On A List of Movie Reviews

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All About Eve (1950)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 6/16

6/16: After finding out that Judy Holliday won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Born Yesterday over Sunset Boulevard's Gloria Swanson and reading that many felt it should've gone to Bette Davis for All About Eve, I proceeded to watch the film to see what the hoopla was.

My conclusion is...nope. I just don't see it. Bette Davis is nothing special and is thus plain. Her oft-quoted line "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night" doesn't do anything for me.

Actually, I'm more impressed with Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington. She plays the snake part quite well. George Sanders shines, too, and is the only one of the cast to win an Oscar. Celeste Holm is good, too. They've made most of their characters in the final hour. But the trouble with the whole show is it's too talky. The writing is fine, but if Joseph L. Mankiewicz would cut it down greatly, it could've been a more tolerable movie to sit through.

All in all, All About Eve is overrated.

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