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
Anne Baxter	...	Eve Harrington
George Sanders	...	Addison DeWitt
Celeste Holm	...	Karen
Gary Merrill	...	Bill Simpson
Hugh Marlowe	...	Lloyd Richards
Gregory Ratoff	...	Max Fabian
Barbara Bates	...	Phoebe
Marilyn Monroe	...	Miss Casswell
Thelma Ritter	...	Birdie
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 | famous line | title spoken by character | character name in title | 

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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

José Ferrer, Charles Laughton, Adolphe Menjou, Vincent Price, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone and Clifton Webb were all considered for the role of Addison De Witt.

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Goofs

After Margo reads the note written by Eve, Bill says, "I understand she's now the understudy in there." However, when he turns his head to the camera, his lips aren't forming any words.

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Quotes

Eve: If nothing else, there's applause... like waves of love pouring over the footlights.

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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

Remade as Applause (1973)

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Soundtracks

Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major (Romantic)
(1874) (uncredited)
Music by Anton Bruckner

User Reviews

All About Great Writing and Great Acting...

In show business, there is probably an Eve Harrington born every day. Someone who butters up to a performer of note, acting innocently, revealing none of the coldhearted ambition they really have. Anne Baxter plays this type of person to a tee. She looks like a baby-faced fan, but little do we know, there is a fame machine at work in her mind. Bette Davis, as Margo Channing, star of the stage, is a veteran who has seen it all. She is quite the egotist. Margo is a brilliant actress and she knows it. Eve discovers her blind spot and moves in on her like a quiet storm. This is the premise of ALL ABOUT EVE, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's masterpiece of sly wit and subtle manipulation. Mankiewicz also wrote the picture (winner of the Best Picture Oscar of 1950) with such skill, the talented cast need only to memorize the lines and deliver them with the proper technique.

The performances are great, regardless, especially by Bette Davis and the always detested George Sanders, one of my favorite actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The film is narrated initially by Sanders, who plays a ruthless swine of a theatre critic, then by Celeste Holm, the wife of Eve and Margo's playwrighter, then Bette Davis in the performance of a lifetime. The movie is about 90% dialogue, much like a play. The words are so crisp and sharp, you never sway or lose interest. These characters are just too interesting. Bette Davis has a cavalcade of unforgettable dialogue. "Fasten your seatbelts. Its going to be a bumpy night!" This is the one everyone remembers, but I would be remiss to get into any others.

The picture runs well over 2 hours, but it doesn't seem like enough. Mankiewicz could've held a seminar of screenwriting by showing this. George Sanders is the only actor of the roster to bring home an Academy Award, and rumor has it Davis and Baxter, who was just 27 at the time, were feuding during much of the shoot and lusted the Oscar. Time has been very good to the film as well. 1950 was a wonderful year for movies and ALL ABOUT EVE's artistic equal that year was the equally well-written SUNSET BOULEVARD, which took us behind the scenes of a tainted Hollywood. EVE takes on theatre and treats Hollywood like an afterthought. There are many references to the film industry, usually involving the scenes with Margo Channing's boyfriend, who is attempting to make a career on the silver screen.

The movie is highly unpredictable, especially the last scenes which tie the ideas of the story up. There is an Eve everywhere and each character gets what he or she deserves. Fasten the belts and listen up. This is screenwriting at its finest.