All About Eve is showing at the historic Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard next Tuesday, June 25 at 7:30 pm, as part of Hollywood Pride: Queer Lives On The Silver Screen, a 3-day series of movies featured in Alonso Duralde’s book of the same name. He’ll be signing copies prior to the screening, and joining an onstage conversation with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz – grand-nephew of All About Eve‘s Oscar-winning writer and director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
“Long a favorite among gay audiences for its sharp one-liners and larger-than-life Bette Davis performance, Joseph L. Mankewicz’s 1950 Best PIcture Winner revels in the offstage drama of Broadway star Margo Channing (Davis), a legendary theater actress grappling with newfound insecurities around aging and romance. Enter Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), Margo’s devoted fan who mysteriously appears one night at a performance, and uses her innocent charm to work her way into every aspect of Margo’s life. It’s soon clear that Eve has ambitions toward stardom herself, and will stop at nothing to attain it…even if it means wrecking friendships, marriages, and lives along the way. Evaluating the film in later years, many have noted the queer coding of Eve’s character, and that of her nemesis, acid-tongued theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders). Whether their scheming and double crosses are stereotypical queer villainy from the Old Hollywood Era or shrewd commentary on hearts turned sour by hiding their true selves, the fireworks they cause are a sight to behold.”
The Marilyn Report 