The Lady Eve started shooting the last week of October 1940, just two months after writer-director Preston Sturges had completed his previous film, Christmas in July (1940).

To maintain a light atmosphere on the set, Sturges encouraged visitors. Friends, press representatives and even the general public were free to visit his sets and watch him at work.

With so many people on the set, Sturges dressed eccentrically so that he would stand out. During the filming of The Lady Eve, he usually wore either a brightly colored beret or a hat with a feather in it. This sartorial splendor led to his being dubbed the worst-dressed man in Hollywood.

Adding to the light atmosphere on the set, stars Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda rarely retired to their dressing rooms between takes. Instead, they hung out with Sturges, listening to his stories and reviewing -- and often re-writing -- their lines.

Sturges always handled his stars with kid gloves but took out his frustrations on the members of his stock company. At one point during filming, when he couldn't get Fonda and Stanwyck to read a scene the way he wanted, he stalked over to William Demarest, who wasn't even in the scene, and barked, "And don't talk so damn fast!"

Friends of Sturges's who read the script tried to convince him to cut the number of pratfalls taken by Fonda, arguing that they were too much of a good thing. Sturges didn't agree, and the slapstick bits later proved to be among the film's highlights.

The Lady Eve finished production in November 1940, just two days behind schedule.

Paramount was so pleased with Sturges's first two directorial efforts and his work on The Lady Eve that the studio gave him a more lucrative contract at the end of 1940, paying him $2,750 a week for his work as a writer and a $30,000 bonus for each film he directed. He earned more than $200,000 in 1940, the year he shot The Lady Eve.

Taglines for the film's original release included "Barbara Stanwyck has Henry Fonda Bewitched and Bewildered" and "When you deal a fast shuffle...Love is in the cards."

The Lady Eve opened to excellent reviews and a strong box office on Ash Wednesday, February 26, 1941.

by Frank Miller