Review:

**** (out of ****)

Starring:

Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marily Monroe, Thelma Ritter

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Screenplay:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Length:

138 min.

MPAA Rating:

Unrated

Terrific performances abound in the Joseph L. Mankiewicz classic All About Eve about a young woman who claws her way to the top.

Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) was found lurking outside the stage door where Margo Channing (Bette Davis) had just performed. Discovered there by Margo’s best friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), Eve begins to weave her web of deceit that will one day win her theatrical acclaim and a great deal of animosity.

Margo is one of theater’s most recognized and loved thespians. There isn’t a person who does not at least respect her. Eve asserts her love of the actress and tells a story of her humble beginnings and her longing to be in the presence of greatness. It’s not until the sugary-sweet ingénue’s veneer begins to wear off that Margo and Karen realize what she is really after. She wants success and she’s going to use every opportunity she can.

Davis is at her catty best when working against the young starlet. One particularly entertaining segment, featuring the legendary line “fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night”, is during a birthday celebration for Margo’s boyfriend Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill). There, for all to see, Margo spits out one drunken venomous retort after another to the chagrin of her other party attendees.

Baxter fits into the skin of the slippery eel Eve and subtly transforms from the puppy-eyed fan to the snake-tongued blackmailer. She’s able to hold her own against the far superior actress Davis and still come out with a deserved co-lead Oscar nomination.

The women of All About Eve blow their male counterparts away. In addition to Davis and Baxter, Holm and Thelma Ritter as Margo’s liberally vocal assistant Birdie give truly gifted performances. While I prefer Holm in Best Picture winner Gentleman’s Agreement she gives here a no less stellar performance. Ritter keeps Birdie’s barbs fresh and credible being the only character who suspects the duplicitous Eve from the outset.

The men, however, are significantly subsidiary. As their roles are predominantly romantic or stylistic foils, they have very little to do. Merrill plays Margo’s semi-subservient boyfriend well but cannot hold a candle to the film’s better male performance. That distinction also doesn’t go to Hugh Marlowe’s perf as Karen’s husband, the playwright Lloyd Richards. No, the best man of the pic is George Sanders whose acting in Rebecca pales in comparison to his witty theater columnist Addison DeWitt. He is not only the narrator but the slimy center of the film. His machinations help Eve dramatically and, after she tries to one-up him, he pulls out the trump.

Sanders received the Academy Award for his role, the only one the film received for acting despite a record-setting 13 nominations. Presumably Davis, Baxter, Holm or Ritter could have won had they not significantly split votes, confusing voters over who gave the better performance. Thus it is that Eve only received six Oscars despite deserving more.

All About Eve is a screenwriter’s dream. It features some dazzling dialogue that highlights the talent of writer-director Mankiewicz. His work here is something to be cherished as it stands up well in any era. The tale it tells is as applicable today as it was in 1950 and as it would have been centuries ago. As long as there is humanity, there will always be people like Eve scratching and biting their way to fame and success, regardless the talent they step on to get there.

-Wesley Lovell (October 31, 2006)