A wide eyed girl (Anne Baxter) saunters outside the dressing room of her favorite star, an self-conscious and aging stage actress (Bette Davis), whose show she claims to have seen almost every performance of. Given an introduction by the screenwriter's wife and armed with a perfectly mastered sob story, she slowly insinuates herself in her idol's life and attempts to steal her part, her man, and her spotlight. Joseph Mankiewicz's All About Eve, the Best Picture winning triumph of 1950, is sophisticated, cynical, and witty to a tee, almost to a fault, and demonstrates a perception that is almost unknown throughout cinema. It features a career topping performance from Davis who inexplicably went home empty handed from the Oscar ceremony, and fine work from Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Thelma Ritter, and Marilyn Monroe who is particularly memorable in an early, minor role.
