Fabricated Truth

Review:

Eve (Anne Baxter) has just won the most prestigious award theatre has to offer - as the youngest person to do so. The film tells the story of how she achieved that by carefully studying the successful actress Margo (Bette Davis, in a career-saving turn), charming her and her friends, and slowly undermining them to get what she wants. The film’s story isn’t all that great, but the film is due to two factors: the sharpest dialogue ever written and the finest acting by any ensemble I have ever seen. From the two leads down to the supporting cast, everybody is simply perfect - which is of course easier when the lines are as brilliant as they are here.

Random Observations:

All About Eve at the IMDb

The film is based on the short story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr first published in 1946, although the work is not credited.

The film was nominated for 14 Oscars and won six. Incidentally, Anne Baxter lobbying for being nominated as an Actress in a Leading Role probably lead to Bette Davis not winning, with the two great performances splitting the vote. Funny how reality often mirrors fiction.

I especially liked Gary Merrill and Hugh Marlowe in supporting roles. Both are actors that never got much recognition and are hardly remembered today, but their performance here (and in other roles) was quite as good as anything by the leads.

Also, just to put the names out there, George Sanders won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, while both Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter were nominated as Supporting Actress.

The film marked the second year in a row that Joseph L. Makiewicz won Oscars as Best Director and for Best Screenplay. I wonder if that is some kind of record.

You know how people sometimes say “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore”? This is the kind of film they are talking about.

A young Marilyn Monroe has a small part in one of her earliest credited roles.