All About Eve vs. Sunset Blvd. (1 Viewer)

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Two of the most iconic movies of the golden age. Both leading actresses nominated the same year, both controversially lost out to a little-remembered Judy Holliday performance.

Which do you prefer though?


 
What a year. Throw in Caged (the original pitched Davis and Crawford vehicle that the former turned down as a "dyke drama") and Born Yesterday (which was offered to Hayworth, who was telling the studio to stick it at this point) and I cannot think of a better one. Some of the best ever Golden Era performances on show.

I'll go with Eve, but SB is the original Hollywood Under the Knife and is absolutely brutal in places (Wilder was no auteur, but he really went there on occasion - A Foreign Affair being another such example).

Eve sizzles from start to finish. It's impeccable as Blvd is divine and disquieting.
 
They are both astonishingly good. I could have voted either way, but seems my instincts took me the same way as everyone else's.
 
All About Eve without a shadow of a doubt.

Poor Judy Holliday died at age 43. I’ve only seen her in one thing (It should happen to you), but I really should check out ‘Born Yesterday’ to see what beat out Gloria and Bette. I’ve just read something that one cancelled out the other and that’s why people voted for Judy…..
 
jyxz said:
All About Eve without a shadow of a doubt.

Poor Judy Holliday died at age 43. I’ve only seen her in one thing (It should happen to you), but I really should check out ‘Born Yesterday’ to see what beat out Gloria and Bette. I’ve just read something that one cancelled out the other and that’s why people voted for Judy…..
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It’s good, but just not on the same level and Bette and Gloria. Unfortunately I first saw Born Yesterday in the form of the 90s remake with Melanie Griffiths.
 
Ellie said:
It’s good, but just not on the same level and Bette and Gloria. Unfortunately I first saw Born Yesterday in the form of the 90s remake with Melanie Griffiths.
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Have you seen ‘It should happen to you’? I saw the first 20 minutes or so way back in the day on tv then couldn’t ever find it again (pre internet).

it’s a (very dated) blast. Good fun though.
 
jyxz said:
Have you seen ‘It should happen to you’? I saw the first 20 minutes or so way back in the day on tv then couldn’t ever find it again (pre internet).

it’s a (very dated) blast. Good fun though.
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I actually saw it on TV just last year at random. I think it was on the Talking Pictures channel or something one Sunday morning.
 
They are both in my top ten films of all time but All About Eve is definitely top five and definitely the winner. The acting is superb, the dialogue still CRACKLES even now. Thanks for this thread- I am due my annual watch and that might just be the ticket for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Everyone please read the marvellous book “All About All About Eve”, which is so, so good.
 
A MILKSHAKE?

bette davis eve GIF
 
Oh GOD I've still never seen All About Eve which is ridiculous.

I only watched Sunset a few years ago as part of my classic movie bucketlist, and I really enjoyed it. I was shocked at how many quotes and cultural references I recognised.
 
All About Eve is indeed a top 5 film of all time and INCREDIBLY entertaining - perhaps the most entertaining film of that era. And also a rare film with a voiceover that WORKS.

Thanks for the recommendation Sheena I've got it on hold. :disco:
 
Both 11/10 but I prefer rewatching Eve as it's just ZIPPIER with its dialogue. Though I quote BOTH films in DAILY PARLANCE often.

Eve is missing a bone fide hunk though, which Sunset Boulevard more than delivers with Bill Holden and all those bare chested swimming pool shots :disco:
 
Both these are great though All About Eve is more watchable in 2021 for me due to Swanson’s delivery seeming way more of its time, understandable as it’s over 70 years ago.
 
Apparently an unpopular opinion, but Sunset Boulevard for me :D I do, of course, love AAE - but you just cannot DENY the sheer magnitude of Gloria Swanson's performance. Infinitely re-watchable for me.

Billy Wilder's spiritual successor to SB 'Fedora' is also WELL WORTH a watch for the curious. It's equally camp with a ludicrous storyline and some beautifully shot scenes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_(1978_film)

I saw the stage performance of SB a few years ago with GLENN CLOSE in the pivotal role. It was...ok. The songs were largely terrible, which is a BIT of an issue when the show is a musical :D
 
You see, this is my life
It always will be
There's nothing else...
Just us... and the cameras...
and those WONDERFUL people out there in the dark...

:disco::disco::disco:
 
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAAaaaA said:
I saw the stage performance of SB a few years ago with GLENN CLOSE in the pivotal role. It was...ok. The songs were largely terrible, which is a BIT of an issue when the show is a musical :D
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I rather enjoyed it. One of the longest standing ovations I’ve witnessed too, although a few years down the line I have little memory of any of the songs outside of The Perfect Year.

It was better than the rather horrendous All About Eve stage adaptation with Gillian Anderson and Lily James. I don’t know where the good reviews for that came from - we even had a few walk-outs after the interval.
 
Sorry, the Gillian Anderson All About Eve was sensational. Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. I loved every second. 10/10. And there were certainly no walkouts at my performance.
 
Ellie said:
I rather enjoyed it. One of the longest standing ovations I’ve witnessed too, although a few years down the line I have little memory of any of the songs outside of The Perfect Year.

It was better than the rather horrendous All About Eve stage adaptation with Gillian Anderson and Lily James. I don’t know where the good reviews for that came from - we even had a few walk-outs after the interval.
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Aside from The Perfect Year the only other song I can remember is a REALLY SHOUTY male solo number where the male lead says Sunset Boulevard a lot. For a stage show with Glenn Close, based upon a film I ADORE, I feel I should have loved it a lot more than I did.

I actually really liked All About Eve however, although it certainly wasn't perfect. But I am a self-confessed PJ Harvey fanboy, and I liked a lot of the soundtrack. All About Eve PAILED in comparison to Gillian Anderson's London STAGE TURN in A Streetcar Named Desire however (which strangely ALSO prominently used PJ Harvey as part of the soundtrack :D)
 
I don’t know the musical well but I LOVE the homosexual drama of As If We Never Said Goodbye…

 
You can stick your Glenn Close and Patti LuPone, I saw a touring production with FAITH BROWN :disco:

I also think it's a very average musical
 
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaAAaaaA said:
Apparently an unpopular opinion, but Sunset Boulevard for me :D I do, of course, love AAE - but you just cannot DENY the sheer magnitude of Gloria Swanson's performance. Infinitely re-watchable for me.

Billy Wilder's spiritual successor to SB 'Fedora' is also WELL WORTH a watch for the curious. It's equally camp with a ludicrous storyline and some beautifully shot scenes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedora_(1978_film)

I saw the stage performance of SB a few years ago with GLENN CLOSE in the pivotal role. It was...ok. The songs were largely terrible, which is a BIT of an issue when the show is a musical :D
Click to expand...

I've just ordered Fedora on Blu-Ray/DVD. Can't wait, I hadn't heard of it before.
 
It’s a fine demeanour to have for sound bites in a Davis or Crawford movie but for a real life person it’s just tiring.
 
Oh she shifts in tone on a few holiday diary uploads on youtube I seen a while back. I think she's in Turkey finding everything fabulous. And her Graham Norton radio interview also fun.
 
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