Read All About “All About Eve” Online
Authors: Sam Staggs
“One of the most”—Davis,
This ’N That
, p. 181
“She was perfect”—Moseley, p. 119
Slight jiggle—Behlmer,
America’s Favorite
, 208
“Do you know”—Holm, SMU
BOX: “Life of an actress”—
Times Picayune
, June 23, 1946; “I have always”—Holm, SMU; “I have never”—McClelland,
Starspeak
; “The basic theme”—
Theatre Week
, Mar. 3, 1989; “Television is just like”—unsourced clipping, NYPL; “My favorite show”—unsourced clipping, DPL
“One of my favorite”—Holm, SMU
Gary Merrill called—Merrill, p. 89
Mankiewicz treasured—Carey, p. 70
“We sat behind”—
NY Times
, Feb. 6, 1969
“When I was running”—ibid.
She loved Dickens—
Current Biography
, 1957, p. 469
“I like Bette”—Quirk,
Fasten
, p. 338
Thelma decided to buy—Fox Exhibitor’s Manual
“I adored that girl”—McClelland,
Starspeak
, p. 200
“Birdie always says”—
Films in Review
, Nov. 1969, p. 553
“She is not just”—
Films in Review
, Aug./Sept. 1974, p. 445
“I liked the stage”—
LA Times
, Apr. 14, 1946
“Celeste had acquired”—
Films in Review
, Aug./Sept. 1974, p. 445
“I could never”—
NY Daily News
, July 2, 1990
Liked the Zanuck children—Holm, SMU
CHAPTER 15
“I don’t understand”—McBride, p. 106
“I’m sorry, Joe”—Riese,
Bette
, p. 11
“Genius piece of business”—McBride, p. 106
Tony Perkins devised—Stephen Rebello,
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho
, p. 88
Special security guards—Fox Exhibitor’s Manual
“I’m still waiting”—Crist, p. 40
“A genius moviemaker”—ibid.
“Those are things”—McBride, pp. 105–106
Twenty-five years later—Davis,
This ’N That
, p. 93
“He was a stick”—
Films in Review
, Aug. 1991, p. 240
Feud had started—
Variety
, Apr. 18, 1956
“Frequently he”—
NY Journal American
, Apr. 15, 1956
“I had just kicked”—
NY Post
, Apr. 15, 1956;
NY Journal American
, Apr. 15, 1956
CHAPTER 16
“I always followed”—Merrill, p. 198
“But Gary”—Merrill, pp. 91–92
“I know a couple”—unsourced clipping, Bette Davis scrapbook #52, BU
“One’s back”—Davis,
Lonely Life
, p. 240
“Cut! Cut!”—Davis,
This ’N That
, p. 182; Geist, p. 169
“I can’t do that”—Geist, p. 169
F.A.G. shampoo—ibid.
Barbara Bates, who plays—details of Bates’s life and career from
Film Fan Monthly
, Mar. 1970, pp. 15–20; Anger,
Hollywood Babylon II
, pp. 211–212
“Artistically unjustifiable”—Winnington, p. 119
“A totally redundant”—Corliss, p. 243
BOX: According to Fox records—Carey, p. 66
CHAPTER 17
On May 31—Geist, p. 173
“I’m not giving”—Holm, SMU
“Like many directors”—TM to SS, Aug. 21, 1997
“You want to see”—Holm, SMU
“Most sophisticated directors”—ibid.
“He only worried”—TM to SS, Aug. 21, 1997
“I learned all about”—Stempel, AFI
In those days—Katz,
The Film Encyclopedia
, p. 406
“Creative, imaginative”—Davis,
Glamour Factory
, p. 286
Some studio directors—Davis,
Glamour Factory
, p. 289
Barbara McLean generally spent—ibid.
McLean and Webb met—
LA Times
, Apr. 2, 1996
“I see every picture”—
Hollywood Citizen News
, Mar. 23, 1945
“Because every woman”—Davis,
Glamour Factory
, p. 286
“Editing has traditionally”—Katz,
Film Encyclopedia
, p. 407
Another film historian—Acker, pp. 219–220
Dede Allen—Acker, p. 220
The Movieola could—Katz,
Film Encyclopedia
, p. 981
“Was this standard policy”—Stempel, AFI
“Dad was riding high”—TM to SS, Aug. 21, 1997
“We were very good friends”—Stempel, AFI
Tom Mankiewicz states—TM to SS, Aug. 21, 1997
“I get the best”—Ciment, pp. 199–2100
“Just leave it all”—Méigeau, p. 69
Zanuck prefaced a statement—
NY Times
, Apr. 2, 1996
“I don’t care”—Acker, p. 235
Selection of takes—Katz,
Film Encyclopedia
, p. 56
On Saturday, June 24—Carey, p. 66
Since screenings—Behlmer,
Memo
, p. xxi
“In the projection room”—Stempel, AFI
“In that editing room”—
Dallas Morning News,
Dec. 25, 1979
BOX: He told an interviewer—Ciment, p. 223; “I think I’ve read”—Carey, p. 72; “an absolute fool”—Stine,
Kiss
, p. 102; “Celeste Holm wept”—
Interview
, Nov. 1980; in 1991—
Films in Review
, Aug. 1991, p. 242
“Was happiest when”—Behlmer,
Memo
, p. xix
“I work hard”—Gussow, p. 88
It’s not surprising—Behlmer,
America’s Favorite
, p. 209
“All pictures are”—Gussow, p. 88
“Not bad for”—Gussow, p. 156
Later the author—Geist, p. 137
“Cut one wife”—Gussow, p. 157
CHAPTER 18
“I’m terrified”—Page Cook, liner notes for
Captain From Castile: The Classic Film Scores of Alfred Newman
, an LP recording
“The musical entity”—Carey, p. 98
“Opening and closing fanfares”—
Films in Review
, Aug./Sept. 1989
After two weeks—Moore,
Action
, Dec. 1950
Sixty musicians—ibid.
When the music cutters—ibid.
“If I want”—
NY Times
, Feb. 19, 1970
“A high-class, impersonal”—
NY Times
, Mar. 21, 1937
Wasn’t afraid to delegate—Palmer, p. 71
Newman’s musical idiom—ibid.
CHAPTER 19
“Almost no visual”—Kael,
Kiss
, p. 270
Mankiewicz told an interviewer—Mérigeau, p. 35
BOX: “tells of Zoe”—Mordden,
Fireside
, p. 15
“Men are less”—Carey, p. 20
“I often wonder”—Carey, p. 8
Lyle Wheeler supposedly—Heisner, p. 109
A poignant story—
LA Times
, Feb. 8 and Mar. 25, 1989
CHAPTER 20
Zanuck, having made—Moore,
Action
, Dec. 1950
Studio’s legal department—ibid.
“Back then I would”—Stempel, AFI
A routine form letter—Production Code Files, AMPAS
For each film—ibid.
“No one is very happy”—Leaming, p. 230
“I shall set off”—ibid.
“Looked like a dog”—
LA Times
, Aug. 23, 1951
Ceremony was performed—Riese,
Bette
, p. 448
“An hour after”—Leaming, p. 233
“The downfall”—Riese,
Bette
, p. 297
“The joke was”—Davis,
This ’N That
, p. 185
“The stars of”—Merrill, p. 197
“Not long after”—Davis,
This ’N That
, p. 186
BOX:
Life
reported—
Life
, Dec. 21, 1959; during the tour—Leaming, p. 247; in San Francisco—Spada, p. 322; Ethel Barrymore—Margot Peters,
The House of Barrymore
, p. 520; “I sat and watched”—Merrill, p. 196; “she had totally”—Merrill, p. 197
CHAPTER 21
The lights went down—unsourced clipping, Bette Davis scrapbook #50, BU
Buzz in Hollywood—Spada, pp. 284–285
Built on a scale—Black, p. 22
Flood of telephone calls—
NY Times
, Oct. 14, 1950
Ticket sales increased—
NY Herald Tribune
, Oct. 21, 1950
Variety
reported—
Variety
, Oct. 18, 1950
“Eve, who would make”—
NY Times
, Oct. 14, 1950
Leo Mishkin—quoted in Spada, p. 285
Two servicemen—Riese,
Bette
, p. 199
“The fans were treated”—
Hollywood Reporter
, Nov. 10, 1950
As the stars arrived—
Hollywood Citizen News
, Nov. 9, 1950
“I’m afraid some of”—
San Francisco Chronicle
, Apr. 16, 1950
“It was a world”—Davis,
Glamour Factory
, p. 325
“I love Hollywood”—McClelland,
Starspeak
, p. 50
“My husband”—Considine, p. 255
Sporadic applause—
LA Times
, Nov. 10, 1950
When the movie ended—ibid.
Dinner parties—
Hollywood Reporter
, Nov. 10, 1950
The studio bash—Stine,
Mother
, p. 237
“It was Bette’s”—quoted in Considine, p. 256
The new arrival—ibid.
Joan took her phone—Considine, p. 426
CHAPTER 22
Feeling ill—Considine, p. 257
Joan Crawford’s son—Considine, p. 258
She campaigned hard—Levy, p. 61
What a monster—Spada, p. 286
The first two actresses—ibid.
Later Mankiewicz said—ibid.
“A symbol that captures—Levy, p. xi
Sam Lesner—Swanson, p. 262
Fellow starlets—Wiley, p. 208
The only person—Wiley, p. 209
Sanders accepted—VanDerBeets, p. 107
“It is generally imagined”—Sanders, p. 69
“I sat alone”—Gabor,
My Story
, pp. 183–184
“The night I got”—Sanders, p. 70
“Ran up to Sam Jaffee’s table”—Wiley, p. 209
Gloria hugged Judy—ibid.
The radio network—Osborne, p. 170
Gloria Swanson congratulated—ibid.
In England—Wiley, p. 209
But she left—Wiley, p. 210
She felt she should—Levy, p. 218
In support of—
Playboy
, July 1982, p. 76
“Gary and I”—Riese,
Bette
, p. 412
“Swanson was up”—
Playboy
, July 1982, p. 76
Anne Baxter told—Riese,
Bette
, p. 38
List of non-Oscar awards from Riese,
Bette
, p. 29
Samson and Delilah
—Riese,
Bette
, p. 60
Eve
brought in—Solomon, p. 73
“In the golden years”—Solomon, p. xii
CHAPTER 23
“Most of the guests”—Davis,
This ’N That
, p. 18
“I begged the producer”—McBride, p. 108
Someone asked Tallulah—Carrier, p. 35
Tallulah called up—Quirk,
Fasten
, p. 334
She had sued—Brown, p. 184
Wrote letters, sent telegrams—Quirk,
Fasten
, p. 334
“No intentional imitation”—Spada, p. 287
Meyer Berger—quoted in Brian, p. 145
“Someone in the audience”—
Dallas Times Herald
, Dec. 6, 1950
The
Dallas Morning News—Dallas Morning News
, Dec. 6, 1950
The following year—Israel, p. 287
“Comedy of insult”—VanDerBeets, p. 109
To guest George Sanders—Israel, p. 288
“Whenever I’m in Hollywood”—VanDerBeets, p. 109
“Forced to vote”—Bankhead, p. 2; p. 325
Mary Orr still shudders—MO to SS, Apr. 16, 1996
“Was there any truth”—
Playboy
, July 1982, p. 78
Mankiewicz, too—Osborne, p. 171
“I steeped myself”—Head and Calistro, p. 94
“Multitude of reasons”—Israel, p. 236
“Barrage of scurrility”—Israel, p. 237
“I visited the set”—Carey, p. 74
“Zanuck’s choice for the role”—TM to SS, Aug. 21, 1997
“What Dad tried”—TM to SS, Aug. 21, 1997
“I’ve always told”—Carey, p. 72
“When Tallulah decided”—Israel, p. 101
“As scripts arrived”—Israel, p. 143
“Dola was a wealthy Canadian”—Brian, pp. 128–129
“Tallulah never traveled”—Brian, p. 256
“Can I help her”—Israel, p. 220
“She shopped”—ibid.
“I know what people”—Israel, p. 221
“By the time Tallulah”—Israel, p. 99
She reportedly—Israel, p. 65
“The Wise Old Man”—Campbell, p. 9
“Occupy a prominent place”—Campbell, p. 10
“Figure of the Tyrant-Monster”—Campbell, p. 15
“I’m well-nigh besotted”—Carey, p. 41
“Wonderful understanding”—Stempel, AFI
CHAPTER 24
“The screenplay is”—
Dallas Morning News
, Oct. 11, 1997
Film scholar Bernard Dick—Dick,
Anatomy
, p. 83
“Stream of juicy”—Winnington, p. 119
“The fashionable viewers”—Truffaut,
The Films in My Life
, p. 129
Mankiewicz only pretends”—quoted in Hochman, p. 314
BOX: “That homely little girl?”—unsourced clipping, Davis scrapbook #50, BU
“Triumphantly literary”—Andrew, p. 189
“True and savage indictment”—Riese,
Bette
, p. 7
“Elegant comedy”—Geist, p. 102
“Théâtre filmé”—Dick,
Mankiewicz
, p. 151
“Ersatz art”—Kael,
Kiss
, p. 283
“We tried to make”—Behlmer,
America’s Favorite
, p. 118
This device goes all the way back—Slide, p. 322
D. W. Griffith elaborated—Mast, p. 55
Popularized the freeze-frame—Dick,
Mankiewicz
, p. 25; Geist, p. 101
“The camera moves”—Dick,
Mankiewicz
, p. 155
“The best direction”—Mérigeau, pp. 14–15
“I was angry”—Taylor, p. 18
“They entertained you”—Kael,
Kane
, p. 26; p. 52
“We are transfixed”—Roen, p. 26