Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

All About Eve is a triumph of acting, directing, writing and casting. Director Joseph Mankiewicz used his artistry to create a superior product from the stellar cast. Even the smaller roles in this film are excellent.

This film tells the story of the complex backstage relationships among a group of Broadway theatrical people. The main character is Margo Channing--famous stage actress with a huge talent and ego to match. Channing is played by Bette Davis in a stroke of brilliant casting, with Davis being no stranger to fame or ego herself. Channing is an actress whose advancing age has caused her concern about her continued appeal. This was the case with Davis as well when, at 41, she was considered "washed-up" by some. The similarities between the screen character and Davis herself may in some part account for the powerful portrayal. Ironically, Davis was not the first actress cast to play the part. Claudette Colbert had to withdraw from her role as Channing when she suffered a back injury while filming another movie. Though Marlene Dietrich and others were also considered, it was Davis who was finally selected as Colbert's replacement and it is difficult to imagine any other actress playing the dynamic role.

The title character of the film is Eve Harrington. Driven by ambition--and aided by a lack of scruples--Eve manages to insinuate herself into Channing's life. Anne Baxter is wonderful as the calculating Eve. Craftily pretending to be an adoring fan, Eve convinces Margo to use her considerable influence to help Eve to become a successful actress. Margo hires Eve first as her personal secretary and Eve, through her scheming and conniving, uses not only Margo but others to become the star's understudy. By the time Margo discovers what Eve is really after, the young actress is well on her way to stardom.

It is not enough that Eve has tricked Margo and has become a professional rival. Eve becomes Margo's romantic rival as well, setting her sights on Margo's fiance, Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill) as well as Margo's married playwright friend, Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe). Any man is fair game if he can further Eve's desire to succeed. Celeste Holm plays Karen Richards, close friend of Channing and wife of playwright Lloyd Richards. Interestingly, though they played friends in the movie, it is said that Holm and Davis never spoke to each other off-camera during or after the movie was filmed because of a crude remark that Davis is said to have made to Holm during shooting.

The strongest male presence in All About Eve is the sophisticated yet venomous theater critic Addison De Witt. De Witt is the first to recognize Eve for the loathsome, back-stabbing creature that she is--perhaps because she is a great deal like himself. With his knowledge, De Witt manipulates Eve for his own selfish ends. George Sanders is magnificent in his award-winning performance as the cynical critic whose poison-pen reviews are enough to set off a flood of reactions from the theater community. Some of the best lines of the film are spoken by Sanders with his characteristic dry detachment.

Every member of the cast contributes to the power of the film. Notable among the smaller roles are those of Miss Caswell, played by a young Marilyn Monroe, who is the dumb but not-so-dumb blonde starlet. Also in the cast are Thelma Ritter as Margo's sharp-tongued housekeeper and confidante (lots of great lines here!) and Barbara Bates as Phoebe, the young stage hopeful who is preparing to use Eve as her ladder to the top.

All About Eve makes use of many theatrical stereotypes--the egotistical diva, the aspiring ingenue and the cynical theater critic--to produce a superior film. The movie won six Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Sanders). It did not, however, win a Best Actress Award. At the time, Hollywood insiders speculated that this was due to the fact that the nomination was split between Davis and Anne Baxter. Baxter would not agree to the nomination as Best Supporting Actress and both she and Davis lost. Perhaps, if Baxter had agreed, the movie would have won two more awards--Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

Every minute of this film is packed with witty, often scathing dialogue, much of which has become legendary. When Davis declares "Fasten your seatbelts, it is going to be a bumpy night." the viewer knows that movie magic is to follow.



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS