So today I’m looking at the winner of the 1950 Oscar for
best picture and the movie that is tied with Titanic for the most Oscar nominations in history.
When I watch movies like this I tend to have high
expectations, because Hollywood classics bring out my judgement for high
standards, especially one with such high honours. And also because there is such a large gap in
culture between when the film was made and now I often wonder if a film will be
able to transcend that gap and be truly timeless. Well this film managed to do this marvellously. It drew me in immediately with its opening
scene. The narration from Addison DeWitt
is really a great and unique way to get us invested in the film. The narration lets us know where we are and
why we’re there. He also a lot of great
sarcastic lines about people who don’t know anything about the world in which they
live, the long winded actor, and the idea of producers who want to make art and
those who want to make a buck. The narration
style is also good because it allows us to get into the heads of most of the
characters to explain a lot of exposition in a way that feels natural. Like the way Karen leads us in to how Eve
came into their lives and how Margo takes over for things Karen obviously
wouldn’t be present for.
This film is a great one for re-watching because of the
wonderful performances being carried out by everyone in the cast. The very first time I watched the film I noticed
the body language of everyone at the table during the award ceremony, Margo
especially, and wondered why they seemed so hostile towards Eve. Then having learned all about Eve through the
course of the film I knew exactly why they are acting like that, and can enjoy
even more the quirks and movements in that opening. Like Karen’s wistful look as she wonders how
it got to be like this, DeWitt’s eyebrow lift on the word love, and Max’s enthusiastic
clapping as probably the only one left who doesn’t know that Eve is a conniving
snake in the grass.
I love the character of Eve and the unfolding of her throughout
the film so we see who she really is. I
like all the subtle ways we can see she loves the theatre and wants to be on
stage despite her continued self-deprecation that she is terrible. Not just when we see her standing with
Margo’s dress, but also when she white knuckles the curtains as the cast bows
and the audience applauds. Then of
course there is her speech about the applause from an audience on the staircase
at Bill’s birthday party being like waves of love. She wants that life and will sacrifice
anything for it. Not only is this kind
of cruel character something we still don’t see a lot for women in
entertainment, but it's also a tragic character really in that Eve does achieve
what she wanted and yet lost everything on the way there. As Margo says the things you drop on your way
up, and Eve drops everything. People who
trusted her and thought of her as their friend she betrayed. So when she gives her speech at the end it’s
nothing but empty words, and then as they all go off to celebrate she is alone
in her apartment, and soon to be replaced as we see a young woman taking up her
role as the supportive caregiver and have that lust for recognition under the surface
just like Eve had.
Moving onto the other characters Bette Davis gives a
wonderful performance as Margo Channing. It’s big and bold while also having great
little subtle moments too. Like the way
she and Thelma Ritter look at each other when Ritter’s characters tells Margo that
Bill has already been home for twenty minutes and they know he has been talking
with Eve all that time, and Bette just downs her drink because she knows she’ll
need it to get through the rest of the night.
That provides a great contrast
between her and Eve as well because Eve is coming across as this mousy innocent
‘kid’ as the guys call her and so Margo in contrast does come across as paranoid
and hysterical in her attacks on Eve, and Eve can just use all that to her
advantage. Because she isn’t some
innocent little lamb in their jungle and she cut her fangs a long time ago, she
can just hide them better than most. Again there is a good use of subtlety there
in the way she tries to rip the wig in her dressing room when she doesn’t get
Bill. Her true self peeks through just
for a moment. This is also a great
turning point for Bill because he now knows Margo was right Eve was gunning for
him and always had been.
Even small parts like Marilyn Monroe as Miss Casswell are
great. Sure she is playing the so called
dumb blonde, but yet there are hints that it is an act just like Eve’s
is. The way she gives DeWitt this cold
look when he talks about her career rising in the east as she acts like an
idiot to get a drink from Max; or when she first goes to meet Max and flashes
that Monroe smile and walks that sultry walk as she goes off screen. The moments are small but effective.
Also I love that scene on the stairs at Bill’s party just in
terms of composition. The dialogue being
said there is great as well, but the composition is lovely because it’s five people
crammed in this tiny space with people squeezing by them and pictures all over the
walls, and angles that don’t involve shot reverse shots when people are taking
to each other. It’s wonderful, because
it’s so different from what I’m used to seeing.
Another great shot is when Eve is going to tour with Lloyd’s
new play and we open on the Shubert theatre which is the one Eve named in San Francisco,
but they of course aren’t in San Francisco, it’s our first small hint that this is all about to
unravel for Eve. Although with the shot
that follows it comes my only complaint about the film. The rear screen projection used when Eve and
DeWitt are walking out of the theatre is obvious and the scene really should
have been reshot. Still, the whole
reveal with DeWitt in Eve’s room as he breaks down her lies one by one is
wonderful especially since it follows the scene with her tricking Lloyd into
coming to her place. So when she starts
in about him leaving Karen and declaring his love for her we know Eve is lying
and then we learn that DeWitt knows it too.
Eve has finally met her match, because he is just as much of a snake as
she is and now she’s trapped with him.
She has no one to turn to, because she’s driven them all away.
Finally I really have to say that I love that this plot is
focused mainly on women. Eve and Margo,
Margo and Karen, Karen and Eve, all their interactions are great and no one is
reduced to the stereotypical stand there and look pretty with no brain housewife. Karen makes a brief stab at it when she acts
all careless about not checking the gas gauge in the car when they’re out on
the road, but it clearly is exactly that: an act. Margo feels the pressure of aging that most
women do and although she resolves that with her marriage to Bill that doesn’t
mean she is going to stop being an actress.
It just means she won’t keep pushing herself into roles she knows she
shouldn’t play anymore to fill a void elsewhere in her life. In her own way Eve did indeed leave good
behind for the people who once thought she was their friend. Eve being totally two faced is great as I’ve said,
but also in that she manipulates men and women equally which is something quite
rare to see on the silver screen.
To conclude this truly is a wonderful film. Marvellously acted with layered characters, beautifully
shot, and has a great story that has subtlety and charm, and is truly worthy of
being one of the timeless Hollywood classics.
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