And the Mankiewicz script, which tells the story of a group of theater people, is heavy on dialogue, but it's totally believable, as characters talk shop and interrelate, by means of suitable verbal conflict and subtle subtext. Celeste Holm and reliable Thelma Ritter give topnotch performances as well. Then there's George Sanders who effortlessly slips into the role of witty, urbane, pompous Addison DeWitt, columnist magnifico, a man whose high opinion of himself allows him to declare to us, as viewers, that he is "essential to the theater". And as Eve, "the mousy one, with the trench coat and the funny hat", breathy Anne Baxter proves adept at subtleties that allow her character to change gradually over time. She truly becomes Margo, that "fixture of the theater", so beloved yet so insecure. As Margo, Bette Davis gives what I would consider one of the best performances, if not the best performance, in any film I have ever seen. But what it does do, it does extremely well. The film doesn't pretend to do all things. But the story screams stage play, which implies lots of talk and not much "action". Maybe the camera, which does nothing but sit there as the actors act, could have been made a little less static. What a movie! It's the cinematic ideal, the standard by which subsequent films are judged, at least in terms of acting and dialogue.
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