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Hayward, Mankiewicz in Love and 'All About Eve'

posted 13 years ago by kalendjay
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After "House of Strangers", Joe Mankiewicz considered Susan as Margot Channing for "All About Eve", but she was considered too young (Bette Davis was to depict a woman only 40 years old and therefore an "aging" actress!)

But just how badly did Mank want her? There is some evidence in All About..

*Director Gregory Ratoff, who gave Susan her first real break and directorial panache in "Adam Had Four Sons' is cast as the director. In real life Sue named one of her sons after him!

*Reference is made to the Oneill play "The Hairy Ape" which she filmed in 1942

*The play within a film is an apparent recreation of Gone With The Wind which she famously auditioned for

*And there is that line from the Eve Harrington wannabe, "Lot's of actresses come from Brooklyn. Barbara Stanwyck, Susan Hayward..."

What would Margot Marrener actually have been like? Perhaps she would have done a Scarlett Ohara burlesque, just as she did as Helen Lawson in VOTD. Strange that Bette "Jezebel" Davis missed the chance!

[–] rnmackenzie 12 years ago

Fascinating stuff: thanks! I just watched Hayward in her film, "Ada," made over a decade later, and she was terrific in it, just enough older to have a certain authority she couldn't have had back in 49-50. If Mankiewicz could have waited ten more years to make "Eve," Hayward would have been perfect. Of course, Bette Davis did just fine with it too. . .

[–] ahab19 11 years ago

I thought the first choice for Margot was Claudette Colbert.

Kramer: ...he was very impressed with what I do.
Elaine: What you do? You don't do anything!