Retrospective: All About Eve (Patreon)

All About Eve lays its cards on the table immediately. It opens on an award ceremony honoring Eve (Anne Baxter), the new darling of the theater scene. We are treated to voice-over narration by theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), a figure of dreadful divine authority in this world.

We then flashback to the scene where Eve introduces herself to Margo Channing (Bette Davis), falling star of the drama world. Eve endears herself to Margo with her deeply alarming sincerity and tragic backstory, slowly working her way into Margo's heart, to the chagrin of Margo's entourage.

You can easily work out the ending of All About Eve from its first ten minutes. The movie immediately gives you an idea of where its two leads will end up. Not only is this not a flaw, but it's one of the movie's greatest strengths. The next two hours fly by as we witness one permutation of actors' souls and minds after another. An extraordinary achievement.