All About Eve

Phoebe is the young admirer who enters Eve's life just as Eve once entered Margo's. Played by Barbara Bates, she is waiting in Eve's hotel suite on the night of the award. Her eagerness to help gives her a place close to the star.

In Jessica Kiang's account of the ending, Phoebe puts on Eve's cloak and holds her award before angled mirrors. The reflections multiply her image. Kiang reads this as a cycle beginning again: the admirer can also be someone rehearsing the role she admires.

The film leaves us with that rehearsal, rather than showing Phoebe's later career. On another viewing, compare her offer of help with Eve's first approach to Margo. The resemblance makes Eve's newly won position look vulnerable without telling us that Phoebe will inevitably take it.