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All About Eve (Special Edition)

All About Eve (Special Edition)

List Price: $14.98
Your Price: $11.24
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An absolute knockout of a film.
Review: "All About Eve" is the story of an actress named Margo Channing, who has a jealous, envying fan named Eve, who maneuvers her way into Margo`s life, eventually becoming a famous actress herself. It's a flawless, brilliant film that was honored with 6 academy awards and was declared number 16 of all time on the American Film Institute's top 100 American movies list.

"All About Eve" stars Bette Davis as the delightfully sour Margo Channing and Anne Baxter as the jealous, envying Eve Harrington. Both women are perfect in their roles, as is most of the cast.

The film is a knockout. The script is sheer brilliance from start to finish and is among the greatest scripts ever written. The characters are great, the direction is outstanding and the movie maintains interest the entire time.

The movie begins with four of the main characters seated at an award night as Eve is presented with her award. We see Margo and her companions with sour looks on their faces as an old actor is making his speech. Then, we're taken back to the night where it all began. One of Margo`s closest friends Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) is walking to the back of the theatre when Eve introduces herself, explaining she is a fan of Margo`s. After they have met and heard Eve's sad story, Margo takes pity on Eve and asks her to move in with her. Then, Eve begins to maneuver her way into Margo`s life, working her way up to fame.

"All About Eve" is an outstanding movie, an excellent character study and is certainly a memorable experience with an ending that is just perfect. "All About Eve" is definitely a film worth seeing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "That's all this film is, dear--just brilliant!"
Review: Even if the plot is basically incredible, (if Eve was capable of such "fire and wind" even at her first audition, why bother with such an elaborate plan as her chance at fame?) movies rarely come as entertaining as this one. The script is rather lengthy, and some of the exchanges are a little too sophisticated to be convincing; but with all the savage wit, sparkling dialogue, and compelling narrative line, it certainly doesn't seem so. Add to this, rip-roaring performances by Bette Davis and George Sanders, (who conspire to steal the show), and solid support by Celeste Holm, the always superb Thelma Ritter, and the scheming, irresistable Anne Baxter, and you've got an exciting tale of power struggle, treachery, and love. Two of the players--Merrill and Marlowe--are here really out of their element (both were well cast in "Twelve O'Clock High"); and you'll see Marylin Monroe engage in what amounts to self-parody. But the script's the thing; and Mankiewicz (if never able to match his brilliance for biting repartee with a deft visual sense, "Sleuth" excepted), here pens one that wins out over all, a deserved classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bette at Her Best
Review: Bette made some terrific films.... this is one of my personal favorites along with "Mr. Skeffington" and "Now Voyager"... the plus is the stunning transfer of the film to DVD. It is fresh and few flaws are visible on this version. I saw the new version of "Sunset Blvd." just after seeing this film, and though "Eve" was made the same year, it looks far cleaner and crisper than "Sunset" does. Bravo to the restoration crew here! The film itself, is of course, a masterpiece and well worth the purchase price. A true gem!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Brilliant backstage backstabbing drama...
Review: One night after a theater performance Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is awaiting to see her idol, Margo Channing (Bette Davis), leave the theater, but to Eve's astonishment she is invited to Margo's lodge by Margo's best friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm). This leads to an invitation to become Margo's assistant which Eve gracefully accepts as it becomes her dream to work for Margo. However, Eve appears to be too good to be true as Margo becomes irritated by Eve's constant goodwill and care. It turn out that Eve has her own agenda, which she seeks to achieve with relentless dedication. All About Eve offers a brilliant cinematic experience and its six Oscars including one for best film in 1951 displays the type of cinematic quality that the audience is to witness as they view this brilliant film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Claws out, everyone!
Review: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter and Celeste Holm star in this classic film about the fear that there is always someone younger who can replace you. Bette Davis plays Margo Channing, a diva of Broadway who is insecure that, at 40, she is playing a 24-year-old and doubts the love of Bill, the younger man she is dating. Around this time, Karen (Holm), her best friend and the wife of the playwright who wrote her current vehicle, finds Eve, a foundling who is starstruck by Margo and watches her play every night. She invites Eve in to meet Margo, and before you know it, Eve is hired as Margo's personal assistant. She's sweet, caring, efficient -- and 24 years old, the exact age Margo pretends she is on stage.

Margo's insecurities flare to the forefront and she becomes ever more the diva about this young, beautiful woman in her midst. But it's not that straightforward -- this plot has twists you don't see. As Margo puts it at one point, "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night!"

Marilyn Monroe has a bit part in this movie as Miss Caswell, and she plays it to perfection --- another stage ingenue who is pretty but not too bright. Her innocence and honesty -- Eve says she is afraid she will bore someone in conversation, and Miss Caswell says "Oh, you won't bore him, honey! You won't get a chance to speak!"

There is also some over-the-top acting that was popular in Hollywood's Golden Age, and I had to laugh when one woman is slapped, and she turns her head "from the impact" a second too late so it is all fake and disjointed.

But all in all, I can see why this highly entertaining intriguing film earned so many Academy awards.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfection
Review: What can be said about this classic movie that hasn't already been said. Bette Davis is malevolent, tender, witty, and always the star in this portrait about the bitchiness and back-stabbing of the theatre world. At first amused by the syncophantic attention of a young fan (Anne Baxter superb as Eve), Bette Davis as ageing star Margo Channing, soon becomes all too aware of the scheming and plotting for her crown that underlies her attentions. What ensues is a struggle for attention, power and above all the shallow glory that Hollywood offers.

Directed by the master Joseph L Mankiewicz and starring one of the best ensemble casts ever, All About Eve is electric cinema. George Sanders as Addison de Witt is serpent like in his charm and malice, Celeste Holm is solid as best friend Karen, Gary Merrill excellent as long suffering Bill and Thelma Ritter brilliant as ever as no-nonsense Birdie. The script is the perfect example of mature, witty and incisive dialogue. In the hands (or the mouths) of the actors listed above it is transformed into art.

The highlights are numerous but watch out for Bette's meeting with a young starlet played by Marilyn Monroe in a bit part. The lines are delivered with such venom it is hard to know where the acting started and the reality finished. This scene is worth the price of the DVD alone.

This film cannot be recommended highly enough. Production is good on the DVD but it is disappointing there are no trailers or interviews besides a short one with Bette. A true American classic and a reminder of what Hollywood could do when it put its mind to it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An absolute knockout of a film.
Review: "All About Eve" is the story of an actress named Margo Channing, who has a jealous, envying fan named Eve, who maneuvers her way into Margo`s life, eventually becoming a famous actress herself. It's a flawless, brilliant film that was honored with 6 academy awards and was declared number 16 of all time on the American Film Institute's top 100 American movies list.

"All About Eve" stars Bette Davis as the delightfully sour Margo Channing and Anne Baxter as the jealous, envying Eve Harrington. Both women are perfect in their roles, as is most of the cast.

The film is a knockout. The script is sheer brilliance from start to finish and is among the greatest scripts ever written. The characters are great, the direction is outstanding and the movie maintains interest the entire time.

The movie begins with four of the main characters seated at an award night as Eve is presented with her award. We see Margo and her companions with sour looks on their faces as an old actor is making his speech. Then, we're taken back to the night where it all began. One of Margo`s closest friends Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) is walking to the back of the theatre when Eve introduces herself, explaining she is a fan of Margo`s. After they have met and heard Eve's sad story, Margo takes pity on Eve and asks her to move in with her. Then, Eve begins to maneuver her way into Margo`s life, working her way up to fame.

"All About Eve" is an outstanding movie, an excellent character study and is certainly a memorable experience with an ending that is just perfect. "All About Eve" is definitely a film worth seeing.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: "That's all this film is, dear--just brilliant!"
Review: Even if the plot is basically incredible, (if Eve was capable of such "fire and wind" even at her first audition, why bother with such an elaborate plan as her chance at fame?) movies rarely come as entertaining as this one. The script is rather lengthy, and some of the exchanges are a little too sophisticated to be convincing; but with all the savage wit, sparkling dialogue, and compelling narrative line, it certainly doesn't seem so. Add to this, rip-roaring performances by Bette Davis and George Sanders, (who conspire to steal the show), and solid support by Celeste Holm, the always superb Thelma Ritter, and the scheming, irresistable Anne Baxter, and you've got an exciting tale of power struggle, treachery, and love. Two of the players--Merrill and Marlowe--are here really out of their element (both were well cast in "Twelve O'Clock High"); and you'll see Marylin Monroe engage in what amounts to self-parody. But the script's the thing; and Mankiewicz (if never able to match his brilliance for biting repartee with a deft visual sense, "Sleuth" excepted), here pens one that wins out over all, a deserved classic.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bette Davis' Finest Role
Review: How does a woman who is not the typical Hollywood hottie stake a claim as one the most bankable actresses in the history of Hollywood? Personality and acting ability. She had both in spades. She may not have been a sweet little lady but she never faked it either. One of the more forceful personalities I've ever seen in all my movie watching. All About Eve starts slow but builds momentum and puts the audience on the edge of its seats. A movie about movies and fame and egos and infighting. Smart, funny and mean. Tremendously enjoyable and rewatchable.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It deserves its reputation.
Review: This film has a legendary reputation and it certainly lives up to it. All the catfights, the backstabbing, the blackmailing... What an exhilirating film! The cast is beyond superb and the ending is eerie, but sublime. Those heavenly voice-overs keep changing the point of view, but it is always done so perfectly. It is truly a cinematic masterpiece that hasn't aged a bit and still revels in all its glory. There's a reason why that "bumpy night" is still being talked about.


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