Original artwork, not a still
Fasten your seatbelts. It's gonna be a bumpy night.
— All About Eve · 1950
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Margo's warning is a performer's entrance line: a star who knows exactly how to silence a room uses it to announce that she is about to be magnificent and terrible. Bette Davis plays it with smoky, wounded grandeur, which is why it became one of the most imitated lines in film. People now say it before any tense dinner, flight or family gathering, usually with a drink in hand.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for All About EveShow the scene
In All About Eve (1950), Broadway star Margo Channing has watched the devoted young Eve Harrington work her way into her life, her friendships and, she suspects, her relationship with Bill Simpson, a director eight years her junior. At a party, Margo, well into her cocktails, announces to the room that the night is going to be rough, and then sets about wrecking the evening. Bette Davis got the part after Claudette Colbert was hospitalised with a back injury. Joseph L. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay.
Sources (2)
- All About Eve, WikipediaPlot and Production sectionsReference checked
- All About Eve, WikiquoteMargo Channing quotesReference checked
Context reviewed
