If you don’t know the story: Eve, played with psychotic ambition by Anne Baxter, shows up in New York as a fresh-faced young woman interested in Broadway and it's biggest star: Margot Channing, played by Bette Davis. Margot is aging and worried about her future in the theater. Eve, her biggest fan, begins working for Margot (like an intern), but manages to worm her way into Margot’s world, and eventually becomes her understudy in a new play. There are a few twists and turns, but it boils down to old fashioned jealousy, manipulation, lying, and the end is not what you would expect. Marilyn Monroe has a small part, and Gary Merrill plays Bette Davis’s love interest. In real life, Merrill and Davis were married the same year this film was released. Bette Davis was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Margot Channing.
Monday, August 27, 2012
My fave old movie
In Tuesday's class I said one of my favorite movies is True Romance - and it is - but after hearing a few people say that Imitation of Life was their favorite movie, which I also really like, I remembered my favorite old movie: All About Eve. This is the trailer from All About Eve (1950). Bette Davis is at her most "Bette Davis-ness" in this movie. Following on the page is one of my favorite comedic actresses, Carol Burnett, doing Bette Davis in All About Eve. Enjoy. By the way, Carol Burnett does an excellent Nora Desmond (the main picture on this blog) in her rendition of Sunset Strip - another excellent old movie! Actually, Carol Burnett has done her own rendition of some of the greatest movies ever made with a cleverness that points out what could be considered flaws in these movies – mostly overacting from the main actresses.
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I absolutely love this movie. Although I'm not a movie person, I love Bette Davis. I loved her in this movie but my absolute favorite Bette Davis movie is Whatever Happened to Baby Jane also staring Joan Crawford. This movie is set in a decaying Hollywood mansion, Jane Hudson, a former child star, and her sister Blanche, a movie queen forced into retirement after a crippling accident, live in virtual isolation. The drama and imagery keeps yu engrossed the entire time.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTtpDwrKaxo
"All About Eve" has some of the best dialogue ever written. Credit goes to writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. He won Oscars in both categories as did the film for Best Picture in 1950. He was the elder brother of Herman Mankiewicz, the co-writer with Welles who took home the gold in 1941 for "Citizen Kane".
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