All About Eve (1950)

Written & Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

In a nutshell, if all the films on this list from the 1950’s are like this one, then, to semi-quote Bette Davis in this film, hold on, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Eve (Anne Baxter) on her rise to power, looked on by Addison (George Sanders)

I really enjoyed this film. The phrase goes that villains have more fun, but that goes both ways, in that the average viewer, myself included, enjoys watching villains be bad. This is the story of a woman who, for a never-explained reason, inserts herself into a famous actress’ life. Seemingly sweet and innocent, if not a bit naïve, she becomes increasingly more manipulative and ambitious. Or, does she become more so, or was she always? That’s a large part of the fun of this film: we’re never given an explicit reason WHY Anne Baxter’s Eve does what she does; all we know is, we’re having a good time watching it happen.

All About Eve ties with Titanic and La La Land as the most nominated film in Academy Awards history, with 14 nominations (a fun fact: during Eve’s competitive year, there were only a total of 16 categories, whereas Titanic and Land both had 17 available categories, which means from a percentage of nominations against all available nominations, Eve holds the single highest record (94.12%, vs. 82.35%). Math!). After watching the film, I can see why. The film excels in a number of technical and artistic aspects, but, most importantly, its acting performances.

Anne Baxter and Bette Davis face off as a then-unknown Marilyn Monroe looks on

I’ve never seen a film with Bette Davis in it, and I was riveted by her on screen. As the subject, and later, victim, of Eve’s plotting, Davis gives an electrifying performance. She’s strong and commanding, and the viewers eyes are drawn to her whenever she’s on screen. Where Davis’ performance is large and in charge, equally and oppositely captivating is Baxter as Eve. Her quiet calculations, which become more and more obvious as the film goes on, never seem outside the realm of possibility; this situation feels 100% authentic. This is also the second Best Picture winner to feature (albeit, for the first time together) Celeste Holm (1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement) and George Sanders (1940’s Rebecca), who both give excellent performances (particularly Sanders. Holm is the lynchpin who starts the story in motion, and doesn’t have much to do throughout the film, but Holm makes the best out of what is definitely a minor principle role). There’s also a cameo by a then-unknown Marilyn Monroe, in one of her first film roles.

There’s a pattern that’s continuing in this marathon, of stronger and deeper psychological elements; I’ve mentioned it before with films released during and immediately after WW2. The medium keeps growing and evolving, trusting its audience more to be able to follow the plot, to allow them to fill in the narrative gaps. I’m not a fan of entertainment that has to pander to its lowest common denominator (see: Wicked), and these films are definitely showing that filmmakers and studios have their greatest artistic and critical successes when they trust their audiences. All About Eve manages to do this AND be a commercial success, as well, which really does make it a Best Picture.

FINAL GRADE: A