Preston Sturges

Thirty Day Princess (1934)

[6] Sylvia Sidney (Sabotage, Beetlejuice) plays two roles in this spin on the classic tale of The Prince and the Pauper. After a European princess (Sidney) comes down with the mumps on a good will tour of America, her political liaison (Edward Arnold) scours the city to find the perfect look-alike (also Sidney) to carry out her duties. When the doppelganger falls in love with …

The Lady Eve (1941)

[7] Barbara Stanwyck’s a card shark and Henry Fonda’s a naive millionaire. They meet and fall in love aboard an Atlantic cruise in Preston Sturges’s The Lady Eve, a romantic comedy made tolerable with its sizzling sexual teasing and moderate slapstick humor. Stanwyck is great in her multi-faceted role. She starts the film as a deceptive villain, but turns into a very sympathetic character when …