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When it's All about Eve, size matters

Observations from the Edge
Robert T. Nanninga
Buzz Publications
December 15, 2006

 

As a Bette Davis fan, I can remember the first film I saw with her in. I was a kid, home alone after a Saturday morning Little League game, I turned on the television to watch while eating lunch. Still in elementary school at the time, I had no idea I was watching the most nominated film in the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

I watched the film all the way through, because I could, and because there was no one home to tell me to go outside and play. As I got older I would still make time to catch a black and white movie matinée on a lazy afternoon, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, Jezebel, and Dark Victory are still some of my favorite films.

The next milestone in my appreciation of old school movie magic is when I caught my first double feature at the Ken in Kensington. Now this was a big deal for a hick from Vista. Even in those days, San Diego was a long way to go to see a film. of any vintage. All about Eve and Little Foxes, on the big screen, as intended. Then, as now, the Ken is considered an art house.

For those few gay men who have yet to see All About Eve, nominated for 14 Academy Awards, the film won six Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Best Screenplay (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Best Sound Recording, Best B/W Costume Design, and Best Supporting Actor for George Sanders, as the evil theatre critic Addison De Witt.

All About Eve holds the record for the film with the most female acting nominees, four. Bette Davis and Anne Baxter for Best Actress, and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter as Best Supporting Actress.

A film for the ages, All About Eve tells the story of an aging actress at her peak, and the back stabbing ingénue, who seeks to replace her. Davis's character, Margo Channing, best sums up her treacherous protege with "Eve, Eve, little Miss Evil" towards the end of the film.

Perfectly written, All about Eve includes Davis delivering iconic lines such as "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night." and the decidedly retro "Funny business, a woman's career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman.

Now before readers think I have wondered of memory lane, in to the realm of "Whatever", there is a point to this.

All About Eve will be played in all it's big screen glory at the newly restored and refurbished North Park Theater Thur, December 28th at 7pm an Sun, December 31st at 2pm. Located at 2891 University Ave, movie goers are in for a treat, as the ambiance of the venue is as much as an event as the classic film.

 
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