Bette Davis learns "All About Eve" in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s classic film

 All About Eve (1950) is an American drama written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, and Celeste Holm. Other cast members include Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlow, Thelma Ritter, and Marilyn Monroe.

Broadway star Margo Channing (Davis) has recently turned 40 and is wondering how long she can sustain her career. Then one evening after Margo’s latest performance, her best friend Karen Richards (Holm) brings a seemingly helpless superfan named Eve Harrington (Baxter). Eve followed Margo’s career when she was on tour in San Francisco and now in New York City.

Karen introduces Eve to Margo’s friends, including Karen’s husband playwright Lloyd Richards (Marlowe). Slowly, Eve becomes part of Margo’s inner circle making Margo’s personal assistant Birdie (Ritter) suspicious. So cunning is Eve, that she replaces Birdie as Margo’s new assistant.

Other complications arise from Margo’s relationship with the director of her current play Bill Sampson (Merrill), 8 years her junior. Margo is insecure in their relationship due to their age difference and unbeknownst to her, Eve attempts to replace Margo in Bill’s affections.

How does this all end? Will Margo overcome her insecurities about her age, career, and relationship with Bill or will Eve stand in her way?

Anne Baxter and Bette Davis square off

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1929 – 1972) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz won Academy Awards for directing and writing A Letter to Three Wives (1949), and All About Eve (1950). He is the only director to win back-to-back Academy Awards for writing and directing. Other films directed by Mankiewicz include Dragonwyck (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Julius Caesar (1953), The Barefoot Contessa (1954), and Guys and Dolls (1955). He directed the 1963 crisis-plagued production of Cleopatra which negatively affected his career as a director.

Bette Davis (1908 – 1989) was an American actress whose stage and screen career spanned more than 50 years. Davis came to Hollywood in 1930 and within four years of her arrival, she was one of its biggest stars winning her first Best Actress Academy Award for her role in Dangerous (1935). Her starring role in Jezebel (1938) won her a second Best Actress Oscar. Davis would go on to star in many popular films during the 1940s including Dark Victory (1939), The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), and Now, Voyager (1942). In 1950 she starred as Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), a role she is probably most identified with today. Other popular films include The Old Maid (1939), All This and Heaven Too (1940), Mr. Skeffington (1944), and The Corn is Green (1945).

Anne Baxter (1923 – 1985) won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Sophie MacDonald in The Razor’s Edge (1946). She was signed to a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox in 1940. In 1948, Baxter starred in four movies, with Yellow Sky being her most prominent role to date. She went on to have a prolific career in film, television, and theater. She is probably best known for her Oscar-nominated performance as Eve Harrington in All About Eve. Frank Lloyd Wright was Baxter’s grandfather.

George Sanders (1906 – 1972) was a British film and stage actor who also had a fine singing voice. Hollywood was looking for a villain to star opposite a young Tyrone Power in Lloyd’s of London (1936) and Sanders more than fit the bill. His performance in that film would forever stamp him as a sophisticated bad guy. Before his acting career, he worked in the textile industry, which must have helped him with his role in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry. In the 1960s, Sanders played Mr. Freeze in the Batman (1966) television series.

Celeste Holm (1917 – 2012) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She won a Best Supporting Actress award for her role in Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) and was nominated for her roles in Come to the Stable (1949) and All About Eve (1950). She originated the role of Ado Annie in the landmark stage musical Oklahoma! (1943).

 

All About Eve trivia

• Claudette Colbert was the director’s first choice to play Margo Channing. In fact, Colbert was contracted to play the part but had to drop out due to a back injury she suffered during the filming of Three Came Home (1950).
• Bette Davis and Gary Merrill fell in love during filming and were married a few weeks after the production wrapped.
• The film holds the record for the most female Oscar-nominated performances: Anne Baxter and Bette Davis for Best Actress and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter for Best Supporting Actress.
• Davis said this film saved her career after a series of unsuccessful films. She said Mankiewicz “…resurrected me from the dead.”
• Producer Darryl F. Zanuck changed the working title Best Performance to All About Eve after reading one of Addison DeWitt’s lines in the opening narration of the script.
• Zanuck wanted Jeanne Crain to play Eve, but she became pregnant and Anne Baxter was offered the role.

 

Click HERE to watch the film at the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on September 9, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

 

Discussion questions

1. All About Eve’s reputation over the years has achieved legendary status. Do you think its reputation as a great film is well deserved?
2. The film is filled with wonderful performances by a great cast. Did one performance stand out to you or were all of equal weight in your estimation?
3. What do you think will become of Eve as she goes forward with her career? Will she always be under the thumb of Addison?
4. Do you think that Margo and Bill will have a successful marriage? Why or why not?
5. How well does the film hold up in the 21st century?
6. Was there anything in the film that surprised you?
7. If this movie were remade, who would you cast as Margo and Eve?