Playwright William Holden finds he can't handle leading lady Ginger Rogers, whom he miscasts in his play, presenting her as a 29 year old when she should play the character's mother instead. Rogers is an aging actress who won't face the music about the age while promising actress Patricia Crowley is anxious to play the role Holden had originally conceived to be 19. Crowley, who sounds amazingly like Ginger, tries to win Ginger's love (and the part) while Rogers' producer ex-husband Paul Douglas fights his undying feelings for her (admitting that their marriage was horrid) while keeping her career going.
The obvious comparisons to "All About Eve" (complete with Broadway archetypes such as press agent Jesse White) can't be avoided (much of the story is set in Sardi's), but this is more of a spoof of that great drama with obvious camp moments. Hollywood doesn't always do justice to its presentations of what life in the theatre is like, but this one manages to be acceptable. Like he did in 1950's "Sunset Boulevard", Holden plays a writer, but this character is as far from the role of Joe as you can get; In fact, his character works part-time in a grocery store! Rogers, still beautiful and charming (as her actress on screen is constantly referred to as), seems to enjoy spoofing her image, but is much less caustic than Bette Davis's Margo Channing in "All About Eve", and Crowley's starlet (who does refrigerator commercials) is no Eve Harrington. Crowley, later a star of sitcoms ("Please Don't Eat the Daisies") and soaps ("Generations", "Port Charles") is a promising ingénue (getting special billing as the film ends), but is far too young for Holden.
Overall, the film is interesting, basically a well-written sitcom with some nice character performances by veteran James Gleason as Holden's Broadway pal and Maidie Norman ("Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?") as Rogers' maid.
The obvious comparisons to "All About Eve" (complete with Broadway archetypes such as press agent Jesse White) can't be avoided (much of the story is set in Sardi's), but this is more of a spoof of that great drama with obvious camp moments. Hollywood doesn't always do justice to its presentations of what life in the theatre is like, but this one manages to be acceptable. Like he did in 1950's "Sunset Boulevard", Holden plays a writer, but this character is as far from the role of Joe as you can get; In fact, his character works part-time in a grocery store! Rogers, still beautiful and charming (as her actress on screen is constantly referred to as), seems to enjoy spoofing her image, but is much less caustic than Bette Davis's Margo Channing in "All About Eve", and Crowley's starlet (who does refrigerator commercials) is no Eve Harrington. Crowley, later a star of sitcoms ("Please Don't Eat the Daisies") and soaps ("Generations", "Port Charles") is a promising ingénue (getting special billing as the film ends), but is far too young for Holden.
Overall, the film is interesting, basically a well-written sitcom with some nice character performances by veteran James Gleason as Holden's Broadway pal and Maidie Norman ("Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?") as Rogers' maid.