My movie watch on 7 November 2022 was very different from my more typical sci fi/fantasy-themed choices) but is a film that I'd wanted to see for a long while). Namely, the theatre & treachery cinematic classic, All About Eve.
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based upon a 1946 short story by Mary Orr entitled 'The Wisdom of Eve', and released in 1950 by 20th Century Fox, All About Eve stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, an ageing but still-lauded Broadway theatre actress who befriends a besotted young fan, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). However, saccharine-sweet, Uriah Heepishly humble Eve swiftly insinuates herself into Margo's life in what is eventually revealed to be a determined, cold-blooded attempt to supplant her as a major Broadway – and Hollywood – star.
Eve even attempts to steal first Margo's director fiancé Bill (Gary Merrill), and then, when that fails, playwright husband Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe) of Margo's best friend Karen (Celeste Holm in excellent form), not because Eve loves either of them but because she coldly views them as stepping stones in her indefatigable bid for stardom.
Only two people see through evil Eve's charade – Margo's hard-bitten maid Birdie (Thelma Ritter) and the sardonic but highly intelligent theatre critic Addison DeWitt (played with sinister suavity by George Sanders), and only in his case because he is just as amoral as Eve is! In other words, it takes one to know one!
Marilyn Monroe also appears in a small early role for her, playing a bubbly but hilariously talentless wannabe actress named Claudia Caswell. Her character's sole purpose in this movie is simply to provide some comic relief as a contrast to Eve's shadowy shenanigans, but Marilyn still succeeds effortlessly in commanding the entire screen whenever she appears, even eclipsing her eminent company of long-established stars – no mean feat! Marilyn is every inch a superstar in waiting, and, as we all know, she did not have to wait very long before she did indeed became one.
All About Eve is a fascinating film, its more than 2 hours of running time flitting by in no time at all, as the devious depths of Eve's machinations and subterfuges gradually reveal themselves, but happily DeWitt has no small degree of experience himself in that deceiving department…
Best of all, and well worth the wait, is a truly wonderful twist right at the end of the movie, which Eve is not even aware of – but the movie's audience is, and no doubt takes great joy (schadenfreude, even) from it, as I did! Indeed, it provides the perfect, entirely apt future comeuppance for Eve – yielding a fitting finale to an absolutely awesome movie.
No wonder All About Eve was nominated for a record-breaking 14 Academy Awards, winning 6 of them, including Best Motion Picture, Best Director (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also won Best Screenplay for it), and Best Supporting Actor (a greatly-deserving Sanders). Fantastic!!
Incidentally, although Margo Channing will always be one of Bette Davis's most famous roles, she was far from being first choice for the part. Others who were considered but subsequently dismissed or dismissed it themselves included the likes of Susan Hayward, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Fontaine, Katharine Hepburn, Gertrude Lawrence, Vivien Leigh, Tallulah Bankhead, Ginger Rogers, Hedy Lamarr, Gloria Swanson, Joan Bennett, Greer Garson, Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Paulette Goddard, Loretta Young, Rosalind Russell, and Barbara Stanwyck. Claudette Colbert finally won the part, but when she had to pull out shortly afterwards due to an injury, Davis was drafted in and the character was duly transformed into a more hard-bitten version.
Similarly, Anne Bancroft was ultimately drafted in as Eve after original choice Jeanne Crain became pregnant and withdrew. Others who had been considered for this role included Ann Blyth, Elizabeth Taylor, Olivia de Havilland, June Allyson, and Donna Reed. As for the role of Addison DeWitt, won by George Sanders, other thespian luminaries who had been considered included Vincent Price, José Ferrer, Claude Rains, Adolphe Menjou, Charles Laughton, and Basil Rathbone. And ZsaZsa Gabor, married to Sanders at that time, was considered for the role ultimately given to Marilyn, and was so jealous that Sanders and Marilyn were working closely together on-screen that she kept turning up to the studo to ensure that everything remained completely above board!
Remarkably, all four lead actresses (Davis, Baxter, Holm, and Ritter) were nominated for an Academy Award for their respective roles, but none won one, whereas Sanders did for his role, but it was his only Oscar win. Also of note: Davis and Gary Merrill, who played her on-screen fiancé Bill, married in real life, shortly after the movie was completed, and adopted a baby girl, whom they christened Margot!
In 1970, a stage musical version of All About Eve appeared on Broadway, entitled Applause. A Tony Award-winning production, it originally starred Lauren Bacall as Margo Channing, but when she later left the show, she was replaced in this role by none other than – Anne Bancroft!
If you'd like to witness at first hand the rollicking rollercoaster of a classic that is All About Eve, be sure to click here to view an official trailer for it on YouTube – and also, in the immortal words of Margo: "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"
To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.
The scene between Addison and Eve in the hotel room before her debut is WONDERFUL!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed!
Delete