end of the first part, where Charles learns about Jean and her father being con artists. We see that Jean is really hurt by him breaking up with her and not being able to forgive her. This leads into the creation of Lady Eve. The second part of the film is where the movie shines. We see throughout the part that Lady Eve acts the same as Jean, except for an accent. This is ironic because the only thing that kept Charles from staying with Jean was her initial intent of robbing him. Or as Scott says in "The Dissolve Reviews, "The fact that Charles does accept Sidwich as another person makes for great screwball comedy, but it also says something about the fantasy and self deception that love can inspire." Towards the end of the second part, Charles and Lady Eve are married and on the train Lady Eve (Jean) gets her revenge by telling stories about old boyfriends and making Charles step out of the train. The third act is short but very important to the story. At the end, Charles goes back on a cruise and as hes walking past the tables, he trips over someone. When he turns around he sees that it was Jean. Without a moments hesitation Charles forgives Jean and they end up together. Now its time to really look deep into the contexts of the movie. The reason I summarized parts of the movie was to bring back important scenes that will be analysed. This movie's specialty is in its way of having multiple layers of depth to it that the audience doesn't catch on to the first time. So that being said lets first take a look at the characters Jean/Lady Eve and Charles. They both deserve their own time in the spot light and that is what I'm going to do next. Only once we understand the characters can we take a look at the meaning of the snakes and how the movie repeats itself. Jean/Lady Eve SidwichLets first take a look at the character Jean. She's smart and very good at reading people. Unlike all the other women on the ship, she is able to reach Charles's heart. In the beginning we see her as just another con artist that only cares about money and not about breaking a guys heart. As we progress we start seeing that Charles is having an effect on her, to a point where she threatens her father and tells him that, "I can play some cards, too". This is the first real sign we get that she is falling in love with Charles. At the end of the first part, where Charles breaks up with Jean, she is devastated and says that she hates him. This leads to her becoming Lady Eve and getting revenge on Charles. After the train scene we see that Jean is really devastated by her actions and only wants Charles to say its over to her in person. When he refuses and leaves on a cruise, Jean quickly gets on as well. This leads to her tripping Charles and ending the movie with them finally together. During this whole time we see Jean's emotions and feelings change. At first she is cold, but once she meets Charles, she starts falling in love with him. She goes from someone that is cold and doesn't care for men's feelings, to someone that is willing to throw everything away for Charles. Then the second part starts and we go back to the cold hearted Jean for a few scenes until she starts to have her own internal battle. Even though she wants to get revenge she also feels something for Charles and in the end realizes she messed up and wants to make it right. CharlesNow lets take a look at Charles. Charles grows with each part of the film. He starts off the first part as a shy, innocent and naive person. We see Charles as someone that isn't to sure with what he is doing and his interactions with Jean are sloppy. The first love scene where Jean and Charles are alone on the boat and Charles is talking about how he sees jean way back. This scene is a bit awkward and shows that Charles isn't to sure about his actions. This changes in the second part. After Charles meets Lady Eve and starts falling for her, we see that he has a bit more confidence in his voice and stance. He is, "... still a bumbler, but now the bumbling suggests not innocence and inexperience, but smugness and calculation, self deception and phoniness." This change in his character is what makes the second love scene with Lady Eve and Charles more fluent. He tells her the same line that he used with Jean on the ship, but with more confidence and no hesitation. Charles changes once again in the third part of the movie, when Charles sees Jean again. Instantly taking her away and "manfully ignoring her father's protests". In the end Charles grows up to be a man and while still not the smartest out there, he has more confidence and knows what he wants. A little side note to think about is Charles and how he isn't able to forgive Jean and think clearly about how she did actually love him and that's why she saved him from her father. A good quote that Jean used was, "The best ones aren't as good as you think they are, and the bad ones aren't as bad. Not nearly as bad." This is an interesting quote that just proves the point that the film is trying to make. Jean may have been the bad one at first, but she turned out to be someone Charles could trust and love. On the other hand Charles was the good one but wasn't able to forgive Jean for her mistakes. Now that we got the characters out of the way, lets take a look at the symbolism in the film. As I was watching the movie, I couldn't understand why there was a snake in the opening and why Charles had a snake with him. It was only after thinking about it, and with a little hint from my professor, that I realized the symbolism of it. In this sense the movie uses snakes as a symbolism for women like Jean. From the start, when she dropped the apple on Charles's head, she had already started wrapping herself around Charles. The best example of this is after Jean sees Emma and runs into her room where she sits with Charles, "...in the film's most celebrated shot, she nestles him in her arms, put her cheek against his, strokes his ear with her right hand, and paralyses him like the venom of one of his Amazon snakes." A funny side note is the scene with Emma. The movie hints on jean being like a snake but when she sees Emma she screams and runs away. Another interesting fact that crossed my mind as I was writing is that the movie focuses on Charles and his love of snakes. So it is not too surprising that he falls in love with Jean, the symbolic snake. Anyways going forward, Charles finally realizes that shes been wrapping herself around him and unwraps himself. At least that is what he thinks, but in reality jean is still there waiting for another chance to wrap herself around him. Which is what happens with Lady Eve. Once again Charles is trapped by a snake and that leads him to another ending full of hurt and betrayal. Overall the snake is an amazing symbolism that most don't catch while watching the movie. Moving on to our final topic, lets take a look at how the movie repeats itself throughout. The beginning of the continuous cycle starts with Jean tripping Charles. Which seems like something small, but turns out to be very important. As the second part comes around, Charles meets Lady Eve and instantly starts tripping and falling over things. This again seems like a comedy relief but it is more than that. The tripping and falling symbolizes the start of the relationship. Charles first meets and falls in love with Jean after he is tripped by her. The same goes for Lady Eve, and finally at the end when he is tripped by Jean again. Taking a look at that, we see that the cycle starts every time Charles trips. Then taking a look at what ends the cycle, we can see that its actually the fact that Charles learns a secret about Jean or Lady Eve. For Jean it was the fact that she was a con artist and he couldn't forgive her. As for Lady Eve, its the stories of the old boyfriends, that Charles isn't able to forgive also. Then the third part begins with Charles tripping over Jean, but doesn't end because he tells her that he doesn't want to hear any secret she might have and that she should instead keep it to herself. This in a sense is what allows the third cycle to work out. Overall The Lady Eve is a movie that seems simple on the outside and to the normal audience is just a romantic screwball comedy, but that's not true. As we already discussed throughout this blog, this movie has a lot of layers of depth to it and therefore shouldn't be judged just on its age or plot.
1 Comment
|