Why did Celeste Holm have such an ugly hairstyle in All About Eve?

The early 1950s was an era of bad women's hairstyles. Miss Holm's "All About Eve" 'do is a variation on Ethel Mertz's hair, which was a common look for '50s housewives, which 'Karen Richards' was. In contrast, Margo Channing's longer hairdo of soft glamour waves befitting a younger woman, showcased a leading lady, who, despite approaching middle age still saw herself as a bewitching temptress.

Bette may have looked better than Celeste in Eve but Celeste in Eve still looked a 1000x better than Bette did just 2 years later in The Star.

Bette’s hair never looked better than in AAE. She should have worn it that way for a long time.

R3 The funny thing is that posters for her later movies like The Star, The Catered Affair, and Phone Call from a Stranger all had Bette with long hair from AAE even though in the actual movies, she had her short cropped hair which aged her about 15 years. Even the marketing departments seem to realize Bette looked much better with longer hair.

Several hairstyles were common for women in 1950's. Few of most popular were the Poodle cut, tight curly, short or long bob.

Margo Channing's flowing long hair was often nicknamed "Hollywood Pin Up" and was favourite of Jane Russell, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, June Haver, and others.

[quote]”Bette was much older than her but she looks superb in comparison.”

OP - You just answered your own question.

Was just thinking about Celeste and Bette and "All About Eve" during my walk yesterday for some reason. Do you think Margo ever figured out that Karen was the one who siphoned off her gas so Eve could go as understudy? And why would Karen not want to be in the theater while Eve was having her triumph?

[quote]Do you think Margo ever figured out that Karen was the one who siphoned off her gas so Eve could go as understudy?

I think that was whole point of the private Ladies Room chat.

Yes, I know Eve was blackmailing Karen with that, but might Margo ever think how her car service didn't have enough gas if that was the usual procedure on one of her subsequent jaunts from out of town?

It was Lloyd’s car.

R3, Of course she never looked better. She copied my style!

Ugly hairstyle and oh shit, good manners.

Was there more to the animosity between Holm and Davis than that, was it initial day on the set? Supposedly Celeste arrived on set and said "Good morning" to Bette and the others, and Bette said in reply something like "Oh shit, good manners". What could have been behind that? While Bette could be a really determined lady in standing up to Jack Warner about scripts and such, and her fights with Joan Crawford are well documented, Bette seemed in certain ways to be rather down to earth. What was it about Celeste that set Bette off? I have heard some stories that Celeste was not the easiest person to deal with though, at least years later.

R13 Davis learned more than a decade before to assert her dominance on the set on day one of each new project, particularly over other women. Most costars knew this and ignored Bette's ritual. Holm took offence to it immediately instead of dismissing it as one of Bette's quirks. Bette did attempt a few years later to make amends with Celeste, but she was having none of it and snubbed Davis.

Ironically, what offended Celeste was something she herself adopted from the mid-60s until she died. Yes, Celeste could out-bitch Bette.

Very good explanation, R14 . Thanks!

"Filming 'All About Eve' was a very happy experience... the only bitch in the cast was Celeste Holm." -- Bette Davis

Those early 1950s hairdos evolved from the innovation of home perms. It was all about the new post-war freedom of not having to set one's hair every night and sleep on a head full of metal coiled rollers and pins.

But I'm curious - did Bette really attempt to make amends with Celeste in later years? I've never heard that before.

Celeste apparently was unhappy about Bette being cast from the very beginning. Even before Bette arrived on set, Celeste was making snarky comments about how the Queen of Warner Brothers was coming.

Celeste also claimed that Bette made for a hostile environment. How Bette and Gary Merrill would sit together and whisper about the other actors and laugh at them as they walked by.

Although I don't think Celeste got along with Anne Baxter either, thinking she was too proud of her ancestry which probably ticked off Celeste because while she could lord her superior upbringing over Bette, Anne was the one person with a better family background than her.

People forget that All About Eve was a huge and unexpected comeback for Bette. She hadn't had a hit or even decent film role in years and was only a last minute replacement for Claudette Colbert as Margo. So she was very nervous when the shoot began and naturally took some it out on Celeste who, though never a leading lady, was a recent Oscar winner whose career was sailing along.

R17 I can't imagine Bette reaching out to apologize to Celeste whom she seemed to detest. Especially going by how Celeste, even by the end of her life, would tell anyone who would listen what a bitch Bette was.

I can only wonder what all the ladies thought about Marilyn Monroe who steals every scene she's in and seems to be lit with her own key light.

R21 She's only got two scenes and she hardly stole anything. Apparently Bette couldn't stand her lack of talent and made relentless fun of MM for forgetting her lines and not being able to act. MM said she would run between takes to the bathroom and would vomit from the experience.

R21 She's only got two scenes and she hardly stole anything. Apparently Bette couldn't stand her lack of talent and made relentless fun of MM for forgetting her lines and not being able to act. MM said she would run between takes to the bathroom and would vomit from the experience.

[quote]Celeste was making snarky comments about how the Queen of Warner Brothers was coming

Funny, I cannot seem to recall ever visiting that set.

R24 Wasn't Joan at the AAE premiere? I know this was one of her favorite movies which she always caught on TV. It's too bad Mank never directed her despite producing so many of her movies in the 30s. I wonder if he ever considered Joan for Margo Channing.

I also wonder if Joan's interest in Torch Song and playing Jenny Stewart was in part because she thought it would be for her what AAE was for Bette. I know Joan always felt Torch Song was one of the best scripts she ever got.