Directed by Preston Sturges • 1941 • United States
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn
Barbara Stanwyck sizzles, Henry Fonda bumbles, and Preston Sturges runs riot in one of the all-time great screwballs, a pitch-perfect blend of comic zing and swoonworthy romance. Aboard a cruise liner sailing up the coast of South America, Stanwyck’s conniving card sharp sets her sights on Fonda’s nerdy snake researcher, who happens to be the heir to a brewery fortune. But when the con artist falls for her mark, her grift becomes a game of hearts—and she is determined to win it all. One in a string of matchless comedic marvels that Sturges wrote and directed as part of a dazzling 1940s run, this gender-flipped battle-of-wits farce is perhaps his most emotionally satisfying work, tempering its sparkling humor with a streak of tender poignancy supplied by the sensational Stanwyck at her peak.
Up Next in Classic Hollywood
-
Trouble in Paradise
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch • 1932 • United States
Starring Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert MarshallWhen thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) meets his true love in pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins), they embark on a scam to rob lovely perfume company executive Mariette Colet (Kay Francis...
-
The Glass Key
Directed by Stuart Heisler • 1942 • United States
Starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake, Alan LaddThe second screen adaptation of the novel by Dashiell Hammett reteams popular pairing Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd for a hard-boiled tale of political intrigue, corruption, romance, and murder. Croo...
-
Fallen Angel
Directed by Otto Preminger • 1945 • United States
Starring Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda DarnellA shady Dana Andrews is caught between pure-hearted Alice Faye and a memorably dissolute Linda Darnell in this fatalistic journey into the dark underbelly of small-town America, which reunited the ...
