MovieChat Forums > The Lady Eve (1941) Discussion > A brilliant film, but...

A brilliant film, but...

posted 17 years ago by Mr_Wentworth-Brewster
5 replies | jump to latest

... I have a minor problem with it. I believe everyone else who's had something to do with writing for the stage or the screen must have noticed it.

If you choose to input such an obscure plot device as a rare snake, you can't abandon it after just a few moments! It's as if Susan in Bringing Up Baby left the leopard in the bathroom at the beginning of the film.

Of course, overall it's a brilliantly written and perfectly acted film, but I wonder if this bothers anyone else just a bit...

"Good night, and good luck."

[–] dreadpirate2 17 years ago

I can see where you're coming from, but I think the snake is there to facilitate the Adam and Eve theme. Also, I think it's just part of Sturges' style to throw in something wacky just for the heck of it.

I did accidentally kill her father when I went to pick her up for the first date. AWKWARD!

[–] jcotton41 17 years ago

Luckily Sturges didn't know about this rather arbitrary rule of screenwriting.

[–] eden_echo 17 years ago

It's like the apple in the beginning of the movie, she drops it and it hits Charles on the head, like the snake, it's there, then it's gone; doesn't bother me anyway, they are just part of the story, they don't have to be there for the whole thing. We know what they symbolize, it does not need to be expressed throughout.

"I promise you, before I die I'll surely come to your doorstep"

[–] vonhangman 17 years ago

In the writing biz, the principle of not introducing something you are not going to use is sometimes known as Chekhov's gun, after the great Russian writer, Anton Chekhov who said something along the lines of: If you put a gun on stage in Act 1, you must use it by the end Act III.

But I don't think Emma actually fits into this at all. I don't think there is anything to suggest she is a deadly venomous snake. She is just a snake. In a charming way, she goes with Charles having been up the Amazon for a year. Her presence is "paid off" by her final appearance. She isn't remotely as central to the plot as the leopard in "Bringing Up Baby."

[–] 17 years ago

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