“The Lady Eve” 5th film in Screwball Comedy series screened March 11, 2014

When: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street

The Lady Eve (1941) Father and daughter con artists (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck) travel on transatlantic cruise ships swindling rich passengers in card games. When the two spot a big fish Charles Poncefort Pike (Henry Fonda), heir to Pike Ale—“The ale that won for Yale”—they decide to take him for all he’s worth. But when the daughter falls in love with their mark, things get complicated and hilarious. Preston Sturges directed his first big-budget hit with with amazing results. A critical and financial success, the New York Times declared The Lady Eve the best picture of 1941, above Citizen Kane! Once you see this film you’ll understand why they came to that amazing conclusion.

This was Preston Sturges’s third film as both writer and director and his first big-budget production, with A-list movie stars. After the critical and financial successes of The Great McGinty and Christmas in July, both released in 1940, Paramount gave Sturges free rein to craft The Lady Eve. For his leads, Sturges got Stanwyck and Fonda. From all accounts, both stars enjoyed working with each other and with Sturges. Sturges wrote The Lady Eve with Stanwyck in mind after he saw her performance in Remember the Night the year before. Sturges was so impressed with her characterization in that film that he knew she would be ideal as Eve.

Fonda, who had four films in release in 1940, including The Grapes of Wrath, was happy to star in a comedy. As Charles Pike, Fonda showed his lighter side, being especially deft at physical comedy. Fonda’s numerous pratfalls are one of the film’s major delights. Bosley Crowther in theNew York Times said, “No one could possibly have suspected the dry and somewhat ponderous comic talent which is exhibited by Henry Fonda as the rich young man.” As Eve, Stanwyck is one part of a trio of card sharks mixing it up with rich swells, like Pike, traveling by ocean liner. Along with her father, “Colonel” Harrington (Charles Coburn) and their “butler” Gerald (Melvin Cooper), Eve sees Pike as an easy mark.

A publicity shot during the filming of The Lady Eve

The Lady Eve is filled with a host of great character actors, most of which became part of the “Sturges Stock Company.” This stock company included William Demarest, Eric Blore, and Robert Grieg. The latter two appeared in Sturges’s Sullivan’s Travels, also released in 1941.

When the movie was opened, Crowther, declared Sturges, “the most refreshing new force to hit the American motion pictures in the past five years.” He went on to say that a “more charming or distinguished gem of nonsense has not occurred since It Happened One Night.”

The Lady Eve is not only one of the best screwball comedies, but one of the best American films ever made.

Henry Fonda said Barbara Stanwyck was his favorite leading lady.

Backstory: Preston Sturges wrote the screenplay for Remember the Night with Carole Lombard in mind. He was disappointed that Paramount didn't secure her services, but when he saw Stanwyck in the lead, he was impressed. Stanwyck told Sturges that no one writes comedies for her. Sturges said he would write one for her; that screenplay was The Lady Eve.

Join the Chicago Film club, join the discussion
The Chicago Film Club is for classic movie fans. Once a month we screen a classic film and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. Tickets are $5 general admission; $3 for students and seniors.To purchase your ticket in advance, click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Holiday Family Fun at The Venue at Daystar Center

The Greater South Loop Association and the Chicago Film Club are having a holiday event, Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. at The Venue at Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St., before the screening of the classic film Christmas in Connecticut starring Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, and Sydney Greenstreet.

Holiday Treats and Crafts for All Ages

There will be holiday crafts and treats for all ages, surprises and give-aways. The Chicago Film Club’s screening of Christmas in Connecticut is at 6:30 p.m. A copy of the new Barbara Stanwyck biography will be given away before the movie. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel – True 1907 – 1940 by Victoria Wilson was released at the end of November and retails for $40. To purchase tickets to the movie, which includes the holiday event—crafts and treats—click here.

Someone will win this new biography.

Screening of a Holiday Classic

Christmas in Connecticut was a big hit when first released, but is sometimes overlooked in the lists of great Christmas movies. Made when Barbara Stanwyck was at her peak, the story is clever and genuinely funny. Stanwyck is Elizabeth Lane, a writer for Smart Housekeeping magazine, who delights her readers with recipes and homemaking hints. Her character is a sort of 1940s version of Martha Stewart, except, unlike Martha, she has no domestic skills whatsoever. When compelled by her magazine publisher to entertain a war hero, Stanwyck goes into high gear to present herself as the perfect domestic goddess the reading public and her publisher think she is. Stanwyck, often cast in heavy melodramas was a great comic actress. This holiday charmer fits right in with our screwball comedy series.

Classic Movie Film Club

The Chicago Film Club explores classic Hollywood cinema at The Venue at Daystar Center. We enjoy viewing movies on a big screen with an audience. By providing background information with each film’s introduction and discussion afterward, we attempt to put each film in the context of the era in which it was produced. We discuss what makes each film a classic and look for its influences in modern film. The group is led and moderated by Steve Reginald, an amateur film historian and classic movie enthusiast. Steve is a writer/editor. He teaches adult education classes on classic movies at Facets Film School in Chicago.

For more information on the Chicago Film Club (free to join), click here.

Screwball Comedy and the Feminine Mystique—New Film Club series begins in September

Henry Fond and Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve

The 2013-14 Film Club is back at The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State St., Chicago. Hosted by Stephen Reginald, the film club will feature seven classic screwball comedies, including The Awful Truth and The Lady Eve. Movies will be screened at 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesdays* of the month, starting September 10, 2013. Reginald will introduce each film giving background information before screenings, with discussion afterward. Reginald is a freelance writer/editor and popular instructor at Facets Film School in Chicago. He was also the original host of Meet Me at the Movies.

Screwball Comedy and the Feminine Mystique will feature seven screwball comedies, featuring these icons of the genre: Irene Dunne, Katherine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, and Carole Lombard.

Production Code births the Screwball Comedy
With the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code in 1934, movie studios were restricted in their depiction of certain “unacceptable” activities on screen. Prior to the code, the studios produced a string of provocative films that, for the time, were quite sexually explicit.

Life Magazine dubbed Carole Lombard (left) “The Screwball Girl,”
while Clark Gable rarely made comedies
like It Happened One Night.

Once the self-censorship began, the major studios had to come up with clever ways to entertain audiences without going outside the boundaries of the code. Out of these new constraints came the screwball comedy. The use of snappy dialogue filled with double entendres substituted for more straightforward “sex talk,” with the female lead becoming the dominant sex talker, if you will. Professor and film historian, Maria DiBattista calls these women “fast-talking dames.”

This fast-talking by the female protagonist is used not only to get laughs, which it most certainly does, but also to transform the male into a new man of her own creation. This reverse Pygmalion scenario, as noted by DiBattista and others, is at the heart of the screwball comedy and places women in the primary role. This genre produced many familiar female screen icons, including Irene Dunne, Katherine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, and Barbara Stanwyck. This series will examine the screwball comedy, in the context of the female protagonist and her very important place in the canon of American cinema.


Tuesdays* at 6:30 p.m (CST)

September 10 It Happened One Night (1934) When her father threatens to annul her marriage to oily fortune hunter King Westley, heiress Ellie Andrews hops on a cross-country bus to New York. On the trip to meet her new husband, she is befriended by a gruff newspaper reporter named Peter Warne. He agrees to help her on her journey in exchange for exclusive rights to her story. When Ellie and Peter find themselves falling in love, things get complicated, but don’t worry because there are plenty of laughs along the way. Director Frank Capra won the first of his three Oscars for his direction. Stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert won Oscars for Best Actor and Actress respectively. It also won awards for Best Picture and Best Writing, making it the first film to sweep all the major Oscar categories, a record it would hold for decades.

October 8 My Man Godfrey (1936) Considered the definitive screwball comedy by many, the plot centers on the actions of the wealthy and eccentric Bullock family. When one of the Bullock daughters (Carole Lombard) hires a “forgotten man” to be their new butler, things get interesting. The film features brilliant performances from Lombard and William Powell as Godfrey. It also features an excellent supporting cast that includes Alice Brady, Eugene Pallette, Gail Patrick, Mischa Auer, and Jean Dixon. My Man Godfrey was the first film to receive Academy Award nominations in all four acting categories. Also nominated for Academy Awards were director Gregory La Cava (Stage Door, Fifth Avenue Girl) and screenwriters Eric Hatch and Morrie Ryskind.

November 19 Theodora Goes Wild* (1936) Irene Dunne plays Theodora Lynn, a small-town girl who has written a racy best-selling novel under the pen name Caroline Adams. Raised by her two maiden aunts, of Lynnfield, Connecticut, Theodora tries to keep Adams’s true identity a secret. On a trip to New York to meet with her publisher, she meets an artist named Michael Grant (Melvyn Douglas) who threatens to expose her real identity. When Theodora discovers that Michael has a few secrets of his own, she turns the tables on him and goes “wild.” Released a few months after My Man Godfrey, Theodora Goes Wild was a huge box office hit. It also revealed that Dunne had a unique gift for comedy. So good was Dunne that she received her second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress—competing against fellow Hoosier, Carole Lombard who was nominated in the same category for My Man Godfrey.

*Theodora Goes Wild will be screened on the third Tuesday in November.

December 10 Christmas in Connecticut* (1945) A big hit when released, this holiday classic is sometimes overlooked in the lists of great Christmas movies. Made when Barbara Stanwyck was at her peak, the story is clever and genuinely funny. Stanwyck is Elizabeth Lane, a writer for Smart Housekeeping magazine, who delights her readers with recipes and homemaking hints. Her character is sort of a 1940s version of Martha Stewart, except, unlike Martha, she has no domestic skills whatsoever. When compelled by her magazine publisher to entertain a war hero, Stanwyck goes into high gear to present herself as the perfect domestic goddess the reading public and her publisher think she is. This holiday charmer fits right in with our screwball comedy series.

*Christmas in Connecticut will be screened on Saturday December 7 at 6:30 p.m.

January 14 The Awful Truth (1937) The first screen pairing of Irene Dunne and Cary Grant is an (Love Affair, Going My Way,) won the Academy Award for his direction.
absolute gem. This Academy Award winning comedy has everything: great acting, dialogue, and a wonderful cast of supporting players. Lucy (Dunne) and Jerry (Grant) Warriner are facing divorce, but do they really want to break up? Lucy finds herself involved with a rich oil tycoon and Jerry starts courting a young woman from a well-heeled aristocratic family. Both try to foil the others’ new romances, while refusing to face the awful truth that they’re still in love with each other. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including a third Best Actress nod for Dunne. Director Leo McCarey

February 11 Bringing Up Baby (1938) Katharine Hepburn is Susan Vance, a rich heiress who becomes infatuated with a mild-mannered paleontologist named David Huxley (Cary Grant). What follows is a roller coaster ride of madcap adventures all initiated by Susan with the weak-willed David along for the ride as her not-so-willing accomplice. And then there’s a dog named George and that leopard named Baby! Director Howard Hawks’s pacing is frenetic. The action and dialogue is nonstop. Don’t be surprised if you’re exhausted after watching this film…but you’ll be smiling, we guarantee it.

March 11 The Lady Eve (1941) Father and daughter con artists (Charles Coburn and Barbara Stanwyck) travel on transatlantic cruise ships swindling rich passengers in card games. When the two spot big fish Charles Poncefort Pike (Henry Fonda), heir to Pike Ale—“The ale that won for Yale”—they decide to take him for all he’s worth. But when the daughter falls in love with their mark, things get complicated and hilarious. Preston Sturges directed his first big-budget hit with amazing results. A critical and financial success, The New York Times declared The Lady Eve the best picture of 1941, above Citizen Kane! Once you see this film you’ll understand why they came to that amazing conclusion.

If you love classic cinema, you should join the Chicago Film Club. It’s free to join. Come share your love of the movies; it’s fun!

Daystar Center located at 1550 S. State St. works through a grassroots network of collaborations and partnerships with individuals and other nonprofit organizations. Through this web, they’re able to provide educational, cultural, and civic activities that enrich and empower their clients, guests, and community members. To learn more about classes and events offered at the Daystar Center, please visit their Web site.

Double Indemnity: 2nd Film in “High Heels and Fedoras” series at Daystar Center March 12, 2013

Tuesday, March 12, 2013
6:30 p.m.
The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center
1550 S. State Street


Double Indemnity based on the short novel by James M. Cain, is considered the ultimate film noir by many. In fact, some critics think the whole genre began with this classic. If it hadn’t been for director Billy Wilder’s persistence, Double Indemnity may never have made it to the screen. Just about every actor in Hollywood turned down the male lead and Barbara Stanwyck, Wilder’s first choice to play Phyllis Dietrichson, had to be talked into playing a cold, calculated killer. Fred MacMurray, who up to this time had played likeable leads in romantic comedies, was afraid playing Walter Neff might be a career-killing move.

Before directing, Wilder had established himself as one of the best writers in Hollywood. He wrote or cowrote the screenplays for classic films like Ninotchka, Midnight, Ball of Fire, and Hold Back the Dawn, to name a few. In 1944, Wilder was still considered a novice, having only directed two films prior to Double Indemnity. Wilder’s first two films, Five Graves to Cairo and The Major and the Minor were well received by both the public and critics, but they were considered conventional films and didn’t do much to burnish his image as a director to watch. That was all about to change.

In 1943, Barbara Stanwyck was the
highest paid woman in America.

For many, Double Indemnity is the prototype for film noir. For sure, some of characteristics that we identify with the genre are in Wilder’s masterpiece. We have the manipulative femme fatale, the all-to-willing male protagonist, and murder, of course. We also have fast snappy dialogue filled with enough double-entendres to confound the censors of the day and delight 1940s audiences. The dialogue, written by Wilder and co-scriptwriter Raymond Chandler is masterful. Both loved language and it shows.

Stanwyck, already noted as Wilder’s first choice, is the ultimate femme fatale. She not only manipulates MacMurray’s Walter, but us as well. We’re never quite sure what she’s thinking. MacMurray’s nice-guy image also works to his advantage. He seems like your typical, but harmless, wise-guy, not someone who would plan a murder for money and a “dame.” In a supporting role, Edward G. Robinson shines as Neff’s coworker and friend Barton Keyes. Keyes can spot a phoney insurance claim a mile away and he’s certain there’s something fishy about the Dietrichson case. Mix it all together with John Seitz’s incredible black and white cinematography and you’ve got a stylized thriller on your hands.

Double Indemnity was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress. It was shut-out in all categories. The Leo McCarey hit, Going My Way was the big winner that year, capturing the award for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Best Supporting Actor.

Publicity shot of Fred MacMurray

Time has been kind to Double Indemnity. It was entered into the U.S. Library of Congress in 1992, selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. It was ranked #38 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 best American films of the 20th century in 1998, and it was 29th on the AFI’s 10th Anniversary list in 2007.

To purchase tickets for the March 12 screening, click here. Tickets are $5 per person general admission and $3 for students and seniors. Tickets may be purchased at the door. To stay on top of classic movie screenings in Chicago, join the Chicago Film Club by clicking here.

Backstory: Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray were both at high-points in their careers. Stanwyck was not only highest paid female movie star in 1943, but also the highest paid woman in America. MacMurray was the highest paid male movie star and the fourth highest-paid American. With things going so well, you can understand why they may have been reluctant to star in a movie like Double Indemnity.