Trivia / The Lady Eve

• California Doubling: The opening jungle river scene was shot on location at Baldwin Lake near Santa Anita, CA.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: It was hibernation season during the shoot so Emma the king snake was always sleeping while also shedding her skin. Needless to say, she was very uncooperative.
• Playing Against Type: Henry Fonda as a Romantic Comedy lead, in a role that might seem better-suited for his buddy Jimmy Stewart.
• The Red Stapler: The wedding gown caused a fashion sensation. So much so that it was copied for brides and called, "the Lady Eve dress."
• What Could Have Been:
  • Claudette Colbert was initially expected to star.
  • Joel McCrea, Fred MacMurray and Ray Milland were considered for Charles Poncefort Pike.
• Working Title: Two Bad Hats, which was the title of the original short story.
• Write What You Know: The scene in which Eve agrees to divorce Hopsie only if he tells her to her face that he wants the divorce was taken from Preston Sturges' own life. He had made the same demand of his second wife, Eleanor Hutton, whose wealthy family thought he had only married her for her money.
• Write Who You Know: The plot was inspired by Preston Sturges' mother, a female entrepreneur who had always managed to find a wealthy husband whenever her finances slipped, and by the biblical story of Adam and Eve's temptation. To underline the latter source, Sturges made his leading man an ophiologist (a scientist studying snakes).

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