OVERLAY REPORT

In the climax of **All About Eve (1950)**, the destination and motivations of the main character can be viewed through the two central figures: **Eve Harrington**, who achieves her ambitious goals, and **Margo Channing**, who finds personal resolution. ### **1. Eve Harrington: To Hollywood (and her Hotel Room)** While the film is structured as a flashback, the "climax" of the present-day narrative occurs at the **Sarah Siddons Award banquet**. * **Where she goes:** After accepting the prestigious Sarah Siddons Award (the highest honor in the theater world), Eve announces to the audience that she is leaving New York to go to **Hollywood** to make a film. After the ceremony, she skips the celebratory party and returns to her **hotel room/apartment**. * **The Reason (Hollywood):** Professionally, Eve has conquered Broadway. Her ambition has no further heights to reach in the theater, and Hollywood represents the next stage of her career. Narratively, she is also fleeing the social circle she betrayed; Margo, Bill, Karen, and Lloyd now know her true nature and treat her with cold indifference. * **The Reason (Her Room):** Eve returns to her room exhausted and emotionally hollow. This sets up the film's famous final twist: she finds a young fan named **Phoebe** hiding in her room. Phoebe is essentially a younger version of Eve, signaling that the cycle of manipulation and replaced stars is starting all over again, with Eve now the target. ### **2. The "Hidden" Climax: New Haven** In the climax of the film’s *flashback* sequence (the chronological peak of the drama), a pivotal confrontation occurs in **New Haven**. * **Where she goes:** Eve is in a hotel room in New Haven during the out-of-town tryouts for the play *Footsteps on the Ceiling*. * **The Reason:** She is there to star in the lead role she blackmailed her way into. However, the critic **Addison DeWitt** confronts her there. * **Specific Detail:** Addison reveals he has investigated her past and discovered her "tragic" backstory was a total fabrication. He tells her he "owns" her now, effectively ending her independence. This confrontation is the moment Eve’s victory is revealed to be a "pyrrhic" one; she reaches the top, but she does so as a prisoner of Addison’s influence. ### **3. Margo Channing: Toward Domesticity** If one considers **Margo Channing** the emotional protagonist, her "climax" occurs when she realizes she no longer wants to fight for the spotlight. * **Where she goes:** Margo chooses to "go" into a life of **marriage and domesticity** with Bill Sampson. * **The Reason:** During a famous scene in a stalled car and later at a restaurant, Margo realizes that being a "star" has made her lonely and paranoid. She voluntarily steps aside, allowing Eve to take the roles she is "too old" for, finding peace in her relationship rather than her career. ### **Summary of the Final Shot** At the very end of the film, **Eve** is in her apartment, but the camera focuses on **Phoebe**. Phoebe takes Eve's Sarah Siddons Award, puts on Eve's elegant cloak, and poses in front of a multi-paneled mirror. The mirror reflects her image infinitely, symbolizing the endless line of ambitious "Eves" waiting to replace the current star.