All About Eve (1950)
1950 is to go down in history as the year in which some of the greatest female stars in the silver screen shone the brightest. In that same year, Gloria Swanson played the role for which she would be forever remembered, in Sunset Boulevard; Judy Holliday stole every scene she appeared in, in Born Yesterday; and All About Eve, besides introducing Marilyn Monroe to the world, provided memorable performances by Bette Davis, Celeste Holm, Anne Baxter and Thelma Ritter, every single one of them (except Monroe) nominated for an Oscar for best actress in either a leading or a supporting role.
All About Eve tells the story of Eve Harrington (Baxter)'s climb to success, taking advantage of and betraying every one of the people who helped her, in a way that would make Niccolò Machiavelli proud. Through Karen Richards (Holm), Eve is introduced to Margo Channing (Davis), a famous theater actress Eve pretends to be crazy about. Eve, then, starts working for Margo, first as her assistant, then as her understudy, all under the watchful eyes of Birdie (Ritter), Margo's maid, the only one who feels Eve's cruel intentions from the start. In the end, Eve manages to obtain the success she was after, albeit losing in the process her friends, her dignity and her freedom (as the theater critic Addison DeWitt, George Sanders, uses his knowledge of Eve's past to blackmailing her into marrying him). Eve knows that, reason why she is disgusted at the prize she is awarded for her "excellency in acting" (very clever double meaning, by the way), proving that the ends may not always justify the means after all.
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| Margo Channing (Bette Davis) |
Unquestionably, among all stars, Bette Davis is the one that shines the most. Her portrayal of an age-obsessed diva of the theater in love with a younger man is a delight to watch. She is also much helped by writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who assigns to her most of the witty lines of his Oscar-winning script. As far as I recall, the only other movie script with such delightfully witty dialog is Ernest Lehman's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), directed by Mike Nichols, also one of my favorite movies of all time. I really love Bette Davis' eyes, and the best scene I can think of to illustrate that is when, while reading DeWitt's column praising Eve and practically calling Margo a decrepit old hag, her eyes are brimming with anger. Her voice, at first strong and assertive, in the end of her monologue denounces her struggle to hold her tears. Suddenly, Bill (Gary Merrill), her lover who had broken up with her some days ago, rushes into her living room, after having read the same column. In the moment she sees Bill, her angry eyes melt and she then starts to cry. No words can make that scene justice. As a big fan of Bette Davis, I have been watching her since her early movies in the 1930s. One thing that baffled me is what years of heavy smoking and drinking have made to her voice. Just watch her in Of Human Bondage (1934), or even in Jezebel (1938), made just 12 years before All About Eve, and you will understand what I mean...
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| Eve (Anne Baxter) |
Another actress with very expressive eyes is Anne Baxter. Her best scene is when she is talking to Karen in the ladies room. At first, when she is apologizing to Karen for what Addison DeWitt wrote in his column, allegedly said by her (the same one I mentioned when talking about Bette Davis' eyes), her eyes are so supplicant, so innocently childish, her voice so hesitating, you really believe her. Hell, I'd have forgiven her then! Suddenly, when she manages to get Karen's sympathy, her character changes completely and she becomes a menacing woman, threatening to expose Karen's prank unless Karen persuades Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe), Karen's husband, to let her, Eve, play the leading role in his play, role meant originally for Margo. (That prank led Margo to be stranded in the middle of nowhere, forcing her to skip her performance that night and consequently Eve, her understudy, to play Margo's role, thus leading to DeWitt's column.) After leaving Karen disconcerted, Eve returns to her table, again playing the role of a naive, fragile woman, as if nothing had happened. Says the legend that Judy Holliday only got the Best Actress Oscar that year because most votes were split between Davis and Baxter. I could believe that.
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| George Sanders and Marilyn Monroe |
In smaller yet memorable roles, there's Celeste Holm's Karen, the trigger of most of the movie's plot points (who had won an Oscar for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), a movie which I don't like and in which she didn't do anything outstanding IMHO), Thelma Ritter's Birdie, always with a sharp, straight-to-the-point remark about everything, and Marilyn Monroe's Miss Casswell. Out of the top of my head, other than Monica Bellucci, Gong Li and Scarlett Johansson, Marilyn Monroe is the only actress who is both hot and sexy even though she does not seem to want to. The likes of Jessica Alba and Megan Fox are hot, don't get me wrong; I don't think they are naturally sexy, though. Hard to explain why.. Marilyn Monroe, on the other hand, has something that just makes you want to keep staring at her, and, according to Ebert's review, this was something the critics at the time also noticed. Such a shame her career ended so abruptly...
As for the male cast, the only actor worth mentioning is George Sanders with his cynical Addison DeWitt, who does not love Eve, but who believes they should be together because they both are so alike, as he bluntly puts it:
You're an improbable person, Eve, and so am I. We have that in common. Also a contempt for humanity, an inability to love or be loved, insatiable ambition - and talent. We deserve each other.
DeWitt also is the amalgamation of great acting and a very well written character, so kudos must also be given to Mankiewicz. Too bad the remainder of the male cast is so average. This is a movie about actresses, though, and they don't get too much to work with after all, but even so...
An interesting piece of trivia: the song that can be heard in Bill's homecoming party, Liebestraum, by Franz Liszt, was also used in the OST of the Wii Action RPG Pandora's Tower, sung by soprano Yucca with lyrics by Yamada Yoko.
Summarizing it:
Liked
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Didn't like
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Bette Davis' Margo. Great acting, coupled with a very smartly written character.
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The male cast, other than George Sanders, was easily outshone by such a great female ensemble.
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| Great cast of female actresses. |
Most memorable line:
Great Movie review by Roger Ebert here.
If you liked this movie, then make sure to watch Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950) for a perfect double session.
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