At the midpoint of the film, and unknown actress reads in an audition and is what one critic calls "a revelation"; she is fire and she is music. I expect that when "All About Eve" premiered it was something of a revelation itself. Watching it now for the umpteenth time it is still revelatory to me, something new and exciting and fresh, exploring and pushing the boundaries of what a perfectly selected cast of superb actors can do for film. The characters talk of fire and music as they breathe flames and concertos right through the screen. Over 60 years have passed since it was filmed, but like Bette Davis it has aged gracefully and only deepened in emotion.
There is a particular group of people who will find this film a masterpiece, and those are the same people that the actors play. They are the elite, bourgeois, theatre-type crowd who talk in flowery language and only attack through the written word. This is a movie of the politics of the stage and the corrupting power of fame. For those people--such as myself--who embrace the theatre, this is a perfectly thrust sword into the guts of the manipulators and the passive-aggressives who will do whatever is necessary to keep themselves center stage.
Bette Davis gives her finest performance as Margo Channing, an aging great dame of the theatre whose life suddenly becomes all about Eve. Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is a young, porcelain, upstart woman whose troubled past lead her to Margo. Disarmed by her breathy voice, sad story and genuine desire to love and help, Margo invites Eve to live with her and act as her personal secretary. Things are not all they seem, though, as soon it becomes clear that Eve has motives of her own. Margo's other assistant Birdie (Thelma Ritter) is the only one who can see the cracks of Eve's carefully molded mask.
The film appears to both love and hate the theatre and those who fill it. The men, who are writers, directors, producers, are mere wisps of people caught in the orbit of titanic women. They try to involve themselves in the politics of producing plays, but up against the forces of Eve, Margo, and their friend Karen (Celeste Holm) they merely blend into the background. These women are petty, jealous, self-absorbed creatures of the night who relish in applause and a good word penned by the venomous critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders). The spend their time smoking, drinking and sharpening their fangs. That is "All About Eve", and it is brilliant.
It is written so beautifully and acted with such vitality that we almost forgive how ugly the characters are. Davis and Baxter battling opposite each other, slicing each other with Joseph Mankiewicz's dialogue, create tension that is riveting and breathtaking. At times it feels as though we are watching a stage performance, but we are gifted with the ability to see the subtleties of their craft which would go amiss otherwise.
Davis especially towers above her peers, playing a wounded and insecure star whose light may be fading. She is no longer her own person, but a caricature of herself dressed as a great and humble talent. She is put into plays because she is Margo Channing, but knowing she has reached 40 has made her hostile and unforgiving. It is said that Davis was channeling Talullah Bankhead when she acted Margo, but it seems clear to me that she was simply channeling Bette Davis. The result is remarkable, on par with anything Katharine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman or Meryl Streep have done at their peaks.
Baxter is no less interesting. She is soft-spoken, adoring and lovely. I am not sure whether the acting would be difficult or easy when playing a character so completely false. When she does have to "act" and be "dramatic" it is sublime, and if the character was a difficult one for an actor then she was absolutely wonderful.
Sanders as DeWitt is the only man of the film worth mentioning (the others were all good, but equally unremarkable as far as the story is concerned). It is very clear Mankiewicz hates critics, as I'm sure most filmmakers do, and DeWitt has to be one of the most horrible of them all. Posh, slightly effeminate and too cunning for his own good, this is the man who makes or breaks a show when he sees it. He savors his own articulate prowess and destroys simply because he can. Together with Eve he is villain of the highest and most believable caliber.
It is a very rare thing to see a piece of art so perfect that one can watch it time and again and still see its greatness. It is even rarer to see it more than once and find new greatness. That is this film's gift. Nothing dies in the theatre and like it, "All About Eve" will not die. It is a landmark in cinematic history, and benchmark for actors. The film is a colossal force of feminine talents, about women and for them. This is a wonderful movie experience and one of the greatest of all films.
4/4
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