Cinematheque: Preston Sturges

A brassy con artist (Stanwyck) and her timid mark (Fonda) fall in, out, and back in love on board a luxury ocean liner in this irresistible romantic comedy. Typecast to perfection, Stanwyck and Fonda elevate the opposites-attract conceit to intimate poetry, lovingly photographed in extra-long takes. Unusually elegant for Sturges, this suggests a path not taken for the typically madcap writer/director, who never treated human emotions with such genuine sensitivity and grace again.