Margo Channing is one of the biggest stars on Broadway. But having just turned forty she is worried about what her advancing age will mean for her career. Tattered and forlorn, aspiring actress Eve Harrington shows up in Margo's dressing room, weaving a melancholy life story to Margo and her friends. Taking pity on the girl, Margo takes Eve as her personal assistant. Before long, it becomes apparent that naïve Eve is actually a Machiavellian conniver who cold-bloodedly uses Margo, her director Bill Sampson, Lloyd's wife Karen, and waspish critic Addison De Witt to rise to the top of the theatrical heap.
Bette Davis and her co-star Gary Merrill fell in love while shooting the movie. The two married in July 1950, a few weeks after filming was completed. They adopted a baby girl, whom they named Margot.
Reality imitated the movie 33 years later when Anne Baxter stepped into Bette Davis' shoes to replace her on the series Hotel (1983) after she fell ill.
Edmund Goulding, one of Bette Davis' former directors, rang up Joseph L. Mankiewicz and warned him that she would grind him down into a fine powder. The warning proved to be unnecessary, however, and Mankiewicz found her to be one of the most professional and agreeable actresses he'd ever worked with.
The film holds the record for the most female acting Oscar nominations in a single film, with four: Anne Baxter and Bette Davis' for Best Actress and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter for Best Supporting Actress.
This film received a record 14 Academy Award nominations, winning six, including Best Picture.
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