Rating: 
Summary: A Witty Masterpiece
Review: This has to be one of the great classics of witty movie making! There are so many wonderful and vitriolic vignettes associated with it. The script is clever and the acting superb. It never fails to amuse. From the moment that "meek" Eve is introduced to Margo Channing till the circle is completed and Eve herself becomes the victim, there is never a dull moment. And who can ever forget that wonderful dress worn by Bette Davis at the party or Eve's beaded cape that features so prominently at the end!
Rating:
Summary: Arguably Bette Davis's finest film...
Review: It was a crime that Bette Davis did not receive the Best Actress Oscar of 1950 for her Margot Channing. A mere nomination was grossly unjust. Sanders and Ritter were exceptional. Mankiewicz outdid himself.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece of dramatic filmmaking
Review: Among the greatest dramas ever written, this brilliant film elevates an outstanding script with extraordinary acting. It received 14 Oscar Nominations in 12 categories and won 6 including Best Picture and Director. However, it is much better than that.Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is a waif that is constantly seen waiting outside the theater for her idol Margo Channing (Bette Davis). When Margo's best friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) invites her in to meet Margo it begins a relationship that is destined to turn into a typhoon. Margo is taken in by Eve's hard luck story and her obsequious deference, and she decides employ her as her personal secretary. With duplicitous and cunning ambition, Eve maneuvers her way into becoming Margo's understudy. Just turning 40, Margo begins to become self conscious about her age and sees Eve as a threat to her career and her relationship with Bill, who is eight years her junior. The resulting tension between Margo and Eve is electric, with power plays, blackmail and conniving at every turn. John Mankiewicz was one of the most prolific and gifted auteurs of the studio era. He won back-to-back double Oscars for directing and screenplay in 1949 and 1950 for "Letters to Three Wives" and "All About Eve". His accomplishment in this film is gargantuan, with a powerful script and forceful direction of a talented cast. The dialogue is fantastic, with snide humor and barbed innuendo that cuts like a stiletto. The scene between Eve and pompous theater critic Addison Dewitt (George Sanders) where he confronts her about her past is like a mating of snakes. The acting is stupendous. Bette Davis appeared in over 100 films in her 58 year career, nominated for 11 Best Acting Oscars and winning two. This was one of her very best performances and it escapes me why she did not win the award that year. Davis is a whirlwind of dramatic power in a riveting portrayal of the tempestuous Margo. She imbues Margo with a gigantic ego and equally enormous insecurity, which yields some of the best and most bitter tantrum spewing ever been put on celluloid. Anne Baxter is deliciously evil as Eve. Her sweet helplessness veils a cold, calculating serpent waiting for her opportunity to strike. The supporting actors were also superb. George Sanders won a best supporting Oscar for his haughty performance as Addison De Witt. Celeste Holm was nominated for a supporting Oscar and was terrific as Margo's well meaning, but meddling friend. One of my favorites was Thelma Ritter (also nominated for Best Supporting Actress) as Birdie, an unrefined and blunt woman with extraordinary perceptiveness about Eve's true nature. There is even an early look at Marilyn Monroe in a small part as Addison De Witts ditzy date. This is one of the best dramas ever made and among my favorite films of all time. It was rated number 16 on AFI's top 100 of the century. I rated it a 10/10. They don't make them like this any more. It is required viewing for classic film buffs.
Rating:
Summary: Movie Great
Review: All About Eve is a movie that has taken on mythic proportions. The film itself is a cinematic classic, but the behind the scenes romances, cat fights and cast behavior have grown larger than the film. It has even inspired a book called All About All About Eve (an excellent read). The movie itself is a look at the life of a Broadway star (Bette Davis) and a young ingenue (Anne Baxter) who invades her life and connives her way to stardom herself. The film has quite possibly the smartest, wittiest and mature script ever written. Director and writer Joseph L. Mankiewitz deftly juggles a large cast and wove an interesting and intriguing tale. None of the actors or actress are short-shrifted and many give the performances of their careers. Ms. Davis revived her career with the role of Margo. Ms. Davis was just acting the part, she was living it. Ms. Baxter gives a chilling portrayal of Eve, Thelma Ritter is at her sarcastic best as Margo's assistant and Celeste Holm is elegant as Margo's best friend and early champion of Eve. George Sanders won the best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the acidic and snarky newspaper critic Addison DeWitt. Mr. Mankiewitz had won the 1949 Oscars for directing and screenplay and became the only person in history to turn that double win in back to back years when he took home the prizes in 1950. The film won the 1950 Best Picture award holds the record for most nominations.
Rating:
Summary: All About a Great Movie
Review: And so begins my review of the 1950 Academy Award-winner for Best Picture (produced by Darryl F. Zanuck), Supporting Actor (George Sanders), Director (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Screenplay (Mankiewicz), Costume Design (Edith Head), and Sound (20th Century Fox Sound Department). A hilarious, witty, sharp-tongued behind-the-scenes look at stage life on Broadway and what happens when the one you least suspect stabs you in the back. First off, I'm am not a Bette Davis fan! You could even say I hate her, her acting, her attitude, and face! If I could go back in time, I would find her and smack her a couple of times. I have to say that she was good at playing herself, a role intended for Claudette Colbert. Helping her round out her bitchy skills is the equally bitchy Anne Baxter, who plays her conniving assistant Eve Harrington -- also played with such believable passion. George Sanders is one of the joys in this film as the domineering, yet cool critic, Addison DeWitt. It isn't until towards the end that we realize just how smart, and even dangerous, Addison can be when he reveals Eve's past. There is Celeste Holm as Karen Richards, the only sane and kind person in this film; Hugh Marlowe as her playwright husband, Lloyd Richards; Gary Merrill as Margo's director boyfriend, Bill Sampson; the delightfully acid-tongued Thelma Ritter as Margo's first companion, Birdie (wonderful performance, my favorite); and who could forget the stunning debut appearance of Marilyn Monroe as Claudia! Nominated for 14 Academy Awards and winner of 6 Oscars, "All About Eve" shows us all that we can laugh at ourselves, think about those around us (i.e. our "friends"), and to realize that: What Goes Around Comes Around, as Eve finds out in the end of the film.
Rating:
Summary: Smashing Good Fun!!
Review: Everyone's good here, but this is truly Bette Davis at her best! It makes me want to stride purposefully around with a tumbler of scotch and a cigarette. The writing (by Joseph Mankiewicz) is superb, the performances exquisite. I cannot imagine this movie with Claudette Colbert in the lead; Davis was hired to replace her. How many other movies have an entire book written on the making of it? ("All About 'All About Eve'".) Davis is fantastic as Margo Channing, an actress of 40 who is afraid of losing her man, her "theatah" parts, and her whole life to an obsequient clone (the sly Anne Baxter). Baxter gets what's coming to her in an ironic and well-crafted ending, featuring the wonderful George Sanders in all his cynical glory. This movie is a big juicy slice of the Broadway world of the 1950s, cocktail parties, beds piled high with mink coats, and clouds of cigarette smoke. It's this movie Davis impersonators use to portray her, and for good reason. She's at her high-camp, bitchy, cigarette-waving best here. It's interesting to watch the interplay betweeen Davis and her future husband Gary Merrill. The attraction between them is pretty obvious. Also fun to watch is the just-beginning Marilyn Monroe as Miss Caswell, a "graduate of the Copacapana School of Dramatic Arts." How could I fail to mention Thelma Ritter, the second banana of all time, as Margo's wise-cracking maid. In short, a perfect, perfect movie. Watch it with lots of popcorn!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Movie Ever
Review: Everyone in the cast is a wonderful actor and actress. This is magnificent. The lines are an art form in themselves. There never was and never will be another movie as good as this, of its type. This movie has it all, witty conversation, love, fine drama and probably the best lines I've ever heard in a movie in my 57 years. Also great development of characters and this movie really works. Trust me on this one. This is a treasure, a must have.
Rating:
Summary: It Starts With The Script
Review: Repeated viewings do not dull the shine of this excellent movie. Bette Davis gives perhaps her most famous performance as Margo Channing, the fiery, aging stage star coming to grips with her maturity and her insecurities. She tears into the character (and every scene) with relish. Gary Merrill is very good as her younger director-boyfriend. Celeste Holm is her calm, understanding best friend (a playwright's wife), and she's terrific, especially in scenes where she communicates a lot with simple reactions. George Sanders is at his very best and steals many scenes as the sharp tongued critic who sits back and manipulates the events. Thelma Ritter is right on target as Davis' all-knowing, all-seeing maid. Marilyn Monroe has a small, but showy role as a voluptous (what else) wanna-be actress. But special praise should go to Anne Baxter as Eve, the conniving young lady who insinuates herself into Davis' life. Not enough attention is paid to just how great her performance really is as she walks the line between who she really is and who she wants to become. However, despite these awesome performances, the real star of this movie for me is the script. Joseph Mankiewicz's script is simply perfect, from its narrative construction with the opening framing device, to its witty, mature, quotable dialogue. This is one of those films where you just sit back, smile, and marvel at the excellence each time you view it.
Rating:
Summary: Another Gem from Mankiewicz
Review: The reviews of this movie are right on target and I don't have too much to add. This is simply the greatest movie in American Cinema History. The acting is superb, especially Davis and Sanders. Mankiewicz's screenplay puts forth the snappiest and freshest dialogue that has ever graced the screen. Fans of this movie should try Mankiewicz's underhanded knock on McCarthy-ism, People Will Talk.
Rating:
Summary: All about Bette
Review: This movie is outstanding! This is not a typical movie kids y age would be interestes in, but I found it wonderful. Bette Davis' preformance is outstanding, unlike anything seen before. Her droopy eyes and raspy voice makes any typical actress of today make a ruin for her money. Of course, the rest of the performances are superb as well. This will entertain people of all ages. See this movie and recommend it to friends.
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