Recurrence and Resolution in Preston Sturges Film The Lady Eve :: essays papers

Recurrence and Resolution in Preston Sturges Film The Lady Eve The first scene begins with a medium shot of the lover’s usual meeting place on deck, where a cheerful and whistling Charles (Hopsie) paces up and down waiting for Jean to appear. The camera focuses on Charles pacing and whistling while diagetic sound is heard from kids playing on the deck and a bell ringing in the background. There is a change of focus when two men walk right in front of Charles while he is pacing back and forth. Muggsy has finally obtained proof that the Harringtons are card sharks and while the camera still focusing in on Charles, he approaches with the purser, who carries an 8 x 10 envelope in his hand. As the purser decisively tells Charles to look at the contents, there is a medium close-up of Charles and the purser. The camera zooms in, there is ominous music playing in the background and then a close-up of a candid photograph showing Jean, her father, and Gerald descending a boat's gangplank - it identifies the Harringtons as crooks with multiple aliases: "'Handsome Harry' Harrington, his daughter Jean and third character known as Gerald. Professional card sharks; also bunko, oil wells, gold mines, and occasionally green goods.† The scene fades into Charles’ concerned face with diagetic sound in the background. The cheerless music gets louder and louder as a medium close-up of Charles’ face ends with him looking at the picture one more time and feeling hurt, puts the picture inside the envelope. When Charles learns her true identity from his protective bodyguard, he reacts with miserable distress. The camera follows him as he strides stoically to the bar and orders a stiff drink in a general shot. The background music is now very ominous and slow. Jean arrives from the left of him in the ship's bar; the camera goes into a medium shot of Jean and Charles at the bar. She is wondering why he looks so worried and crestfallen, and guesses that it's because he is "falling in love with a girl in the middle of an ocean." Truthful for once in her life, she admits her authentic love for him and her mistakes and puts her left arm around his shoulders. Midstream, she realizes that he's found out about her. The scene of Charles rejecting Jean is shot with a medium shot of both of them at the bar.