All About Eve (1950)

An ingenue insinuates herself into the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writer:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (written for the screen by)

Stars:

Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders

Top Rated Movies #115 | Won 6 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Davis	...	Margo Channing
Anne Baxter	...	Eve Harrington
George Sanders	...	Addison DeWitt
Celeste Holm	...	Karen Richards
Gary Merrill	...	Bill Simpson
Hugh Marlowe	...	Lloyd Richards
Gregory Ratoff	...	Max Fabian
Barbara Bates	...	Phoebe
Marilyn Monroe	...	Miss Casswell
Thelma Ritter	...	Birdie Coonan
Walter Hampden	...	Aged Actor
Randy Stuart	...	Girl
Craig Hill	...	Leading Man
Leland Harris	...	Doorman
Barbara White	...	Autograph Seeker

Storyline

Eve (Anne Baxter) is waiting backstage to meet her idol, aging Broadway star Margo Channing (Bette Davis). It seems innocent enough as Eve explains that she has seen Margo in EVERY performance of her current play. Only playwright/critic DeWitt (George Sanders) sees through Eve's evil plan, which is to take her parts and her fiancé, Bill Simpson (Gary Merrill). When the fiancé shows no interest, she tries for playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), but DeWitt stops her. After she accepts her award, she decides to skip the after-party and goes to her room, where a young woman named Phoebe has sneaked into her room and fallen asleep. This is where the "Circle of Life" now comes to fruition as Eve will get played like she played Margo.

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Plot Keywords:

starlet | meta film | based on short story | famous line | title spoken by character | 

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Taglines:

It's all about women---and their men!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

27 October 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Best Performance

Filming Locations:

242 West 45th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,177, 8 October 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$10,177, 8 October 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shares the record for most Oscar nominations (14) with Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016).

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Goofs

When Eve tells her life story in the dressing room, she says "then the war came, and we got married. Eddie was in the air force - and they sent him to the South Pacific." The Air Force, wasn't formed until after the war in 1947. During the war it was called the Army Air Forces.

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Quotes

Bill Sampson: Looks like I'm going to have a very fancy party...
Margo: I thought you were going to be late.
Bill Sampson: When I'm guest of honor?
Margo: I had no idea you were even here.
Bill Sampson: I ran into Eve on my way upstairs; she told me you were dressing.
Margo: That never stopped you before.
Bill Sampson: Well, we started talking, she wanted to know all about Hollywood, she seemed so interested...
Margo: She's a girl of so many interests.
Bill Sampson: It's a pretty rare quality these days.
Margo: She's a girl of so many rare qualities.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Eddie Fisher is credited in the cast as 'Stage Manager,' although all of his scenes were cut from the released print. This is not the the singer Eddie Fisher, but another actor.

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Connections

Referenced in Hollywood Mouth (2008)

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Soundtracks

That Old Black Magic
(1942) (uncredited)
Music by Harold Arlen

User Reviews

About EveryMan, About EveryWoman, About EveryLife

You will see yourself in every character in this very intelligent, entrancing movie. Though set in "the theatre," the story could just as easily have been told in a small town, a corporation – even a religious organization. Being set in the "glamorous" world of entertainment – its seems all the more timely in these days of fame, fortune and the insufficiency (almost shame) of being ordinary. The theatre setting also underscores the reality that the world is a stage, and all its people, players.

So much to study in this movie: the genuine, trusting (and romantic) human; the streetwise, good, hardworking human, who's seen it all and doesn't embrace it; the jaded, heart-hardened, deceitful loser with power, who admires the same and disdains human goodness; the ambitious sociopath who fools so many; the unsuspecting onlookers who see only the façade of success; the inescapable fact that supreme achievement has been had by very low characters; the painful passage of an aging woman into the light of knowing she's loved for being beautiful beyond her appearance, for being HER; the touching portrayal of her lover who remembers his love for her as he passes on a much younger, beautiful, talented actress; the sorrow of a (betraying) friend who discovers the frightened and lonely heart of her successful friend … The dialogue is sharp and clever, barked and growled, smarmy and tender… A truly human movie about being human. Go – find yourself in everyone!