Harrison's Reports (1950)

146 HARRISON'S REPORTS September 16, 1950 "All About Eve" with Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and Celeste Holm (20th Century-Fox, November; time, 138 min.) A very good adult drama. It is a notable production on every count — story, writing, direction and acting. Revolving around an evil young woman who, masquerading her true nature under a cloak of shyness and innocence, lets nothing interfere with her driving ambition to become a leading actress, it is a fascinating, continually absorbing story about Broadway theatrical people, given a mature treatment and penetrated with realistic dialogue and flashes of slick, sardonic humor. The proceedings hold one's attention so rapt that one does not notice the running time of two hours and eighteen minutes. The films sophisticated flavor is especially suited for metropolitan centers, where it is destined to become a big moneymaker, but it is not too subtle for the small town trade and should do fairly well in those situations. The acting is uniformly top-grade from stars to bit players, and the three feminine principals have been provided with roles that are perfectly tailored to their respective talents. Anne Baxter is most effective as the aspiring actress who becomes a top success but whose machinations bring heartaches to those who had befriended her. Bette Davis, as an ultra-sophisticated but aging star who is victimized by Miss Baxter, is just right in a fiery characterization, as is Celeste Holm, as the kindly wife of a playwright, who, too, falls victim to the calculating Miss Baxter. At the finish, there is a highly effective bit contributed by Barbara Bates, an attractive starlet, as a stage-struck but scheming 'teen-ager, who worms her way into Miss Baxter 's confidence with every indication that she will eventually give Miss Baxter a dose of her own medicine. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who wrote the original screen play and directed it, has provided some highly imaginative twists and directorial touches. The production values are impressive throughout. Darryl F. Zanuck produced it. The story opens at a banquet with Anne receiving an award for the best performance of the year. As she accepts the gold statuette with humility, the thoughts of several theatrical people who played a part in her rise are revealed in flashback. Celeste, wife of Hugh Marlowe, a playwright, recalls that nine months previously she had taken pity on Anne, then a stage-struck girl, and had brought her backstage to meet Bette, her idol. By her shyness and good manners, and by her tragic tale about having lost her husband in the war, Anne had ingratiated herself, not only with Bette, but also with Marlowe and with Gary Merrill, Bette's director and fiance. Bette, having developed a protective feeling for Anne, had taken her into her household and had permitted her to become her confidante. But Thelma Ritter, Bette's maid, resented Anne, and within several weeks Bette had become aware of the fact that Anne was insincere and that she was coyly making a play for Merrill. She had abused Anne while in a drunken rage at a party, and everyone, still blinded by Anne's masquerade of innocence, had come to her defense. Playing on this new-found sympathy, Anne had carefully maneuvered Celeste, Marlowe and Merrill into persuading Gregory Ratoff, Bette's producer, to accept her as Bette's understudy, and with the help of George Sanders, a noted but unprincipled critic, had eventually become a top star, even to the point of taking away a part meant for Bette. In the process she had made an attempt to win Merrill away from Bette and, failing that, had set her cap for Celeste's husband. But Sanders, having discovered that Anne had lied about being a widow and that she had had an unsavory past, had used the information to compel her to give up her designs on Marlowe and to become his own mistress. Coming back to the present, the story has Anne returning to her apartment with the coveted award and finding Barbara Bates waiting for her. Furious because the girl had sneaked into her home, Anne soon softens when she learns that Barbara is a stage-struck youngster who idolized her. As she warms up to Barbara, the story ends with the suggestion that the girl will go about building a stage career for herself by using Anne as a stepping stone. "All About Eve," as most exhibitors probably know by this time, is the picture with which 20th Century-Fox will inaugurate its "scheduled performances" plan. This plan calls for the exhibitor to set a definite time for each performance and to sell nonreserved tickets in advance for each specific performance, with no one, not even ticket-holders, to be seated after the picture is started. The purpose is to make patrons see the picture from the beginning so that they may fully understand and enjoy the proceedings, and thus give it favorable word-of-mouth advertising. In the opinion of this reviewer, all pictures, big or small, should be seen from the beginning for full enjoyment. But whether or not this particular picture, more than any other, should be seen from the start is debatable. The fact remains, however, that there is definite exploitation values in the scheduled performances idea, and it may be wise for the exhibitor to give it a trial wherever his situation permits. Incidentally, 20th-Fox has announced that the exhibition contracts for this picture will require singlebilling. No other feature-length picture will be permitted to be shown on the same program. Strictly adult fare. "The Fuller Brush Girl" with Lucille Ball and Eddie Albert (Columbia, October; time, 85 min.) This is one of those wildly slapstick comedies that are the forte of the director Lloyd Bacon, whose last effort in this category was "The Good Humor Man." Like that picture, this one, too, does not match the entertainment values of "The Fuller Brush Man," yet it is an entertaining picture of its kind and should give ample satisfaction to those who enjoy this type of comedy. The story, of course, is completely nonsensical, but it serves as an adequate device for projecting the many comical gags and situations, some highly inventive, that are reminiscent of the Mack Sennett Keystone comedies. The pace is fast and furious from start to finish, and Lucille Ball literally knocks herself out trying to keep up with the plot complications, which are so dizzy that they defy any attempt to synopsize. Briefly, however, the story has Lucille and Eddie Albert, sweethearts, working in a steamship company owned by Jerome Cowan, who secretly used the firm as a front for the illegal smuggling of diamonds. Cowan fires Lucille for inefficiency, but he retains the timid Albert to use him as a dummy executive in the firm. Needing money to get married and to help Albert establish a home for them, Lucille takes a job with the Fuller Brush Company to sell their new line of cosmetics. Her adventures while canvassing from