I returned to the magical kingdom of Broadway, or rather a version of Broadway as it never really was, yet somehow always was — and is, and ever shall be, in the minds of many of us who fell in love with the New York theater from a distance. It was time for my fix of “All About Eve.” ... The world of Theater, as Mankiewicz envisions it, is a place where exaggerated style, sweeping gestures and impeccably sharpened zingers are a necessary defense system for people whom Addison characterizes as largely “emotional misfits and precocious children.” It is said of Davis’s Margo that she “compensates for underplaying onstage by overplaying reality.”

Growing older was a smart career move for Bette Davis, whose personality was adult, hard-edged and knowing. Never entirely comfortable as an ingenue, she was glorious as a professional woman, a survivor, or a bitchy predator. Her veteran actress Margo Channing in "All About Eve" (1950) was her greatest role; it seems to show her defeated by the wiles of a younger actress, but in fact marks a victory: the triumph of personality and will over the superficial power of beauty. She never played a more autobiographical role.... Glittering in the center of "All About Eve" is a brief supporting appearance by Marilyn Monroe. It has been observed that no matter how a scene was lighted, Monroe had the quality of drawing all the light to herself. In her brief scenes here, surrounded by actors much more experienced, she is all we can look at.

Bette Davis finally has a part that permits her to demonstrate, in her high-voltage style, that when her talents are applied to something worth while she can really bring a great deal of authority to bear. Purportedly a woman of forty in love with a younger man, Miss Davis, often in unflattering makeup, jumps from comedy to pathos to hysteria with utter confidence, and she winds up by transforming a most difficult character into a lady who, however shrilly emotional, commands the sympathy of one and all.

“All About Eve” is a literate, adult film of the calibre that will do big league, big town business. In addition it has all the elements for the general runs.... The basic story is garnished with exceedingly well-cast performances wherein Miss Davis does not spare herself, makeup-wise, in the aging star assignment. Miss Baxter gives the proper shading to her cool and calculating approach in the process of ingratiation and ultimate opportunities; and the other principals mouth dialog which is real and convincing.