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 #114 | Won 6 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bette Davis	...	Margo
Anne Baxter	...	Eve
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:

All About Eve

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

Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Bennett, Joan Fontaine, Greer Garson, Paulette Goddard, Katharine Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, Vivien Leigh, Ginger Rogers, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Sylvia Sidney, Barbara Stanwyck, Gloria Swanson and Loretta Young were all considered for the role of Margo Channing.

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Goofs

In the dressing-room scene at the beginning, Margot turns in her chair to look at Karen. In the subsequent reverse angle, her arm positioning across the back of the chair has completely changed.

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Quotes

Lloyd Richards: What makes you think either Miller or Sherwood would stand for the nonsense I take from you? You'd better stick to Beaumont and Fletcher! They've been dead for three hundred years!
Margo: ALL playwrights should be dead for three hundred years!

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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 Trapper John, M.D.: All About Everett (1983)

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Soundtracks

Liebestraum
(1850) (uncredited)
Music by Franz Liszt
Played on the piano at the party when Margo is sitting with the pianist
Also heard on the car radio

User Reviews

Icons On The Verge

As close to perfection as they come. A film than can be viewed again and again without ever getting tired. Bette Davis's Margo Channing is a film icon of major proportions. A point of reference. Her fear of the abyss is as human as it is at the center of this selfish, insecure, sacred cow. She is surrounded by some other sensational women. Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm, Anne Baxter and in a tiny but telling part, Marilyn Monroe - a graduate from the Copacabana school of dramatic art. Wittily prophetic. George Sanders is another piece of extraordinary casting and writing. "I'm essential to the theater" Indeed. And here is a film that has become essential to anyone who loves movies"