Movie Minx

Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter
Directed by: Joseph Mankiewicz

Plot: An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

But is it any good?

Yes. Actually, I think All About Eve might be the first Bette Davis film I’ve ever seen. She looks a tough old thing, with sexy hooded eyes (Bette Davis eyes, in fact), cigarette permanently in hand and raspy voice. The voice bit may have been from the chain smoking, or from screaming fits at her soon-to-be ex husband, apparently.

The film opens as Eve wins a major acting prize in a room of admiring gazes. Yet some refuse to applaud Eve’s success. Why not?

Things seem innocent enough when we flash back to how it all began. Davis plays Margot Channing, a theatre superstar who’s at the peak of her career, yet has hit the 40-mark and fears a steady decline. She’s touched by the seemingly pure adoration of Eve, a slightly stalkerish fan of hers who wheedles her way into Margot’s social circle. Margot soon catches on that this young vamp is no innocent and has her eye firmly set on Margot’s limelight, but others, particularly the men, are a little slower on the uptake.

Strong acting, snappy lines, back-stabbing, diva scenes and obsession keep this film alive from beginning to end. It took me a few minutes to relax into the pompous narration of the movie’s Stephen Fry-like theatre critic, but it soon became a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable ride through Eve’s meticulous ascent to stardom. And the ending, which some apparently consider a little too obvious, I found a fitting way to close on a rather pathetic tale of ambition. (Look out for the cameraman reflected in the mirror, by the way.)

IMDb’s rating: 8.4/10
My rating: 9.5/10

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