User Reviews

. . . for being too ugly, AMC BACKSTORY: ALL ABOUT EVE informs us. C. Colbert was cast as "Margo Channing" before getting crushed by the Honeywagon, while another Claudia (this one born Norma Jean Mortenson) was rehired after dyeing her rug to match her drapes. (There's nothing so ugly on a casting couch as the discovery of a mismatch in this department!) Interior Decorating aside, the ALL ABOUT EVE set was more in need of muzzles than a litter box, BACKSTORY reveals. Though laughing on cue was NOT Bette Davis' personal forte, she enjoyed a quicker snicker by prying a young, hairy "Bill" away from his Real Life Wife faster that a Mexican Quickie, BACKSTORY relates. The U.S. Military then assisted to install Bette's assets in wet concrete, this still being back in the "Don't Ask\Don't Tell" Yesterdays. After Anne Baxter won an Oscar for Best Non-Supporting Actress, Bette's marriage to "Bill" fell through in less than a decade (which equals four score and ten, in Hollywood Years). Bette then RETURNED TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, while Norma "Plain Jane" Jean wondered whatever became of babies slain?

. . . who had been virtually black-listed by Tinsel Town for her wanton capriciousness, malingering, and shirking of agreed-upon duties. "You'll never work in this town again!!" genius filmmaker "D. F. Zanuck" told ungrateful Labor rabble-rouser "B. Davis" when she refused to SAG as appropriate for a matron of her age. The history of the relationship between far-sighted Management and "instant gratification"-seeking workers here in our USA Homeland is marked by many egregious acts of virtual warfare, as illustrated by such films as ON THE WATERFRONT, MATEWAN, and NORMA RAE. When Union Thugs such as "Dolly P." are duct-taping supervisors to office chairs during deplorable Leftist fare of the 9 TO 5 ilk, moviegoers know that Mr. Zanuck has had NOTHING to do with these outrages! The plot of ALL ABOUT EVE runs parallel to Real Life, this BACKSTORY outing reveals. Though Davis had ostensibly left SAG in a snit, her Union minions conspired to force her down Mr. Zanuck's throat by trumping up a vacancy in the already-cast "Margo Channing" role, which every SAG chick declined to fill--except for the ubiquitous Ms. Davis, a proven box office flop. Fortunately for this flick's bottom line prospects, the Midas-like Mr. Z. sagely surrounded Davis with a bevy of stout-hearted men, including "G. Sanders," "G. Merrill," "H. Marlowe," and "G. Ratoff." These guys compensated so well for the union mole's inadequacies that ALL ABOUT EVE captured several highly-coveted Oscars for Mr. Z., BACKSTORY recounts. The moral of this tale seems to be that "All's well that ends well when a Tough Guy's in charge"!