Great work, Fritz. I 100% concur that Baxter was a co-lead. Unpopular opinion, but I believe she had the more difficult role, and perhaps underplayed to balance Davis' less-than-subtle work.
This is a terrific video! Anne Baxter was a real professional - reliable, well-prepared and immensely talented. In her later career, she was prone to over-acting (like Eleanor Parker) but she was always a lustrous personality. Her memoir Intermission is a fascinating read - raw, honest, sensitive and intelligent - qualities that enhance her best screen work.
I read The Razor's Edge before seeing the film. I knew Anne already as an old movie buff, but was completely blown away how she nailed the character. Maugham talked about how Sophie still had an air of innocence, no matter what she had done and how far she'd sunk. Those layers are so hard to play and Anne nailed it!
I just watched your video (loved it by the way). I'm so glad that I wasn't the only person who thought that Anne Baxter in All About Eve is the MAIN LEAD too. While her acting didn't match the caliber compared to Bette Davis (no offense to Anne Baxter, she's a good actress too). She however did hold her own and managed to give the performance in an amazing movie.
A wonderful video essay that captures Anne Baxter's impact in the films. Vielen Dank, Fritz. 😊 I'm curious to see the one on Judy Holiday. 😊 I had seen your "How Katherine Hepburn helped Judy Holiday" video many times and liked it very much.
In many ways the casting of Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington is ideal. She picks up her cues, moves with some assurance, seems ambitious, and propels the story with an air of professionalism. Bless her that she was able to pay bills thru acting and in a long career. At the same time she lacks depth, doesn't really touch people, isn't particularly interesting, and is what is called a "workaday actress." She can have effective moments (as when she instructs Bette to sit down and listen in "Eve") but nothing she has done come close to touching what Bette does in the same film (or at her best elsewhere), Gloria did in "Sunset Boulevard" or Judy Holiday accomplished. Her shortcomings served the film, and to use a chess analogy---more castle than Bishop or Queen. And what a role to get!
Incredible and fascinating video. I always liked her in All About Eve and she's one of the many things I find captivating about the movie, even though her Eve Harrington is much more subtle compared to Margo Channing. It's awful to hear that she was treated horribly by the industry, even after her Oscar win for The Razor's Edge. I do think she was in 5th place in the Actress race if we base the race back then the way we do now (since there was more passion for Holliday, Davis, Swanson, and yes even Parker). But what a strong 5th place she was though! At least she'll always be an Oscar winner and had a memorable career nonetheless. Exceptionally researched video on the whole!
Such a great video! I agree with all your opinions about her acting in all About Eve. She was as believable as the actor playing Bette’s husband. When you can see the actor acting, and not being, I am not having fun watching.
My goodness you got it spot on Fritz! I really don’t know how many times I’ve seen All About Eve , each time I was always kind of disappointed in the portrayal of Eve. Even though I really wanted to love that character, your words really cleared my thoughts on that portrayal. If none of the actresses got nominated for an Oscar in that movie, it would have been OK and I still would’ve loved it anyway. I would have even rathered Ann Blyth been cast as Eve! Lol.
Bette Davis might not have come off so well if Anne Baxter hadn't been so marvelous in her role IMHO. Your videos are on point! I enjoy all of them. Thank you so much.
Anne Baxter was a fabulous actress and played the role of Eve perfectly. Joe Mankiewicz wanted her for the role after Zanuck tried to force Jeanne Crain on to him. Her artifice in the beginning is superb as that is what Eve was. Mankiewicz would have directed her that way. Birdie is the only one that sees through it. As the real Eve begins to unveil Anne Baxter is on fire!!!!! What a wonderful actress to play a villain trying to be sweet and then unleashing the beast. I would have given her the Oscar that year! She had the toughest role of all the nominees
It's great that you love her so much! I wish I could love her performance as well the same way but it shows that acting is very subjective and everyone reacts differently!
Another great, very well researched video, Fritz! I enjoyed learning a lot more about Baxter's early career. I always have loved her in "The Razor's Edge," but think she is too obvious in showing Eve's motives from the outset, especially on repeat viewings of the film. Completely agree Baxter's a co-lead, with close to the same screen time as Davis (but yes, I'd love to see what would have happened if Baxter had gone Supporting, so strong is my belief Davis deserved Best Actress for 1950).
@@FritzandtheOscars The reactions here are interesting. I see several comments mentioning how low-key and subtle Baxter is, while Davis is more overt. For me, I think there's a lot of dimension in Davis' work as she illustrates Margo's fears and egocentricities (it's not all just big out-there emoting; Davis deftly mixes the florid with more introspective playing, such as in the famous car scene monologue or with that phone call in bed), while as Eve Baxter appears to be clearly overplaying the character's deception in one-note fashion, making it hard to believe others would buy into her story so readily. I agree she works well after her talons are out in the second half of the film, though. It's as you state- different strokes for different folks in regard to how performances are valued. I would have liked to have seen Jeannie Crain in the role, as I think she would have underplayed Eve's duplicity. Thanks again for tackling possibly the biggest Best Actress race ever- you are doing a fantastic job covering these nominees! It doesn't appear I'll agree on the final choice this year (based on your previous work on the 1950 race and performances), but I do mesh with you regarding there being some truly top-quality work among this field, whomever the #1 choice may be.
@slc2466 thanks a lot for your comment! I'm actually a bit surprised about the reactions, I didn't think that Anne had so many supporters. But I'm happy that her work is so popular
@@FritzandtheOscars I think Baxter won her Oscar for the right role, but she probably would have scored Oscar #2 if she'd (incorrectly) gone supporting, like some leads do today.
My dear friend , you did undertake a marvelous task here . i simply loved it . I think Baxter was a specialist in portraying characters that start behaving like an angel and end up developing into real witches......just remember Guest in the House , All about Eve and The Ten Commandments. I would love you to take in consideration reviewing her Queen Nefretiri in TTC , always remembering she was directed by CB de Mille , who undoubtedly told her to have in mind Claudette Colbert in Cleopatra....gestures and voice intonation most of all . Baxter herself said it was silent screen acting in a modern movie . I would be delighted to see what you could do with her and such a cast !!!!!!
Isn't the whole point that Eve Harrington is a total phony? I always thought Anne Baxter was pitch perfect in this role. The audience can tell she's playing these people but she still reveals her almost monstrous ambition to us. In effect, she doesn't convince us but through flattery she obviously fools Margot, Karen & Lloyd - she doesn't convince Bill (though she might've) or Addison who plays her in reverse. In the writing, the character recedes in the second half because the story moves forward with Margot's development and ultimate win, while Eve is relegated to a plot development - I don't think there was a further opportunity in the playing that Baxter didn't realise. I loved the interviews with Baxter later in life - she seemed like a LOT of fun. :)
Your analysis of Anne Baxter's character choices is spot on. As much as I love “All About Eve,” I could never put my finger on something being off about the film. You are exactly right that Anne Baxter's Eve never feels endearing enough to elicit such sudden sympathy from the other characters. She always seems too poised and obviously calculating. I think someone like Ann Blyth may have been a better choice for Eve.
Anne Baxter was a marvel as the self-deprecating, sycophantic Eve, and it complemented Bette Davis's show-stopping performance. Both deserved their Best Actress nominations, and it's too bad that Bette lost. But she did.
Anne Baxter is one of the TRULY GREAT actresses from HOLLYWOOD HISTORY. Like Roselyn Russell and Barbara Stanwyck she was able to play roles that were so different from each other she could not be typecast. Look at Roselyn Russell, in her films from The Women, to Sister Kenny, His Girl Friday--and the MASTER PIECE Auntie Mame, she played different women in all those films she was not awarded an Oscar for any of them, and yet they are now all considered CLASSICS.
No, she's always playing the Anne Baxter she constructed. Her voice, for example, is obviously a construct, as we can hear when she's recorded in real life. She always uses that voice in films. It's arty and unconvincing. Her normal voice was really certain good. She should have used that one. Compare Marilyn. Marilyn's normal voice was irritatingly close to Nancy Reagan's. Marilyn was smart enough to construct a recognizable, yet flexible, voice.
@@johnryskamp2943 You are saying that you don't think Anne was talented, yet you then say she was so talented that she created an entire persona to use just on film leaving the real her free to move around in public. That is the definition of talent. Even so, her air voice and hesitant speech patterns are so apparent that even when reading her book you can mentally hear it. Her syntax and word construction it is all there. SO, while I do agree with all you said about Marilyn (who was even smarter than you indicate) I disagree with everything you said about Anne.
I agree with your assessment of Anne’s performance in All about Eve and that Eleanor Parker would have been better but as you said what a terrific career and what a full life.
16th she was a great actress - under-rated ...and she had one of those raspy voices - All about Eve came out 10yrs before I was born in 60...well I have to say IMO - I saw this in my early 20's on tv..as was captivated by the whole story....I knew nothing about it ....
Terrific actress. The part of Eve never seemed a perfect fit because, I think, what Baxter excels at is desperation. This is why she nails the characters she plays in The Razor's Edge, Chase a Crooked Shadow, and Requiem for a falling Star (an episode of Columbo). Even though she chews the scenery in these parts that's what those parts call for. She's hammy but it's just right as these characters call for melodramatic flourishes and exaggerated gestures, which don't work for a film like All About Eve as it demands sophisticated wit.
I feel you are wrong about Anne Baxter’s choice to play the role in an artificial way or that how she comes off, more precisely, artificially. That choice was a bridge to the audience, a wink, if you will, that Eve was up to something. In fact, the audience is officially in on her artificiality when Birdie mentions how her story had everything but the bloodhounds after her. Margo immediately chastises her (and the audience) and reminds us if a great actress such as Margo Channing (Bette Davis) believes her, so will you. Besides, I think theater people like to be entertained in a way, too, with someone else’s story.
So, your opinion of her performance hasn't really changed since the blog post about her, and I fully understand why - she's good in the role but not great. Besides Eleanor Parker, what other actress do you believe would've done the role justice?
Yes, I would love it if my opinion changed but I just cannot fully embrace her here. I have thought about that for a while, it's actually hard to come up with anyone here. Maybe Lee Grant or Ann Blyth (but Ann would probably also have been rather two-dimensional as in Mildred Pierce)?
Anne Baxter was good as Eve in the first half of the film and the second half she is pretty great. If the film was released today Anne Baxter would had been in supporting actress not leading. I could seen Eleanor Parker as Eve too.
Her voice reminds me exactly of kathleen turner!! Wow im watching the ten commandments now and I would never think shed sound like kathleen 😝 Shes adorable....respect! 🌹
Interesting take . However Anne Baxter was superb as Eve . She underplayed her role and as such was very effective . The film wouldn’t be the classic it was without her .
I’ve always loved her. I watched Razor’s Edge again last year. Her downfall is heartbreaking. In the 60s, she made a guest appearance on an episode on The F.B.I. Fun seeing her in that. Episode title: Region of Peril. Fritz, I don’t think you mentioned the sudden death of husband John Hodiak?
Excellent review. You are one of the few people I have heard who has the same feeling about in Baxter in this movie that I have had since I first saw it at 18 years old and that was a long time ago lol. I disagree with you on one point, I believe in Baxter heard this movie because from the moment she enters the film she comes across as a big movie actress and she is great layout shout out I miss Thelma Ritter one of my all-time favorite actresses. It was this year they had an all star cast and a cancellation the morning of the first shoot and 730 will call and Baxter. Other than that I loved everything you put out here and I have no subscribe to your channel. Thank you so much
To me, it's very simple. Anne Baxter had the Title role. The movie wasn't all about Eve as Addison DeWitt states at the beginning of the film. It was all about Eve and Margo equally. In the movie "ISLAND in the Sun," there were several separate stories with several leads. In the screen credits under the word staring there were several names.
I found the character of Eve, more complex and facinating than campy Margo. We saw Eve slowly shed her sweet facade into a viper; like a snake sheding it's old skin. For me, it was Ann Baxter's movie, not Bette's.
My favorite deadpan delivery from Anne as Nefretiri in "The Ten Commandments" is when she says about her son, "He's dead." It's a high camp performance with a couple of zingers towards Judith Anderson: "Go then, while I hear what this puckered old persimmon has to say. Take care, old frog, you croaked too much against Moses!"
What's so odd to me is I think Anne Baxter and Simone Signoret look so similar physically but have entirely different auras. Signoret is so sensual (and, if Eve, for example would be believably threatening to usurp Margot). You hit the right notes articulating what Baxter lacked as Eve
Although I don’t think Anne was the most interesting actress, I think she was perfectly cast in this role and most definitely a leading role, not a supporting one. I miss the days of two actors going up for the same movie, usually we get a category fraud in supporting to avoid this now.
Again, one of the most judicious analyses of Anne Baxter's career, her place in Hollywood (specifically 20th Century Fox) and the extent and limits of her talents. And now can hardly wait for your discussion of Judy Holliday! (One note: in terms of studio politics at the time, it should be noted that the Best Actress in 1950 had no nominee from MGM, noted as the biggest studio at the time: Eleanor Parker was from Warner Brothers, Gloria Swanson ironically was from Paramount - ironically because when she was a movie star in the 1920s, it was at Paramount, Anne Baxter and Bette Davis were from 20th Century Fox, and Judy Holliday was from Columbia. But Holliday's "fan base" in the industry was mostly based at MGM: Betty Comden and Adolph Green were major writers under contract to MGM, George Cukor was based at MGM, and she had just worked at MGM in ADAM'S RIB, which you've covered. Holliday had started in show business as part of a revue act that included Comden, Green and Leonard Bernstein.)
Anne Baxter was a PISTOL; she memorably blazed in several key movies; that is plenty for posterity. Her DESERVED Best Actress nomination for All About Eve WAS her award, she was not going to win against Bette Davis or the other contenders. Dear Fritz, this ia another of your MASTERFULL installments; Anne Baxter’s life and career is impeccably documented. However, your analysis is arguable. The nitpicking over her performance is an idiosyncratic tangent. “She was great here…here she was not convincing…Eleanor Parker would have been better…” Oh, come on! Anne Baxter WAS Eve Harrington! You do not give her credit for fiercely embracing the character’s gayness. In the finale she clearly lusts for Phoebe. It is doubtful that another actress would have unabashedly gone THERE. The first time I saw All About Eve was as a child on local television with commercials; I was spellbound. In the raincoat and with THAT cap, Anne Baxter was galvanizing. The enduring beauty of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s conceit is that audience KNOWS that Eve is up to something from the start. Lower class Birdie instantly catches on, while the hoity toity figures are bamboozled. Here we,are talking about one of the classics conjoined your brilliant take BRAVO!
It's great that you love her so much. I just have some problems with her performance that prevent me from embracing it but I also wanted to point out positive things to not sound too negative. In the end, it's all just everyone's personal opinions. :)
I disagree 100. She nailed it. I think you don’t understand her character. She is understated. I know people just like this. They are scary and are silent attackers.
By competing with Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson, Anne made Billie Holliday the winner. Billie had performed this role a THOUSAND times on stage and night after night she knew how work every intonation, pause and look to work. Anne Bancroft in her own day won an Oscar for the same role she perfected to win a Tony. It ain't right.
I personally think that stage acting and movie acting are different enough that even if you know a character, it doesn't mean that your performance automatically works
@@FritzandtheOscars People are people and you learn on stage what line always gets a laugh or what should be a great line but doesn't work. You learn to pause for two seconds before finishing a particular sentence and it makes it twice as good etc.
@@poetcomic1 But even on the stage, your performance is not the same all the time, especially if it's a comedy. You can have an audience that really responds and maybe you overact a bit because they like it so much and then you haven audience that doesn't react at all and you have to change everything you're doing. when you shoot the movie, you get no feedback from the crew (they cannot laugh) so you never know if what you do actually works
Sorry, sometimes I miss comments. Thanks for your kind words. I agree that Anne is extremely watchable in Ten Commandments. I doubt that I will make a video about her soon but I love that she has such a varied legacy that offers something for everyone
I utterly disagree with the assessment that Anne was not GOOD enough in Eve. One needs only look at the scenes shown her to see how talented she was. Her relating what Lloyd did 'banging on my door' scene, is a lie, and we see it as a lie because WE know the real HER by then. Yet when we first see her telling Margo and the crowd of her friends about her past--Eddie and the growing worship of Margo--feels real. Because WE don't know her we accept what she says are real, and that is TALENT. There is NOTHING one-dimensional in her performance. While I don't think she should have been nomed for Leading Actress--just as I don't think Piper Laurie should have been nominated for leading Actress in Carrie (1976) because while she did have a large role in that film she was actually a STRONG supporting actress.
We get it. You think Baxter's performance was lousy and "unconvincing." I find your assesment of of her performance "unconvincing." I don't agree with your blah, blah, blah.
Sorry. Her style was too affected. She should have acted the way she is off camera--no theatrics, no exaggeration. Then she could have been much better. Her style was out of place in postwar realism. Her style was from the 1930s.
Great work, Fritz. I 100% concur that Baxter was a co-lead. Unpopular opinion, but I believe she had the more difficult role, and perhaps underplayed to balance Davis' less-than-subtle work.
She sure did! You had to fall for Eve's lies, just like everyone in the film in first viewing. But be able to see her scheming on future viewings!
Thanks a lot! I love it that so many people like her so much, just shows how acting is subjective and everyone reacts differently!
This is a terrific video! Anne Baxter was a real professional - reliable, well-prepared and immensely talented. In her later career, she was prone to over-acting (like Eleanor Parker) but she was always a lustrous personality. Her memoir Intermission is a fascinating read - raw, honest, sensitive and intelligent - qualities that enhance her best screen work.
I read The Razor's Edge before seeing the film. I knew Anne already as an old movie buff, but was completely blown away how she nailed the character. Maugham talked about how Sophie still had an air of innocence, no matter what she had done and how far she'd sunk. Those layers are so hard to play and Anne nailed it!
She is very impressive in The Razor's Edge!
I just watched your video (loved it by the way). I'm so glad that I wasn't the only person who thought that Anne Baxter in All About Eve is the MAIN LEAD too. While her acting didn't match the caliber compared to Bette Davis (no offense to Anne Baxter, she's a good actress too). She however did hold her own and managed to give the performance in an amazing movie.
A wonderful video essay that captures Anne Baxter's impact in the films. Vielen Dank, Fritz. 😊
I'm curious to see the one on Judy Holiday. 😊 I had seen your "How Katherine Hepburn helped Judy Holiday" video many times and liked it very much.
Thanks so much! (there will be some repeating themes in the Judy Holliday video but I hope I'm adding more background this time)
In many ways the casting of Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington is ideal. She picks up her cues, moves with some assurance, seems ambitious, and propels the story with an air of professionalism. Bless her that she was able to pay bills thru acting and in a long career. At the same time she lacks depth, doesn't really touch people, isn't particularly interesting, and is what is called a "workaday actress." She can have effective moments (as when she instructs Bette to sit down and listen in "Eve") but nothing she has done come close to touching what Bette does in the same film (or at her best elsewhere), Gloria did in "Sunset Boulevard" or Judy Holiday accomplished. Her shortcomings served the film, and to use a chess analogy---more castle than Bishop or Queen. And what a role to get!
That's a very interesting view on it!
Incredible and fascinating video. I always liked her in All About Eve and she's one of the many things I find captivating about the movie, even though her Eve Harrington is much more subtle compared to Margo Channing. It's awful to hear that she was treated horribly by the industry, even after her Oscar win for The Razor's Edge. I do think she was in 5th place in the Actress race if we base the race back then the way we do now (since there was more passion for Holliday, Davis, Swanson, and yes even Parker). But what a strong 5th place she was though! At least she'll always be an Oscar winner and had a memorable career nonetheless. Exceptionally researched video on the whole!
Thanks a lot and I'm glad you liked her so much!
Bravo!
Please keep making these!
For now, I will :)
Such a great video! I agree with all your opinions about her acting in all About Eve. She was as believable as the actor playing Bette’s husband. When you can see the actor acting, and not being, I am not having fun watching.
Oh my goodness, didn’t expect to see your new video so soon! Thank you so much ❤❤❤❤
Anne Baxter was beautiful. Imagine being thought of a almost plain. And that voice!!! I didn't know she passed at only 62 😢
And they thought she was fat? Sadly, things never change!
Seriously, I was shocked when I found that out!
No to forget that year’s winner Judy Holiday also died early, at the age of 43🥲
A whole hour of Anne Baxter! I haven’t even started watching, and I already commented!😂
I could have gone for 2hrs. Fabulous Actress!
My goodness you got it spot on Fritz! I really don’t know how many times I’ve seen All About Eve , each time I was always kind of disappointed in the portrayal of Eve. Even though I really wanted to love that character, your words really cleared my thoughts on that portrayal. If none of the actresses got nominated for an Oscar in that movie, it would have been OK and I still would’ve loved it anyway. I would have even rathered Ann Blyth been cast as Eve! Lol.
This review is rather controversial so I'm glad I'm not completely alone in my opinion :)
Bette Davis might not have come off so well if Anne Baxter hadn't been so marvelous in her role IMHO.
Your videos are on point! I enjoy all of them. Thank you so much.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting
Anne Baxter was a fabulous actress and played the role of Eve perfectly. Joe Mankiewicz wanted her for the role after Zanuck tried to force Jeanne Crain on to him. Her artifice in the beginning is superb as that is what Eve was. Mankiewicz would have directed her that way. Birdie is the only one that sees through it. As the real Eve begins to unveil Anne Baxter is on fire!!!!! What a wonderful actress to play a villain trying to be sweet and then unleashing the beast. I would have given her the Oscar that year! She had the toughest role of all the nominees
It's great that you love her so much! I wish I could love her performance as well the same way but it shows that acting is very subjective and everyone reacts differently!
Another great, very well researched video, Fritz! I enjoyed learning a lot more about Baxter's early career. I always have loved her in "The Razor's Edge," but think she is too obvious in showing Eve's motives from the outset, especially on repeat viewings of the film. Completely agree Baxter's a co-lead, with close to the same screen time as Davis (but yes, I'd love to see what would have happened if Baxter had gone Supporting, so strong is my belief Davis deserved Best Actress for 1950).
Thanks a lot! :)
@@FritzandtheOscars The reactions here are interesting. I see several comments mentioning how low-key and subtle Baxter is, while Davis is more overt. For me, I think there's a lot of dimension in Davis' work as she illustrates Margo's fears and egocentricities (it's not all just big out-there emoting; Davis deftly mixes the florid with more introspective playing, such as in the famous car scene monologue or with that phone call in bed), while as Eve Baxter appears to be clearly overplaying the character's deception in one-note fashion, making it hard to believe others would buy into her story so readily. I agree she works well after her talons are out in the second half of the film, though. It's as you state- different strokes for different folks in regard to how performances are valued. I would have liked to have seen Jeannie Crain in the role, as I think she would have underplayed Eve's duplicity. Thanks again for tackling possibly the biggest Best Actress race ever- you are doing a fantastic job covering these nominees! It doesn't appear I'll agree on the final choice this year (based on your previous work on the 1950 race and performances), but I do mesh with you regarding there being some truly top-quality work among this field, whomever the #1 choice may be.
@slc2466 thanks a lot for your comment! I'm actually a bit surprised about the reactions, I didn't think that Anne had so many supporters. But I'm happy that her work is so popular
@@FritzandtheOscars I think Baxter won her Oscar for the right role, but she probably would have scored Oscar #2 if she'd (incorrectly) gone supporting, like some leads do today.
@@slc2466 I also think she deserved her actual Oscar. I feel that Josephine Hull would still have won if Anne had gone supporting
Very good job , Fritz.
💯% interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thankyou- all your Doco's are so thoroughly compiled! - with way more info than the usual! 😁👍💙
@@davidfairbrother4292 Well, it's 1950, I just couldn't make them short :D
@@FritzandtheOscars i watch all of your doco's.
Big fan of Bette.Davis..
Will there be a Barbara stanwyck one.🤞🤞🤞
@@davidfairbrother4292 Well, I covered Barbara for 1941 so far
Love what she says about savoring in the moment: Live in the present.
My dear friend , you did undertake a marvelous task here . i simply loved it . I think Baxter was a specialist in portraying characters that start behaving like an angel and end up developing into real witches......just remember Guest in the House , All about Eve and The Ten Commandments. I would love you to take in consideration reviewing her Queen Nefretiri in TTC , always remembering she was directed by CB de Mille , who undoubtedly told her to have in mind Claudette Colbert in Cleopatra....gestures and voice intonation most of all . Baxter herself said it was silent screen acting in a modern movie . I would be delighted to see what you could do with her and such a cast !!!!!!
Great video, Fritz!!
Thanks a lot!
Isn't the whole point that Eve Harrington is a total phony? I always thought Anne Baxter was pitch perfect in this role. The audience can tell she's playing these people but she still reveals her almost monstrous ambition to us. In effect, she doesn't convince us but through flattery she obviously fools Margot, Karen & Lloyd - she doesn't convince Bill (though she might've) or Addison who plays her in reverse. In the writing, the character recedes in the second half because the story moves forward with Margot's development and ultimate win, while Eve is relegated to a plot development - I don't think there was a further opportunity in the playing that Baxter didn't realise. I loved the interviews with Baxter later in life - she seemed like a LOT of fun. :)
I just feel that a really great actress should be less obvious whenever she lies
She was almost pitch perfect in Eve. But not quite.
Anne Baxter. Dynamic. A real trooper.
Your analysis of Anne Baxter's character choices is spot on. As much as I love “All About Eve,” I could never put my finger on something being off about the film. You are exactly right that Anne Baxter's Eve never feels endearing enough to elicit such sudden sympathy from the other characters. She always seems too poised and obviously calculating.
I think someone like Ann Blyth may have been a better choice for Eve.
One of the best films ever. 🎉
You are outdoing yourself on 1950 Best Actress race, Bravo, Mr. Fritz!
😍
Anne Baxter was a marvel as the self-deprecating, sycophantic Eve, and it complemented Bette Davis's show-stopping performance. Both deserved their Best Actress nominations, and it's too bad that Bette lost. But she did.
Anne Baxter is one of the TRULY GREAT actresses from HOLLYWOOD HISTORY. Like Roselyn Russell and Barbara Stanwyck she was able to play roles that were so different from each other she could not be typecast. Look at Roselyn Russell, in her films from The Women, to Sister Kenny, His Girl Friday--and the MASTER PIECE Auntie Mame, she played different women in all those films she was not awarded an Oscar for any of them, and yet they are now all considered CLASSICS.
No, she's always playing the Anne Baxter she constructed. Her voice, for example, is obviously a construct, as we can hear when she's recorded in real life. She always uses that voice in films. It's arty and unconvincing. Her normal voice was really certain good. She should have used that one.
Compare Marilyn. Marilyn's normal voice was irritatingly close to Nancy Reagan's. Marilyn was smart enough to construct a recognizable, yet flexible, voice.
@@johnryskamp2943 You are saying that you don't think Anne was talented, yet you then say she was so talented that she created an entire persona to use just on film leaving the real her free to move around in public. That is the definition of talent. Even so, her air voice and hesitant speech patterns are so apparent that even when reading her book you can mentally hear it. Her syntax and word construction it is all there. SO, while I do agree with all you said about Marilyn (who was even smarter than you indicate) I disagree with everything you said about Anne.
I agree with your assessment of Anne’s performance in All about Eve and that Eleanor Parker would have been better but as you said what a terrific career and what a full life.
16th she was a great actress - under-rated ...and she had one of those raspy voices - All about Eve came out 10yrs before I was born in 60...well I have to say IMO - I saw this in my early 20's on tv..as was captivated by the whole story....I knew nothing about it ....
Terrific actress. The part of Eve never seemed a perfect fit because, I think, what Baxter excels at is desperation. This is why she nails the characters she plays in The Razor's Edge, Chase a Crooked Shadow, and Requiem for a falling Star (an episode of Columbo). Even though she chews the scenery in these parts that's what those parts call for. She's hammy but it's just right as these characters call for melodramatic flourishes and exaggerated gestures, which don't work for a film like All About Eve as it demands sophisticated wit.
what about the 10 commandments?? She slayed as Nifirtiri
She was a lot of fun in that!
I feel you are wrong about Anne Baxter’s choice to play the role in an artificial way or that how she comes off, more precisely, artificially. That choice was a bridge to the audience, a wink, if you will, that Eve was up to something. In fact, the audience is officially in on her artificiality when Birdie mentions how her story had everything but the bloodhounds after her. Margo immediately chastises her (and the audience) and reminds us if a great actress such as Margo Channing (Bette Davis) believes her, so will you. Besides, I think theater people like to be entertained in a way, too, with someone else’s story.
It's great that everyone gets something different out of a performance!
@@FritzandtheOscars And I am absolutely correct.
@@dlrbsf Good for you! 🙂
@@FritzandtheOscars …speaking of artificial. 😆
@@dlrbsf It's what Eve would say 😀
So, your opinion of her performance hasn't really changed since the blog post about her, and I fully understand why - she's good in the role but not great. Besides Eleanor Parker, what other actress do you believe would've done the role justice?
Yes, I would love it if my opinion changed but I just cannot fully embrace her here. I have thought about that for a while, it's actually hard to come up with anyone here. Maybe Lee Grant or Ann Blyth (but Ann would probably also have been rather two-dimensional as in Mildred Pierce)?
Ann acted like she was acting. Not an easy thing.
Anne Baxter was good as Eve in the first half of the film and the second half she is pretty great. If the film was released today Anne Baxter would had been in supporting actress not leading. I could seen Eleanor Parker as Eve too.
Her voice reminds me exactly of kathleen turner!! Wow im watching the ten commandments now and I would never think shed sound like kathleen 😝 Shes adorable....respect! 🌹
Interesting take . However Anne Baxter was superb as Eve . She underplayed her role and as such was very effective . The film wouldn’t be the classic it was without her .
It's just personal opinions
Read her autobiography ' Intermission.'
It is fascinating. You will get to know her really well.
I’ve always loved her. I watched Razor’s Edge again last year. Her downfall is heartbreaking.
In the 60s, she made a guest appearance on an episode on The F.B.I. Fun seeing her in that. Episode title: Region of Peril.
Fritz, I don’t think you mentioned the sudden death of husband John Hodiak?
No, i felt the video was long enough with the focus on her career
I loved her in Renoir's Swamp Water (1941) too.
Frank Lloyd Wrights' granddaughter! 🎉
IMHO she is wonderful in everything she did. Just fantastic....... 😊
Glad you like her so much! Would be boring if we all had the same opinion! :)
Excellent review. You are one of the few people I have heard who has the same feeling about in Baxter in this movie that I have had since I first saw it at 18 years old and that was a long time ago lol. I disagree with you on one point, I believe in Baxter heard this movie because from the moment she enters the film she comes across as a big movie actress and she is great layout shout out I miss Thelma Ritter one of my all-time favorite actresses. It was this year they had an all star cast and a cancellation the morning of the first shoot and 730 will call and Baxter. Other than that I loved everything you put out here and I have no subscribe to your channel. Thank you so much
Thanks a lot for watching and your comment!
To me, it's very simple. Anne Baxter had the Title role. The movie wasn't all about Eve as Addison DeWitt states at the beginning of the film. It was all about Eve and Margo equally. In the movie "ISLAND in the Sun," there were several separate stories with several leads. In the screen credits under the word staring there were several names.
I found the character of Eve, more complex and facinating than campy Margo. We saw Eve slowly shed her sweet facade into a viper; like a snake sheding it's old skin. For me, it was Ann Baxter's movie, not Bette's.
Go Fritz 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
50:40 IS THAT CHRISTOPHER WALKEN AS HAMLET????
YES! :)
My favorite deadpan delivery from Anne as Nefretiri in "The Ten Commandments" is when she says about her son, "He's dead." It's a high camp performance with a couple of zingers towards Judith Anderson: "Go then, while I hear what this puckered old persimmon has to say. Take care, old frog, you croaked too much against Moses!"
She's so much campy fun in that
And she never looked more glamorous than in Ten C.
@jimc6054 the costume designers knew what they were doing!
What's so odd to me is I think Anne Baxter and Simone Signoret look so similar physically but have entirely different auras. Signoret is so sensual (and, if Eve, for example would be believably threatening to usurp Margot). You hit the right notes articulating what Baxter lacked as Eve
Thanks a lot
Anne Baxter plays the title role
Although I don’t think Anne was the most interesting actress, I think she was perfectly cast in this role and most definitely a leading role, not a supporting one. I miss the days of two actors going up for the same movie, usually we get a category fraud in supporting to avoid this now.
Her grandpa was frank lloyd wright
Again, one of the most judicious analyses of Anne Baxter's career, her place in Hollywood (specifically 20th Century Fox) and the extent and limits of her talents. And now can hardly wait for your discussion of Judy Holliday! (One note: in terms of studio politics at the time, it should be noted that the Best Actress in 1950 had no nominee from MGM, noted as the biggest studio at the time: Eleanor Parker was from Warner Brothers, Gloria Swanson ironically was from Paramount - ironically because when she was a movie star in the 1920s, it was at Paramount, Anne Baxter and Bette Davis were from 20th Century Fox, and Judy Holliday was from Columbia. But Holliday's "fan base" in the industry was mostly based at MGM: Betty Comden and Adolph Green were major writers under contract to MGM, George Cukor was based at MGM, and she had just worked at MGM in ADAM'S RIB, which you've covered. Holliday had started in show business as part of a revue act that included Comden, Green and Leonard Bernstein.)
That's a fascinating observation!
Anne Baxter was a PISTOL; she memorably blazed in several key movies; that is plenty for posterity. Her DESERVED Best Actress nomination for All About Eve WAS her award, she was not going to win against Bette Davis or the other contenders.
Dear Fritz, this ia another of your MASTERFULL installments; Anne Baxter’s life and career is impeccably documented. However, your analysis is arguable. The nitpicking over her performance is an idiosyncratic tangent. “She was great here…here she was not convincing…Eleanor Parker would have been better…” Oh, come on! Anne Baxter WAS Eve Harrington! You do not give her credit for fiercely embracing the character’s gayness. In the finale she clearly lusts for Phoebe. It is doubtful that another actress would have unabashedly gone THERE.
The first time I saw All About Eve was as a child on local television with commercials; I was spellbound. In the raincoat and with THAT cap, Anne Baxter was galvanizing. The enduring beauty of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s conceit is that audience KNOWS that Eve is up to something from the start. Lower class Birdie instantly catches on, while the hoity toity figures are bamboozled. Here we,are talking about one of the classics conjoined your brilliant take BRAVO!
It's great that you love her so much. I just have some problems with her performance that prevent me from embracing it but I also wanted to point out positive things to not sound too negative. In the end, it's all just everyone's personal opinions. :)
I disagree 100. She nailed it. I think you don’t understand her character. She is understated. I know people just like this. They are scary and are silent attackers.
I think I do understand her character, I just have a different opinion on her acting than you
Anne doesn’t have the presence to magnetize those around her. I agree with the commentary completely
She's too theatrical, too melodramatic. She's that way in all her roles, even Ambersons.
By competing with Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson, Anne made Billie Holliday the winner.
Billie had performed this role a THOUSAND times on stage and night after night she knew how work every intonation, pause and look to work. Anne Bancroft in her own day won an Oscar for the same role she perfected to win a Tony. It ain't right.
@user-kv2tj4du8p Z Judy of course - I confused her with the role.
I personally think that stage acting and movie acting are different enough that even if you know a character, it doesn't mean that your performance automatically works
@@FritzandtheOscars People are people and you learn on stage what line always gets a laugh or what should be a great line but doesn't work. You learn to pause for two seconds before finishing a particular sentence and it makes it twice as good etc.
@@poetcomic1 But even on the stage, your performance is not the same all the time, especially if it's a comedy. You can have an audience that really responds and maybe you overact a bit because they like it so much and then you haven audience that doesn't react at all and you have to change everything you're doing. when you shoot the movie, you get no feedback from the crew (they cannot laugh) so you never know if what you do actually works
I would have expected some words or your opinion on my comment
Sorry, sometimes I miss comments. Thanks for your kind words. I agree that Anne is extremely watchable in Ten Commandments. I doubt that I will make a video about her soon but I love that she has such a varied legacy that offers something for everyone
I utterly disagree with the assessment that Anne was not GOOD enough in Eve. One needs only look at the scenes shown her to see how talented she was. Her relating what Lloyd did 'banging on my door' scene, is a lie, and we see it as a lie because WE know the real HER by then. Yet when we first see her telling Margo and the crowd of her friends about her past--Eddie and the growing worship of Margo--feels real. Because WE don't know her we accept what she says are real, and that is TALENT. There is NOTHING one-dimensional in her performance. While I don't think she should have been nomed for Leading Actress--just as I don't think Piper Laurie should have been nominated for leading Actress in Carrie (1976) because while she did have a large role in that film she was actually a STRONG supporting actress.
Acting is very subjective and I'm happy that you respond to her work so positively
Bevause Eve was duplicitious baxter is acting twice over fake snd real. very tricky acting job
We get it. You think Baxter's performance was lousy and "unconvincing." I find your assesment of of her performance "unconvincing." I don't agree with your blah, blah, blah.
Thanks for watching! 🥰
Anne Baxter cost Bette Davis the much-deserved Oscar that year. Eve was a supporting roll. Period.
Both were co-lead. It's not like Patricia Neal (Hud) or Deborah Kerr (From here to eternity)
I dont think she deserves her nomination she's the least interesting character in the film
Anne Baxter just wasn't that good of an actress
Go watch The Razors Edge.
Sorry. Her style was too affected. She should have acted the way she is off camera--no theatrics, no exaggeration. Then she could have been much better. Her style was out of place in postwar realism. Her style was from the 1930s.