Ever Since Eve
Ever Since Eve
| 15 July 1937 (USA)
Ever Since Eve Trailers

Madge Winton (Marion Davies), a beautiful secretary, makes herself look homely in order to avoid advances by lecherous bosses. When her new employer, writer Freddy Matthews (Robert Montgomery), accidentally sees her without her disguise, she has to pretend to be her roommate Sadie.

Reviews
Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Michael_Elliott Ever Since Eve (1937) ** (out of 4) This politically incorrect but mildly entertaining film turned out to be Marion Davies final movie as she would retire at the age of forty. Warner threw her an excellent supporting cast and a nice director but none of it would really matter in the end as the film really fails to live up to what it should have been. Davies plays a beautiful secretary who is getting tired of her bosses hitting on her so she makes herself "homely" in order to get a real job without being harassed. Her latest boss (Robert Montgomery) has a deadline on a novel he must finish so the ugly Davies has to keep him working, although the beautiful one is falling for him. While watching the film I couldn't help but think of TOOTSIE but this one here is certainly far from a classic. The movie remains entertaining from start to finish but for a comedy there are very few laughs to be had here, which is a shame because there's a great cast here. Not only do we have Davies and Montgomery but we have Warner contract players like Frank McHugh, Patsy Kelly and Allen Jenkins. The three supporting players end up getting more laughs than the two leads with Jenkins stealing the film playing the usual dumb character we've all come to love. Davies is a tad bit too old for her role even though she's still very easy on the eyes. You do have to give her credit because there have been all kinds of famous people to do the ugly duckling roles but not really turn themselves very unattractive. Davies at least goes all out and transforms herself to the point where you can't recognize her. Some might be unhappy that Davies spends most of the film as the ugly character but I think she deserves credit for it. Bacon's direction never really comes alive as the movie never contains enough energy or laughs to keep moving. Fans of the cast will certainly want to check this out but others should stay clear.
MartinHafer This is a film where you must completely turn off your brain in able to enjoy it. Apparently members of the Marion Davies cult must have no problem turning off their brains, as 52.2% of the people who have rated this film gave it a 10. This, for a film that is a tad silly and was never meant as "high art"--even by Miss Davies. Plus, it turned out to be such as disaster at the box office (following several other recent disasters) that she called her career quits following this film.It's a shame really, as she is neither as bad an actress as some have claimed over the years (though she did some bad films--particularly in the 1930s) nor was she the greatest or among the greatest stars of her era either. The truth lies somewhere in between. With lovely films like SHOW PEOPLE and THE PATSY, she demonstrated that she could do well with good material. But, with films like CAIN AND MABEL and OPERATOR 13, she could also be sunk by junk scripts.Here with EVER SINCE EVE, she is given an adequate script but just wasn't the right person for the role. Marion might have done better with a script that accepted that she was no longer the young star she had once been. Having a 40 year-old woman play a woman who men chase after like the wolf from a Tex Avery cartoon is pretty silly. Miss Davies didn't look that bad for 40, but she clearly was not the beautiful starlet she was in the 1920s--she'd put on a few pounds (as we all tend to do) and just looked every bit her age. Yet, every man that met her in the film instantly began sexually harassing her at every turn--she was supposed to be that hot and desirable.As a result of constant sexual harassment, in the film Marion comes up with a perfect remedy for all these unwanted advances. She would put on old fashioned glasses and dress like a sex-less old lady. And, instantly, all the unwanted suitors left her alone! This is pretty silly, as Marion STILL looked like Marion--even with the glasses and ugly business suit. It reminded me of the Wonder Woman TV show. With her glasses on and hair up, no one thought Lynda Carter was beautiful. Then, without the getup, everyone would drool uncontrollably at her! Heck, even wearing concrete or a box, Ms. Carter was majorly smokin'! Miss Davies, while not quite as amazing, still was ridiculous under all that getup--it just wasn't convincing. Nor, unfortunately was the romance that developed later in the film with Robert Montgomery.As for Patsy Kelly, she was one of the loudest and most obnoxious actresses of the 1930s. Here, she is up to her usual standards of acting. It's a shame she's in the film, as Marion was handicapped by having this lady as her supporting actress. Allen Jenkins, often pretty good in films, wasn't particularly helpful here, either.So, overall, it's a silly piece of fluff and I am probably being very generous in giving it a 5. However, despite a silly plot, it is watchable and fun here and there.By the way, I have noticed that other reviewers who did not adore this film were flooded with "not helpfuls". Too bad, as some of these reviews are very good and well thought-out--like mystn's.
movingpicturegal Very entertaining romantic comedy starring Marion Davies as Marge, a gal who keeps quitting or getting fired from her secretarial jobs because she's too attractive to keep her bosses from chasing her, asking her to stay for "night work", etc. At the employment agency she hears about a job at a publishing company that only hires "homely" secretaries, so she makes herself over to look plain - complete with thick round eyeglasses, short dark wig, over-sized suit, sensible shoes, and funny-looking hat (de rigueur for this kind of deception, it seems) - and gets herself the job. She's soon put to work as secretary for handsome ladies man Freddy Matthews (played by Robert Montgomery) who is writing a book with a firm due date at the publishers - problem is, he just can't keep his mind on the job. So - he thinks she has a "face that would stop a clock" (hmmm - he met her as herself in an earlier scene and thought she was a beauty, just a pair of glasses makes that much difference?!) so has no interest in her, she takes it upon herself to press him into completing his book and keep him away from distractions like his jealous, extremely hot-headed girlfriend.Well, this film is a lot of fun - the story is very enjoyable and funny, with well done performances by all. Marion Davies is fun to watch switching back and forth between blonde beauty and plain jane, Robert Montgomery is his handsome, charming, usual self, Patsy Kelly adds some humor to the mix playing Davies wisecracking roommate/gal pal and Frank McHugh is amusing as a man who writes books for young girls under a female pseudonym. The plot of this film has an element that you just must except (like many other similar films with this sort of disguise) - the fact that our man is completely unable to recognize, either visually or by her voice, Davies character when she has on the glasses and wig. He actually meets Marge at one point in the film, dressed as herself, and they go out and begin to fall in love - and he doesn't have a clue that she and his secretary are one and the same person! All in all, I found this film to be a pleasant watch, well worth seeing.
Dr. Ed-2 Very underrated comedy stars Marion Davies (in her final film) as a woman who frumps herself up to land a secretarial job. Because the frump is efficient, the boss (Robert Montgomery) continues to chase women: a conniving shrew (Marcia Ralston) and a blonde beauty (Davies!) who he meets at a nightclub. Role-reversal comedy is fun from the start with Davies at her comic peak as the dour frump. She's not afraid to look really bad. Excellent supporting cast includes Patsy Kelly, Allen Jenkins, Frank McHugh, Louise Fazenda, and Mary Treen. Once again Davies proves she had acting talent (given the right roles) and that was was a total delight. Her best comedy performances stand up against those of Carole Lombard, Myrna Loy, Jean Arthur or Irene Dunne. Catch this one.