Film: “All About Eve” starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter

In the late 1940s, Hollywood screenwriter Joseph Mankiewicz decided he wanted to write a movie about an “actress of a certain age” (i.e., 40-plus.) He had read a short story called “The Wisdom of Eve” which was based on an anecdote heard third hand: that an established, aging Broadway actress had once hired an assistant who subsequently attempted to steal the actress's career—and her husband.

Mank first sent a memo to Darryl F. Zanuck about the idea, then followed that with a film treatment entitled “Best Performance.” This was the genesis of “All About Eve.”

The 1950 film, a shining example of the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, an aging and rather temperamental Broadway star who is stalked by plain-Jane fan Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), who waits outside the stage door each night. Outwardly a star-struck innocent, Eve gradually insinuates herself into Margo’s life, threatening her career and upending her personal relationships.

Other actors that makes this movie so appealing include George Sanders, who plays Margo’s pal Addison De Witt, a viper-tongued theater critic whose columns have the power to make or break a star. Also, 24-year-old Marilyn Monroe was cast as Miss Casswell, snidely referred to by DeWitt as a "graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Art.”Thelma Ritter plays Margo’s sarcastic gal Friday who is onto Eve’s devious ways from the start.

The script, which won that year’s Oscar for best screenplay, contains some of the most acidly comic lines ever spoken by Bette Davis, and ever written by Mankiewicz. Ever wonder where “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night” or “I detest cheap sentiment” came from? Now you know.

Apart from the wit and the cynical take on Broadway and Hollywood, “Eve” addresses issues facing all members of the creative class (and corporate world too): ruthless ambition, cutthroat competition, and insecurity—that is, fearing someone younger, better-looking or cheaper may eat you for lunch someday.

Speaking of competition, “Eve” beat the pants off Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard” at the 1950 Oscars. It received a record 14 nominations, becoming the only film in Oscar history to receive four female acting nominations. The film went on to win six awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Two decades later, the story of “Eve” was made into a musical, “Applause,” starring Lauren Bacall. Meanwhile, seven decades later, the movie continues to earn money. Latest figures indicate the film has had a cumulative gross of over $8.4 million, more than five times its production costs. And a picture that keeps raking it in without dumbing things down is something to see. It may indeed be seen—from time to time—at the Metrograph Theater, NYC or on the Criterion Channel. Fasten your seatbelts.

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