All About Eve is showing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on Saturday, October 11 at 8pm. The screening will be introduced by actor, author and drag queen Charles Busch as part of Newfest, the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
“There are a few reasons why All About Eve is considered a queer cinema classic. Perhaps the most obvious one is that gay men appreciate the film for its grande dame theatricality. Bette Davis’ Margo Channing is a bitchy diva … Eve is coded as a lesbian through how she is framed … [Addison] even adopts Marilyn Monroe as a beard, using her as arm candy but showing no discernable sexual interest in her … A bona fide masterpiece, All About Eve is a fascinating artifact of Hollywood’s queer legacy.”
– Manish Mathur, Reel Pride
All About Eve is showing alongside two other films heading the 1950 Best Actress Trifecta at the 23rd Academy Awards, which Marilyn also attended (see here.)
“The competition was truly epic … Many believe Eve co-stars Bette Davis (a two-time winner on her ninth out of 11 nominations) and Anne Baxter (a previous Best Supporting Actress winner) cancelled each other out, with the thought that Davis would have been a shoo-in if Baxter had been placed in the supporting category. But then there’s Gloria Swanson, whose epic comeback in Sunset Boulevard resulted in her third Oscar nomination … So, two legendary actresses playing legendary actresses, along with an actress playing an ingenue who stole a role from one of the aging actresses, were all competing against one another. And the Oscar went to … comedienne Judy Holliday, winning on her sole nomination for reprising her acclaimed Broadway role of Billie Dawn in Best Picture nominee Born Yesterday, and was the only win out of five nominations for that film. Eleanor Parker rounded out the category for Caged, earning her first of three career nominations.”
– Susan Pennington, Gold Derby
The Marilyn Report 