Bette Davis theatrical actress Margo Channing in "All About Eve" (1950). Davis read the script, described it as the best she had ever read, and accepted the role. Within days, she joined the cast in San Francisco to begin filming. During production, she established what would become a life-long friendship with her co-star Anne Baxter and a romantic relationship with her leading man Gary Merrill, which led to marriage. The film's director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, later remarked: "Bette was letter perfect. She was syllable-perfect. The director's dream: the prepared actress." Critics responded positively to Davis' performance, and several of her lines became
Cousin Bette (film) Cousin Bette (film) Cousin Bette is a 1998 British-American comedy-drama film starring Jessica Lange in the title role and is loosely based on the novel "Cousin Bette" by Honoré de Balzac. The wealthy Hulot family gathers at the deathbed of their matron Adeline (Geraldine Chaplin). Adeline's husband, the Baron Hector Hulot (Hugh Laurie) has squandered their fortune on an extravagant string of mistresses and plunged them heavily into debt, a fact which stresses the entire family. Adeline's Cousin Bette (Jessica Lange), a poor and aging spinster, has spent her life supporting Adeline and her family with little return, and promises