Editing All About Eve (section)

===Casting===
Among the actresses originally considered to play Margo Channing were Mankiewicz's original inspiration [[Susan Hayward]], who was rejected by Zanuck as "too young", [[Marlene Dietrich]], dismissed as "too German" and [[Gertrude Lawrence]], who was ruled out when her lawyer insisted that she not have to drink or smoke in the film and that the script would be rewritten to allow her to sing a [[torch song]].<ref name=tcmnotes /> Zanuck favored [[Barbara Stanwyck]], but she was not available. [[Tallulah Bankhead]] was considered, as was [[Joan Crawford]], who was working on the film ''[[The Damned Don't Cry]].''<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.legendaryjoancrawford.com/castaphrocies.html| title=Cast-aphrocies| website=Legendary Joan Crawford| access-date=April 20, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905231400/http://www.legendaryjoancrawford.com/castaphrocies.html| archive-date=September 5, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The role went to [[Claudette Colbert]], but she withdrew after an injury shortly before filming began. Mankiewicz briefly considered [[Ingrid Bergman]] before offering the role to Bette Davis.<ref name=tcmnotes>{{cite web| url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/67044/all-about-eve#notes| title=All About Eve: Notes| website=[[Turner Classic Movies]]| access-date=April 24, 2022}}</ref> Davis, who had recently ended an 18-year association with [[Warner Bros.]] after several poorly received films, accepted the role, saying later that the script was among the best that she had ever read. Margo had been originally conceived as genteel and knowingly humorous, but with the casting of Davis, Mankiewicz revised the character to introduce abrasive qualities. Mankiewicz praised Davis for her professionalism and for the caliber of her performance.

[[Anne Baxter]] had spent a decade in supporting roles and had won the 1946 [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for ''[[The Razor's Edge (1946 film)|The Razor's Edge]].'' She won the role of Eve after [[Jeanne Crain]], the first choice, became pregnant. Crain was at the height of her popularity and had established a career playing likable heroines; Zanuck believed that she lacked the "bitch virtuosity" required by the part and that audiences would not accept her as a deceitful character.

Mankiewicz greatly admired [[Thelma Ritter]] and wrote the character of Birdie Coonan for her after working with her on ''[[A Letter to Three Wives]]'' in 1949. As Coonan is the only character immediately suspicious of Eve Harrington, Mankiewicz was confident that Ritter would contribute a shrewd characterization that cast doubt on Eve and provided a counterpoint to the more theatrical personalities of the other characters. [[Marilyn Monroe]], relatively unknown at the time, was cast as Miss Casswell, referred to by DeWitt as a "graduate of the [[Copacabana (nightclub)|Copacabana]] School of Dramatic Art."

Monroe won the part after a lobbying campaign by her agent,<ref name="miller">{{cite web| last=Miller| first=Frank| url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/67044/all-about-eve#articles-reviews?articleId=189049| title=All About Eve| website=Turner Classic Movies| access-date=April 24, 2022}}</ref> despite Zanuck's initial antipathy and belief that she was better suited to comedy.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}<ref name="miller" /> The inexperienced Monroe was cowed by Davis, and it took 11 takes to complete the scene in the theater lobby; when Davis barked at her, Monroe left the set to vomit.<ref name="miller" /> Smaller roles were filled by [[Gregory Ratoff]] as the producer Max Fabian, [[Barbara Bates]] as Phoebe and [[Walter Hampden]] as the host of the award ceremony.<ref name="staggs" /> Hampden was the president of the prestigious [[The Players (New York City)|Players Club]] in New York, a club for actors that gives a lifetime achievement award.