All About Eve (1950)

It's all about women...and their men!

Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Thelma Ritter
Directed By: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

This is a classic: Bette Davis at her acerbic best as ageing (at 40!) actress Margo Channing. The plot is engrossing as we watch Anne Baxter as Eve worm her way into the Margo's theatrical circle.

Interestingly, the film is a parallel of what was happening for Davis - trying to stem the passage of time; her career faded from this point. The film is not really about the blind ambition of Eve, rather Margo's fear of ageing.

George Sanders as Addison De Witt, the theatre critic who helped make Margo's career and eventually Eve's, is the highlight of the film. My favourite character is Birdie, played by Thelma Ritter, Margo's dresser. She is onto the game that Eve is playing from the start. All About Eve also marks an early appearance by Marilyn Monroe, playing an actress from the "Copacabana" Academy of Dramatic Arts.

The script and performances in this film, even 55 years on, are hard to beat. This is close to cinema perfection.

Interesting fact: Claudette Colbert was originally cast as Margo Channing, but suffered a ruptured disc during filming on Three Came Home (1950) and had to withdraw.