Stanwyck and Fonda are great. Didn't even know that Fonda once made such lighthearted movies. 80 years later, this movie is still enjoyable. It's romantic and funny. At times silly (even the ending: he is dumb isn't he?). Certainly not an intellectual pic. However, 40s fashion, style, manners, vocab and Mid-Atlantic accents contribute to my satisfaction with this innocuous entertainment. It's simply nice to watch a bygone era. I understand that's a fictional world built in a studio, but it's still fascinating. Aspects of this movie are sexist: [spoiler]A gold-digger whose womanly hormones interfere with her own plan. Her body-count being enough reason for a divorce etc. [/spoiler] Usually, this anti-feminist stance would annoy me a lot. That said, Stanwyck's character certainly doesn't behave, in particular flirt, like she feels constrained by what was considered to be appropriate in the 40s. In fact, she is in the driver seat of this story. It's one reason why this movie never feels terribly outdated. 80 years later, I would fall for her too. Not because she would trick me like poor Pike but because she's gorgeous and independent. Perhaps a bit worse than the kind of similar but more serious and tragic *All about Eve* but still a very enjoyable movie.

I love this movie, even more upon rewatch. The comedy here is sometimes broad (Pike's frequent falls) but is more often highly nuanced, almost mumbled, in understated line readings that came alive for me on second viewing. I love the intricate motifs of cards and snakes, and the film moves along briskly and never overstays its welcome. Stanwyck is reliably outstanding, and the two big seduction scenes are unbelievably sexy. It's less manic and more romantic than my other favorite screwball comedies, and it ranks up there as a favorite.

After spending a year in isolation, studying snakes(?!), the handsome young heir of a brewing fortune (Henry Fonda) boards a ritzy ocean liner and immediately becomes a target for every available woman onboard. Included amongst these lascivious lasses is a real black widow: Jean (Barbara Stanwyck), the daughter of a notorious hustler and con man, whose apple doesn’t fall far from her father’s tree. Though she easily nets her target, Jean soon becomes the victim, won over by the gent’s earnest demeanor and then dumped when he learns of her duplicity. You know what they say about hell’s fury and a woman’s scorn? That goes double when the gal has no ethics to start with. I thought we were really cooking when the couple sat down for a gimmicked game of cards with dear ol’ dad, midway through the first act. By this time, Jean has fallen head over heels, and while nice guy Charles is completely oblivious to the shady goings-on, the two seasoned scam artists work to constantly one-up and out-trick each other. The old man still wants to milk this sucker dry, but the daughter has pity, so they each use every trick in the book to get their way in a crafty, entertaining series of palmed aces and trick decks. That’s really the only time we see the core of these characters - essences of black, white and sorta-grey - plain as day, in a playful, unique, interesting conundrum. It’s soon left behind in favor of simpler tricks and strained conceits. I don’t know if it was the soft storyline, the unconvincing romance(s) or the outdated humor, but this just wasn’t for me. Judging by the film’s rich array of accolades, clearly I’m in the minority. I’m not immune to comedies of this era - _His Girl Friday_ arrived a year earlier, and I love its rapid repertoire of sharp zingers - but about 95% of these punchlines land flat, and the few that do register are merely enough to merit a light scoff or brow-furrowing. Not only do the laughs come up short, so does the romantic chemistry. We don’t really see this couple fall in love, per se, they just blink and become devoted to one another. This happens several times as their paths cross, mingle, collide and split apart, before finally reaching a measure of unmerited accord at the last stop. Love can be a funny thing, cooking despite a clash of ingredients, but this one is almost impossible to comprehend. Is this guy really such a sap? Does this girl have selective amnesia? Why are they suddenly a hot ticket again? Some (most) might see this as a comedy classic. I couldn’t get past the washy cast, whiffed gags and wasted potential.

**T**_heme_- 8/10 **R**_ewatchibility_- 7/10 **A**_cting_- 7.5/10 **K**_inematography_- 8/10 **T**_ime_- 8/10 **Total** - 38.5/5 = ==7.7==

Great screwball comedy with great actors, director and script