20 Amazing Facts About All About Eve
9. It Was A Long Process To Cast The Actress For Margo Channing
It was a long and extensive process to find the right Margo Channing.
Gertrude Lawrence was offered the role and was willing to do it as long as the drinking scenes were taken out and that Hammerstein II’s “Bill” would be played. After all those alterations were made, she turned down the role.
Joan Crawford, soon-to-be rival of Bette Davis, was also considered but couldn't commit because she was already starring in The Damned Don’t Cry (1950). Ingrid Bergman wanted the role but also didn’t want to leave Italy because she had just found love in the country. Susan Hayward's got thrown in the mix until the directing team concluded she was too young to play an aging star.
After a long search, it was finally decided that Claudette Colbert, aged 46 at the time, would play Margo. But just two weeks before filming began, she ruptured his disc and had to drop out meaning Bette Davis stepped in for the role at the final hour.
And will all due to respect to the actresses mentioned above, I don’t think any of us could imagine All About Eve without Davis’ outstanding performance.