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All About Eve [1950] | | |
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Alfred Hitchcock famously observed that movies should be more than just picture postcards of people talking. Sometimes, though, dialogue is all that's needed. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's immaculately scripted All About Eve is a case in point. There are no special effects (unless one considers Marilyn Monroe's wiggle or a scene in which a car breaks down). What the movie offers instead is some of the most coruscating one-liners ever committed to celluloid. The top-name cast certainly know how to put Mankiewicz's words across. Anne Baxter is all doe-eyed charm as Eve, the ruthless aspiring actress who passes herself off as a little girl lost. George Sanders (eminent character actor and the voice of Shere Khan the tiger in The Jungle Book) shows his customary mellowness of sneer as Addison De Witt, theatre critic and professional cynic ("a venomous foot louse" as he's characterised) who helps push Eve up the greasy pole toward success, if not happiness. Best of all is Bette Davis, a soured but still resplendent stage diva, who takes Eve under her wing. ("I'll admit I've seen better days but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail--like a salted peanut", she tells her lover.) The plotting and double-dealing on the screen, described in Sam Staggs' All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made, were matched by what went on behind the scenes. Davis heartily loathed fellow actress Celeste Holm who--ironically enough--plays her best friend. She fell in love with another co-star, the handsome, good-looking Gary Merrill, whom she later married. Backstage dramas are often self-indulgent and stagy affairs, but this one dazzles. --Geoffrey Macnab
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| Customer Reviews:
 Is it only about Eve? June 27, 2006
John Austin (Kangaroo Ground, Australia)
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
It is not only all about Eve, it is about the theatre world. Just as the final sequence rounds off our understanding of the real Eve Harrington, it also reveals that there will always be those who reach the top in the theatre world and those who aspire to reach it. As dialogue-laden and full of quotable quotes as any play, the film rarely provides glimpses of any play performance. Instead it reveals the back-stage relations between director, producer, writer, actress, their partners, dresser, critic, under-study, etc. Their world is a comedy/drama in itself.
Working from a tiny story by Mary Orr, Joseph Mankiewicz wrote, master-minded and directed the film and Daryl F Zanuck produced it. Their work, and the work of cast members Bette Davis, George Sanders, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter and Gregory Ratoff is seen at its best here. In its year (1950) it garnered six Oscars and 14 nominations. Critics and audiences, ever since, have always rated it amongst their favourite films.
A marvellous piece of film-making. Top drawer stuff. December 1, 2005
film fan (Kent, UK)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
All About Eve is such a marvellous and wonderfully funny film that it should be owned by every film fan out there. So well written and a cast that includes Bette Davis (superb), Anne Baxter and even Marilyn Monroe. It tells the story of how an obsessed fan sees her idol at the stage door one evening and suddenly and relentlessly takes the reigns of power straight from under her. The fan is Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) and the idol is Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Eve then manoeuvers into Margo's position and takes her lead roles becoming a sensation over night and causing havoc in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend (Gary Merrill), her playwright (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife (Celeste Holm). The cynical drama critic (an excellent Oscar-winning performance by George Sanders) is the only one who sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and flawless pattern of deceit.
This truly marvellous film packed with excellent one-liners such as the one Margo says at a party; "Fasten your seatbelts, we're in for a bumpy night", and filled with first-rate performances especially by Bette Davis and Anne Baxter and wonderful direction is an absolute joy from start to finish. Come the Oscar ceremony in 1951, this film garnered 14 Academy Award nominations which was a record that stood for 57 years. It won 6 of them. This film features in my top 10 films of all time. Sheer class.
Bette davis is the greatest actor of her era! February 19, 2006
Ally Lloyd (Barry, Vale of Glamorgan United Kingdom)
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is one of Davis' most famous films, and although I am a great fan of hers I had never seen it until now. The performances are all spot on I truly do adore this woman and her work with very few exceptions. This definately is a must have addition for any avid Davis fan's collection.
A dramatic Art December 17, 2007
S J Buck (Kent, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For a film made in 1950 this is a surprisingly cynical movie, portraying as it does the back-stabbing and general cut-throat way the movie business creates huge stars, or at a wim might ignore great talent.
Anne Baxter plays the little girl lost Eve Harrington who manages to worm her way into the life of the great star Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Initially Eve just helps Margo out with dd jobs, but little by little she makes her way up the ladder to success (I'm giving nothing away here as you will find out when you watch the start of the film).
The script and performances are uniformly excellent. The acting honours are split between Bette Davis and George Sanders, who both have that rare gift of dominating a scene without really needing to do anything. Anne Baxter is good as Eve, but of the main characters I felt her performance was probably the weakest. Look out for a stunning looking Marilyn Monroe (aged only 24 at the time) in a minor role as Miss Caswell.
This really isn't my sort of film, and I expected it to be very slow going. However nothing could be further from the truth. I found it quite mesmerising and strongly recommend it.
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