Chronicling a couple years of life swirling around the aging Broadway star Margo Channing—
the great Bette Davis in her greatest role—
All About Eve is the rare star vehicle that's also a flat-out masterpiece. Writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's script remains the
Platonic ideal of the dialogue-driven screenplay, enabling an array of rich, twisty performances. But towering above all is Davis, whose immersion into the profound grotesquerie of Margo Channing is total. (
Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935. 6:30 pm, $5–$8.)