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All About Eve (Special Edition)

All About Eve (Special Edition)

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: OK, but not a a real classic
Review: I do think there is a lot of merit in this film, above all the insightful insertion of two hours of background between the moment Anne Baxter gets up, and then receives her theatrical award. I don't think I will ever be able to fully trust in anything I hear a star say upon receiving an award in the future. The theme of aging ungracefully and the "kill or be killed" requirements of the entertainment world are also provocative and unsettling.

That said, the poor ending scene was campy and cheapened the entire film with a very 50ish taint. And despite the fact that Bette Davis was able to deliver her eloquent lines with wit and precision, I still couldn't help but get the feeling that the players in this drama were not quite up to the level of sophistication required to really tell this tale like a classic. Gary Merrill is basically a TV actor, he was not up to the task. And the brilliant George Sanders, while good, appears to be mouthing it primarily for the paycheck. (compare with his performance in Hitchcock's 1940 best picture-winning Rebecca). The only thing memorable about Marilyn Monroe's brief appearance is her youth and Sanders' fateful remarks to her.

All in all, this is a good old movie, and worth watching. Sadly, it falls short of being a great 5-star film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bette Davis demonstrates her acerbic wit and style
Review: I can't add anything to the raves already posted but did want to say that Pedro Almodovar's film "All About My Mother" pays tribute to "All About Eve" as well as "A Streetcar Named Desire." The relationship between the aging actress, her younger protege,and the grieving mother plays nicely off the trio of women in "All About Eve." So for a new spin on an old but timeless classic, check out "All About My Mother," an intriguing film in its own right.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Bette's finest moment
Review: I think I may be too young to appreciate the fuss that has been made about this film. What is the big deal about a movie focussing on a bunch of bitching women? Sure it has Bette Davis in it, and yes she was nominated for an Oscar at the time ... but it is not her finest moment at all.

A simple storyline about a jealous fan who manipulates anyone who gets in her way. There, I've told you ... now just go see Bette in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane"

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: BETTE`S BEST!
Review: Anne Baxter once said in an interview: "How often do u get a moviescript, and it is like u read a PLAY...."

Indeed, in 1970 this film became a musical and won Lauren Bacall a Tony for her role as Margo.

Bette Davis, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Anne Baxter, Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill and Marilyn Monroe all have memorable lines and turn in good performances.

Director Edmund Goulding called Joseph Mankiewicz on the phone: "She(Miss Davis) will put down notes, and eventually take over the direction!"

Joseph wasn`t put off by this, and he gave Bette her greatest film - worthy of her talents...

This film is the BEST about people who work(ed) in the theatre. No question about it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great classic for people who don't even like old movies
Review: Even though this movie was made over half a century ago, it does NOT seem old and dated at all! (Even my eleven-year-old sister liked it.) This is probably one of the smartest movies ever made, and even though it's not supposed to be a comedy, it is delightfully witty. Every clever bit of dialogue is matched with a snappy comeback. It is absolutely brilliant.

I won't bore you too much with plot summaries you can read in a thousand other places, but here's a quick synopsis: Bette Davis plays Margo Channing, a legendary stage actress with a huge ego, who is not exactly aging gracefully. However, she has good friends, a successful career, etc., and everything is going well until a 'fan' named Eve Harrington comes along. She maneuvers her way into Margo's life and eventually takes over, and even manages to become Margo's understudy. At first, she does this by being so sweet and nice, that you REALLY wish Bette Davis would just punch her. Eventually, everyone starts to see that Eve isn't such a nice kid, but that's only after she's lied, schemed, and blackmailed her way to becoming a star.

The movie may be All About Eve, but the real star here is Bette Davis. This is one of her best performances, and she definitely should have won the Oscar for this one. I suppose the reason she didn't is because Anne Baxter was nominated in the same category, who is also great in this movie. The entire supporting cast is excellent. Thelma Ritter as Birdie is my favourite, with her sharpness and blunt observations, but I wish she was in more scenes. She seems to disappear halfway through the film. However, that is a minor flaw in such a great movie. I HIGHLY recommend this movie to anyone who's just paid ten bucks to sit through yet another barely watchable movie at the theatre. All About Eve puts every movie released this year to shame!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Superb Acting And Sparkling Dialog
Review: ALL ABOUT EVE is a classic movie about life in the world of the theater. The main theme concerns an aging actress and the calculating young woman in whom she takes an interest. It's a great film primarily because of the superb acting and sparkling dialogue. Of course for some there may be too much talk and not enough action.

Bette Davis fans will regard the movie as a veritable feast. The strong supporting cast includes Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill and Thelma Ritter. Look for Marilyn Monroe in a small role. George Sanders excells as a sharp-tongued critic.

ALL ABOUT EVE dominated the Academy Awards competition in 1950. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Director ( Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Supporting Actor (George Sanders), Screenplay, Sound Recording and B&W Costume Design. Eight other nominations were received including Best Actress (Anne Baxter, Bette Davis) and Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm,Thelma Ritter).

Mankiewicz had already won another Oscar in 1949 for his direction of A LETTER TO THREE WIVES.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buckle-Up!
Review: Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz  who received Academy Awards in 1950 for his work both as director and as author of the screenplay, All About Eve is also all about what can sometimes be cutthroat competition for fame more than fortune in the New York theatre world. Margo Channing (Davis) is among its brightest stars. The calculating Eve Harrington (Baxter) concludes that her single major barrier is Channing so she ingratiates herself with the fading but celebrated Broadway actress, obtaining a position as her personal assistant. Her duplicity succeeds. At least for a while, she conceals her ulterior motives even from world-weary and cynical theatre critic Addison De Witt, played so well by George Sanders that he also received an Academy Award as best supporting actor.

Every other member of the cast is first-rate. I always get a kick out of Marilyn Monroe's brief appearance as Miss Claudia Caswell, an aspiring actress whom De Witt identifies as "a graduate of the Copacabana school of dramatic art." I also thoroughly enjoy the generally under appreciated Thelma Ritter as Birdie Coonan, a character who possesses what Hemingway described so well as a "built-in, shock-proof crap detector." Of course, the most famous of many great lines is Channing's warning, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." She gradually realizes how vulnerable she has become to ambitious young actresses such as Eve who will do whatever it takes to achieve the status and stature which seem to be slipping from her grasp.

When I recently saw this film again, I appreciated more than I had in the past the essential decency of characters such as Karen Richards (Holm), Bill Sampson (Merrill), and Lloyd Richards (Marlowe). I think Mankiewicz wrote them into the script to suggest that, yes, the "Great White Way" can also be gray and even black at times; however, many of those in the theatre world are not so self-serving and even unscrupulous as Eve Harrington. In my opinion, this is one of Mankiewicz' key points: Without associates such as Coonan, Richards, Sampson, and Richards, Harrington will one day be even more vulnerable to others than Channing was when Eve callously maneuvered her way into her (Margo Channing's) life.

The film also received and certainly deserved its Academy Award as well as the praise it continues to receive. Those who share my high regard for it may also enjoy Sweet Smell of Success (1957), All That Jazz (1979), and especially The Chorus Line (1985). Fortunately, all three are available in the DVD format.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my top ten all time favorites...
Review: All About Eve is one of the best movies ever made. Simply and clearly, in my opinion. It follows the lives of New York stage stars and chronicles the rise of Eve Harrington in the stage world. Bette Davis plays her mentor and benefactress. The writing is top rate. If you like movies with snap, crackling dialogue, bitchy repartee, and an insider's look in to the workings of the stage milieu, this movies IS FOR YOU. You will have quotes for days and get to see the debut of Marilyn Monroe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Screenplay Ever Written? Hard to Argue!
Review: Other backstage comedies muddle in stereotypes and predictability, but this is the one that makes them all fishes in a shark tank. Bette Davis is the diva royale as Margo Channing, an aging stage actress that takes in a suspiciously meek young fan named Eve (Anne Baxter) and really regrets it later. George Sanders, Celeste Holm, and (a young and little-seen) Marylin Monroe lend terrific support to Eve, but the real star of this movie is its shockingly acidic screenplay by director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. It bites like a bullet in the back - terrific one-liners, unforgettable monologues, jaw-dropping tete a tetes, and story twists that slap you in the face an hour later. The catch - Mankiewicz controls larger-than life Davis, two-faced Baxter, and a constantly unfolding plot with masterful precision. Like a good detective flick, one can never be sure who's genuinely good the whole movie (forget it, no one is). Like a great slasher flick, one can never be sure who'll get ripped to shreds next.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Seatbelts Required!
Review: What a great film; most deserving of the many Oscars it received! Joseph Mankiewicz did an excellent job in 1950 of directing this film. Although with this wonderful cast it could not have been too big a challenge.

Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is an actress turning 40, playing a character in her 20's. Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill) is in love with her, although eight years her junior. The premise of a relationship between an older woman and a younger man in 1950 was quite out of the norm, but wonderfully done. One of my favorite scenes is where Margo is discussing her relationship with Bill and says, "Bill is thirty-two. He looks thirty-two. He looked it five years ago; he'll look it twenty years from now. I hate men."

Eve Harrington (Ann Baxter) is the 24 year old posing as an innocent and naive star struck fan, who Margo and her friends take under their wing. Addison DeWitt (George Sanders) a critic with his own column brings new meanning to the word "pompous". Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), married to Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe) the playwright, introduces Eve to her dear friend Margo and the rest of the group. Within four weeks, Eve nudges Birdie (Thelma Ritter) over and takes charge as Margo's personal assistant. Quite convincing as the humble, eager to please, employee and friend, Eve fools almost everyone. Birdie, however, sees through her façade from the very beginning and Addison, being cut from the same cloth, understands Eve all too well. It takes a bit more time, however for the rest to see her as she truly is. Eve's metamorphosis takes nine months to complete but in no way resembles a butterfly!


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