All About Eve - Margo's Monologue

[flenif2247]

This is one of the best written movies ever.

[taz3001]

OMG!! This monologue could be said today!!

[DickieAnginson]

"I detest cheap sentiment." -- Margo Channing

Bette Davis, Celeste Holm, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter and writer/director Joseph Mankiewicz -- Hollywood's greatest talents wrapped up like a present. What a wonderful film.

Of the major cast members, only Celeste Holm is still with us, at age 94.

[TheJasminsc]

0 dislikes. Classic Bette.

[edia05]

Aww i love this movie!! My favrit movie with bette davis although they are ALLwonderfull and her akting is 100%!!

[212smoothbttm]

The greatest



[DisneyClassicsFan]

This is acting! Few actors today can equal the genius of Bette Davis! Iwould say that Meryl Streep would be one of those that can equal her:)

[GayClassClown]

when i was a kid there was a show called "Don Adams Screen Test" and i wanted to do Bette Davis in this scene SO BADLY....i just KNEW i'd win.....but i also knew they wouldn't let a 13yo boy do a 40yo woman.....LOL.......so i have to be content now with my shows on youtube......keywords.....Alfr­ed Lewis Bette Davis.....lemme know what you think.....

[mrjenn30]

I love this women

[Tiruvannamalai108]

Yes, amazing movie...what a script! what acting! what insight! Still speaking to us as it always will....

[MrThesheenster]

Is she copying Tallulah as she said? Baby's drunk if they knew how! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[DiabolicalAngel]

@MrThesheenster She and Tallulah have alot of the same qualities. Both outspoken, drank a ton, smoked a ton, great actresses to say nothing of their similiar looks! I love them both!!1

[shawnanthony1992]

"Ten years from now Margo Channing will cease to exist..." - It's 50 years on and she still hasn't been forgotten... She never will. Rest In Peace Bette... and Happy Birthday x

[LINDSAYWINN]

is it a monologue though? More like a conversation, surely. Brilliant cinema.

[daytripperr1965]

Wow. One of the greatest monologues in film history. Also one of the greatest screenplays ever written.

[MerleOberon]

She did personally drain the gasoline tank!

[solcab75]

Wow.Impressive,very insightful.

"funny business, a woman's career. The things you drop on your way up the ladder, so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you go back to being a woman. That's one career all females have in common - whether we like it or not - being a woman."

[JensVitality]

@solcab75 that's my favorite part!!!

[fountainhead01]

Infants would get drunk if they knew how. HAHAHHAAHHA

[LelaShoe]

shes amazing o.o

[Jewl161]

so true, especialy in our day when being a woman is so despised and belittled as if there is something wrong with being different then men, not less just different. But as Margo says, sooner or later whether we like it or not we have to realize that we are a woman. But its a beautiful job, were more intuitive to people's emotions, we can tell when something isn't right, we can love so deeply not even the worst offender could shake us if we love them. Whether we like it or not thats who we are.

[dominoeangel]

We are so fast paced and thinking about the "face" (more of sexual attraction) ...that

we miss gorgeous acting!

Love watching actresses like this

[HowardTheFrog]

what is so great about this? just another woman whining about life.

[hollister18mrees]

@HowardTheFrog have you seen this movie? its a lot more than that

[OrgasmicTantrum93]

@HowardTheFrog poor you

[mca1218]

Not only one of Bette Davis's greatest film speeches, it's clearly (for me) the scene which earned her her nomination. But how awesome is she in perhaps the most vulnerable moment in the film, where she lets her hair down for once- and even says so!! And how wonderfully natural the dialogue is: comments like "so many people 'know' me...I wish I did," "slow curtain, the end," and so forth. Davis, Celeste Holm, and writer-director Joseph Mankiewicz are nothing less than SUPERB!!

[AtLastOnTheGround]

"So many people know me. I wish I did. I wish someone would tell me about me." That's going to be my senior quote.

[EJperfection]

The Academy Award are sooo blind at times when they give the award! I mean Ms. Davis SHOULD had won for this movie! Come on! It's with Sophie's Choice, Breakfast at Tiffany's, La Vie en Rose (I personally love the performance) and Gone with the Wind (IMO) ONE the GREATEST performance and character of ALL TIME! But for some reason was not given! >:( Bette should had won for Of Human Bondage too! (but wasn't even nominated)

[finalfantasyst]

This is the explanation for Davis' oscar loss: Baxter wanted to be nominated for Best Actress (not Supporting) and she made it happen. Voters could not pick between them and the votes were split. Because of this nominee Judie Holliday had more votes and walked away with the oscar.

It's one of many mistakes the Academy has made. I know that in the end it's only an award, but when that award is supposed to represent the industry's highest honor you'd expect the right people to win these awards.

[Pedropaulocastilho]

@finalfantasyst Who split the votes with Bette Davis was Gloria Swanson, two OUTSTANDING peformances, in 1950.

[xtinainthecity]

She was completely robbed!!!!!!!!!!!

[ToughXArmy69]

Bette Davis inherited the role of Margo when Claudette Colbert fell ill. Bette took the part and ran with it to accolades worldwide. Bette was nominated along with co star Anne Baxter who likely split the votes. Marilyn Monroe is brilliant in a cameo.

Judy Holiday won the Oscar as great as Bette Davis was I would have voted for

Gloria Swanson for her legendary performance Wilder's Sunset Blvd.

Davis, Swanson, Holiday, Wilder, Monroe, Colbert: Hollywood no longer has legends like you!!

[LUVROfEverythingOld2]

God,i LOVE this movie!

[anthonyfernando63]

The most literary screenplay ever. One fatal flaw is that, even in 1950, many of the references (eg., "Gibson Girl") are at least 40 years out of date. Que lastima.

[Operalover12002]

"More than anything in this world I love Bill. And I want Bill. And I want him to want me. But me, not Margo Channing." These lines show how agonized Margo felt aboutthe situations she was in.

Most actors and actresses would empathize with what

she says in this clip. The more famous they are, the less certain they become to know who they are actually. A great toast to this legendary actress.

And as a non-smoker and a great fan of hers, I wish she had not smoked throughout her career.

[hayamatsuka]

I think Margo's character really did portray Bette Davis even though it is Bette Davis herself.

[ElegantPaws01]

Actually the best monologue I cannot find. The bit at the beginning with George Sanders as he describes the characters. NOW that was brilliant writing.

[TheCoddlefish]

This movie is probably one of the last that classics whose merits is based soley on sheer acting! There are no special effects, car chases, CGI, bells and whistles. It is pure theatre, and deserved all the accolades it got. In my middle age I've suddenly found myself doing what my mother did in her youth, acting (community theatre, she did the real thing). Studying stuff like this is priceless.

[gilgamess]

@TheCoddlefish Agreed, wonderful movie. There are other movies that eschew special effects for good writing and acting. "Sleuth" (1972), "The Lion In Winter" (1968) The and "Mephisto" (1981) come to mind. This is a movie that makes you respect writing and acting.

[manweller1]

good scene

[aldodanilo]

Bette Davis was denied two Oscars purposely only because of jealousy and because she was nobody's cup of tea back in the day when she knew and bragged about her talent and skills. The other time was for her performance in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane in 1963, a brilliant example of what it is bringing to life a character from paper to the screen. Baby Jane remains easily a complete acting lesson for everyone in the business.

[ItBrandonSilver]

She won two Oscars, dumbass. Get your facts straight, and she was terrible in Baby Jane.

[EJperfection]

@aldodanilo I didn't see Whatever Happened to Baby Jane yet! But i do agree she was robbed two Oscars: Of Human Bondage and of course this movie that's one of the greatest performance of all time!

[furrowin]

bette was robbed when it came to the oscar i agree and what she says about being a woman is still very true today

[bearbagley]

one the best scenes...

[bettebogart]

Incredible writing, perfect acting, Doesn't get any better.

[ActYourButtOff]

People are sharing monologue videos with other aspiring actors @ "How's My Acting". Website link is on my channel or just "Google" it.

[GEVMM]

This is one of the best monologues in movie history... it's brilliant.

[Joefaragher]

So goood

[firearrow2000]

...such a sad monologue. EXTREMELY well-acted!

[jodiefostersnose]

Bette Davis' five pack a day smoking habit was one of the things that made her so beautiful. She looked so natural smoking. She looked more natural with a cigarette than without. The scene at 3:50 is proof of how beautiful she looked smoking.

[Joefaragher]

"They'd get drunk if they knew how."

hahahah

[BetteDavisMimic]

this is the BEST screenplay EVER written!!!!

[BetteDavisMimic]

"i detest cheap sentiment" which is a joke because earlier at the party she got drunk and had the poor piano player play "liebstraum" over and over

[bankerbird]

At the 3:23 mark, after Davis speaks the words "...but you're not a woman...", pay close attention to the music and how the violins take a decidedly sadder tone for about two seconds. It adds even more depth to the despondency of what Davis is saying. Brilliant!.

[dioclese]

they should re-name this film "all about smoking", seriously just look at how many scenes bette davis has a durrey lit...it was passe back then, but just imagine the outcry if they tried this today.

[CarlyIsAGangster]

@dioclese Bette was a heavy smoker. Back then they didn't know smoking was bad. It's just the generation.

[Maha1988]

She is just brilliant!

[cloume]

i love this woman

[BetteDavisMimic]

there's something wrong with this clip.....the music on the radio is wrong....it's supposed to be "Liebstraum"...like what the man was playing at the party.......anybody know why?????

[susiebones]

@ BetteDavisMimic

you're right! it's not the same song. and they skipped the part where Margo asks if she wants the music on/off, and when Karen says she doesn't mind, Margo says she hates false.... something.

[mca1218]

@BetteDavisMimic The speech with Karen begins AFTER she turns off "Liebstraum" on the radio. We just don't hear it here. She turns the radio on, recognizes the music from her party, and says, "I detest cheap sentiment!!" and turns it off.

[wesleyan97]

@BetteDavisMimic Beau Soir by Debussy

[BetteDavisMimic]

what i CANNOT imagine is Claudette Colbert as Margo Channing.....the gods of fate know better than us mere mortals, but they didn't have to break the poor woman's back (literally) to get Bette into the part.....As she herself said many times...."thank god for Joe Mankewicz!"

[KiddVid]

"Slow curtain, the end."

Yes Bette, sometimes it's painfully slow.

[Fragmeat666]

i adore this movie

[BLACKARAZZI]

BEST EVER.

[ldavies004]

Bette Davis is wonderful.... This is a great scene.

[DeathShamans]

hehahahahahahha

[mydakini]

BD at her finest! All women face this at some point, and I suppose men as well, what did you leave behind to get where you are now....and was it worth it?

thank you for posting this!

[skelton39]

I wonder if Bette Davis ever felt like Margo Channing as she talked these lines in this film...those things you drop on the way up the ladder so you can move faster....in the last analysis unless you can turn around in bed and there he is...but you're not a woman.

[yodaries]

best best best scene of this whole movie bette davis amazing I love this movie seen it like 6 thousand times thanks for posting

[UltimateDorito]

I love this so much. One of the best monologues of all time. So deeply relatable:

"Funny business a woman's career. The things you drop on the way up the ladder so you can move faster; you forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman."

No one could have said it better.

[billyguns2]

This is truly one of the great scenes in one of the greatest movies of all time; many thanks for sharing it. I can't believe Bette Davis was denied her third Oscar for this! She wuz robbed!

[KiddVid]

"I can't believe Bette Davis was denied her third Oscar for this! She wuz robbed!"

We were all robbed. Bette Davis made us know life's deepest secrets, without our having to strain our brains. She made things clear and obvious, to even us dolts who don't give mush thought to such matters. She did this with little (and often no) dialogue. She could tell a whole story with just a sideways glance.

[edwardjames50]

@KiddVid ~ Let's not forget who wrote this monologue. It wasn't La Davis.

[KiddVid]

@edwardjames50 No one's forgetting Mr. Mankiewicz. He got his Oscar. Who got the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Roll? Was it a memorable performance? Was it someone who could have delivered Mr. Mankiewicz' lines better than Miss Davis? Was the winner truly the best actress in a leading roll? It was Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. LOL

[paulj0557]

@KiddVid I love Davis too, but because my favorite actress is Barbara Stanwyck I have little regard for the Oscars, much less worrying over whether or not someone who was awarded a couple needed yet another. Stanwyck deserved an Oscar for Ladies of Leisure, but was robbed herself for her performance in Stella Dallas.

Just watched Davis again in 'With Malice Toward One' 1957. How could anyone not love her?!

[jewl131]

@KiddVid true, but Davis was also surrounded by the other greatest actors of all time so the loss of the Oscar isn't so bad when you know that someone equally amazing probably got it

[55kudu]

@KiddVid What great remarks! I always felt it was a SIN that she did not win the award that year, losing to Judy Holliday in "Born Yesterday", a fun film and Judy was fresh and perhaps her biggest role up until that time, but it really does not compare to "All About Eve", or her to Bette Davis. Say what you want about any talented artist, everyone is great, but there will never be an actor of her caliber, temperament, character and qualities. She is the archetype of all there are.

[tcrownprince]

AWESOME Scene THANKS.

[lorrieh]

Bette Davis...there's never been another like her...great clip!

[Laeliapurpurata]

She reminds me of me.

[RubyTuesday717]

I *just* re-watched this movie and I was really moved by this scene. I love Margo when she's bitchy just as much as I love her when she's vulnerable. It's so tailor-made for Davis it's impossible to even conceive the fact that Claudette Colbert was the first choice.

Perfect scene, perfect actress, perfect movie.