All About Eve
Published 2025-08-25
Film info
- Title All About Eve
- Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Year 1950
- Run time 2hr 19m
- Genre Drama
- Tagline It's all about women... and their men!
- Cast Bette Davis
From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo’s Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo’s director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 0:20 | Might be my first Bette Davis film. |
| 2:46 | “My native habitat is the theatre.” Same. |
| 16:05 | “When you’re a secretary in a brewery, it’s hard to believe you’re anything else. Everything is beer.” |
| 23:39 | Is things getting stuck in your wig a known hazard of acting? |
| 32:55 | Okay, first bits of suspicion creeping in! |
| 42:13 | I do like trying to guess what colour the dresses are. |
| 52:02 | “There should be a new word for happiness.” |
| 1:06:20 | You can’t understudy at an audition, surely? |
| 1:09:03 | “I will not be tolerated and I will not be plotted against.” I like that being tolerated is a bad thing! |
| 1:19:24 | Existential crisis over eight years age difference. |
| 1:22:52 | She is really creepy. |
| 1:33:40 | “That cynicism you refer to I acquired the day I discovered I was different from little boys.” |
| 1:42:50 | Such conniving in such a softly spoken manner. |
| 1:50:35 | Ah, separate beds. |
| 2:00:54 | Good performances always seem to come out of emotional turmoil! |
Thoughts
A great movie, this one, with a stellar cast. Two headstrong women going up against each other, whilst also facing into the ideas of aging in Hollywood/Broadway, and the next generation coming up to step into the acting shoes. Lots of interesting themes covered but more than anything, this is two great performances - Bette Davis as Margo is everything and owns the screen, but Anne Baxter's Eve is fascinating, starting timid, growing in confidence and devilry, until eventually the tables are turned on her. Excellent film, well worth watching.
Rating: 4 / 5