I think Sunset Blvd. was more deserving of the Oscar for Best Picture in 1950, but All About Eve certainly has its merits. The story is rich with desire from both its female leads. Margo is an aging Broadway star still trying to cling to youthful roles despite her age. Eve is a seemingly harmless aspiring actress who secretly is flat-out obsessed with making it in theatre and willing to go to many lengths to make sure she gets there.
At first, Margo appears to be the villain as she makes sure upstart Eve is reduced to stagehand and understudy work. She is the epitome of the Drama Queen. She expects everyone to fawn all over her as if she were a goddess. When need be, she’ll turn the cameras around to gently but coldly remind everybody who is (or who should be) top diva. One feels bad for Eve and I found myself rooting for Eve in her struggles.
By the end of the film, however, little miss innocent has become the villain. She is even more deplorable for the fact that she won us over initially. She is cool and calculating and engineers her rise to stardom at the expense of Margo (and likely any of her peers that would stand in her way). Duplicitous as ever, once reaching the bright lights she pretends to be humble but is all too willing to take over Margo’s role as Queen of the Universe, as if it were her birthright. She gets a taste of her own medicine at the end though, as years later she is approached by an aspiring actress much in the same way she bored her way into the system.
All About Eve is ugly, wretched and deplorable, which is why it's so good. It shows the dark side of theatre, where ego and self-importance tend to run rampant. It is the exact worst case scenario and the type of people I tried not to get mixed up with while I was involved with theatre in college. Despite running a bit long, with some slower parts, All About Eve turns the spotlight on the dark side of theatre and does so uncompromisingly, for which I applaud it.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
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