Review of All About Eve (1950) by River W — 01 Oct 2009

Looking at Hollywood was popular in 1950 it seems. All About Eve beat out Sunset Boulevard for the record 14 Oscars. Both movies deal with the older theater diva and her delusions as to the nature of Hollywood.

I feel the noirish Sunset Boulevard pulled it off better. It encapsulated the cutthroat trials to becoming known, and how easy it is to fall off. All About Eve does the same thing, but focuses on a more sinister impostor who appears to be a star-stricken girl-scout.

With backstabbing, impersonating, conniving and lying that isn't apparent until half-way through, this is less of a dark look at Hollywood, and more of a screen-writers fantasy. Instead of showing the bitter and hopeful lost souls of the town side-by-side, Eve shows that there is one way to the top, and in the movies opinion it will always be so, no matter how ridiculous it seems.