Film Review: All About Eve

The only thing I knew of All About Eve before I sprawled out on my bed under the fan to fill my Friday night was that Bette Davis played the lead. Having not quite recovered from her formidably creepy performance in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, I was preparing to watch a bitch.

What I didn’t expect was for the bitch to be played by someone else (Anne Baxter playing Eve). As the tale unfolds of an over-enthusiastic fan-becomes-evil-usurper-over-aging-star it is easy to predict where the story is going. So predictable that at one point I paused the film to go and wax my legs. Yes, I’m of the digital generation, saddled with the attention span of a goldfish.



I made it past my distractions, though and watched as Margo Channing (Davis), the aging star, cottons on to what Eve is up to. As the story unfolds, we are rewarded with snappy dialogue where each character is quick to nip at the other, full of insult:

Newspaper columnist to Margo:
You're maudlin and full of self-pity. You're magnificent!

Margo to love interest:
I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut.

Playwright to Margo:
How about calling it a night?
Margo
And you, pose as a playwright? A situation pregnant with possibilities and all you can think of is everybody go to sleep.

Margo:
So many people know me. I wish I did. I wish someone would tell me about me.
Friend:
You're Margo, just Margo.
Margo:
And what is that, besides something spelled out in light bulbs, I mean - besides something called a temperament, which consists mostly of swooping about on a broomstick and screaming at the top of my voice? Infants behave the way I do, you know. They carry on and misbehave - they'd get drunk if they knew how - when they can't have what they want, when they feel unwanted or insecure or unloved.

Don’t we all know someone like that!

When not chuckling at Mankiewicz‘s witty screenplay, I was mesmerised by the outfits. Fur coats aside (and the disproportionate amount of dialogue dedicated to discussing them), the clothes worn by the women are stunning. One scene in particular had me recalling what it was like to be a younger version of myself playing dress ups with my grandmother’s clothes, all delicate fabrics, silks and ribbons, so carefully designed with details like metal flowers for clasps. But enough about me.

All About Eve is heralded in Hollywood, being recognized in the top 20 American films of all time. I don’t think it’s quite that good, given the story has not held up to the test of time. To see Bette Davis in her element playing the difficult and unlikeable one, though, makes up for the obviousness of the plot. She steals every scene she is in, an almost larger than life character, it is like everyone else in the scene is just for her to bounce off. A real screen legend.