First it was a short story and a radio play, then it became a Hollywood classic with direction and script by Joseph Mankiewicz. All About Eve (1950) is an appealing picture about two faulty women, especially Anne Baxter‘s Eve Harrington.
The themes are self-seeking ambition, hypocrisy (when humility is a mask for treachery), love versus cold striving, and aging. Bette Davis is extraordinary in the film, Baxter is solid. Marilyn Monroe has a small part but is unimpressive.
Eve is not a great explorer of character, but few movies are. At least it’s distinctly interesting. And, in fact, anyone enamored of the theatre ought to see it because it, too, is enamored of the theatre.