Greatest screwball comedy ever? It’s certainly in the running. Austin Film Society’s Preston Sturges series continues with this 1941 delight about a sharp-eyed scam artist (Barbara Stanwyck, never better, or sexier) who cons Henry Fonda’s beer heir twice: first in a shipboard romance, then as the titular Lady Eve. There’s sophisticated wordplay, pratfalls aplenty, and Sturges’ signature cynicism. And yet, despite centering his film around an affair that begins as a grift, then shifts into vengeful fury, Sturges arrives at the uncynical conclusion that love is a worthy leap of faith. And should that leap land you overboard? Well... come on in, the water’s fine. – Kimberley Jones
