Rating: 
Summary: DESSERT
Review: "ALL ABOUT 'ALL ABOUT EVE'" is a nice treat for lovers of movies, especially lovers of great movies, which ALL ABOUT EVE certainly is--great in every respect: acting, direction and, above all, in its literate and witty script. When I say that this volume is a "nice treat" I do not want any readers to think that it is as satisfying or gratifying as the movie, itself. It is what a nice dessert is to a rich, fulfilling meal. If you've seen and loved Joseph L. Mankiewicz's film, then you might want to pick up this book to scim through afterwards or to read in big or small chunks. But one can't really only eat the dessert--it should be the sweet AFTER the main course."ALL ABOUT 'ALL ABOUT EVE'" is more for lovers of Trivia than it is for lovers of pertinent and important movie-history facts. Is it really important for you to know that the best friends in the movie, played by Bette Davis and Celeste Holm, were barely on civil speaking terms? Is it truly necessary for you to know that Davis and her leading man Gary Merrill lived their hot-blooded, tempestuous romance off-screen as well as on-screen? Is it absolutely pertinent for you to know who the now-forgotten European actress is whom the character of 'Margo Channing' (the Bette Davis character) was based on in the original novel by Mary Orr? Do you really want to know about all the hirings and firings of the second-rate Broadway musical which is based on this altogether first-rate movie? If so, this is definitely the book for you. What turned me off was Sam Staggs' decision to put into his "history" book, his own personal, critical opinions of various performances, films, scripts and plays. In this kind of book, it seems to me, facts--the author's documented research-- are what are important, not his own opinions. Also, in a first quick scimming, I found a few mistakes, one of which is not trivial at all--it is a matter of authorship: Lee Adams is given credit by Staggs for writing the lyrics to the song "Tomorrow" from the long-running Broadway musical ANNIE when, actually, the lyricist is Martin Charnin. The front cover blurb declares that ALL ABOUT EVE is the "bitchiest film ever made!" It is, of course, much more than that. It is blistering and brilliant in conception and execution and, because of videotape tapes and DVD's future viewers will be able to watch this classy, funny, bitter, knowing look into the hearts of a group of people who love and hate one another, who romance and betray, who bolster up and rip apart one another, all in the name of The Theatre.
Rating:
Summary: DESSERT
Review: "ALL ABOUT 'ALL ABOUT EVE'" is a nice treat for lovers of movies, especially lovers of great movies, which ALL ABOUT EVE certainly is--great in every respect: acting, direction and, above all, in its literate and witty script. When I say that this volume is a "nice treat" I do not want any readers to think that it is as satisfying or gratifying as the movie, itself. It is what a nice dessert is to a rich, fulfilling meal. If you've seen and loved Joseph L. Mankiewicz's film, then you might want to pick up this book to scim through afterwards or to read in big or small chunks. But one can't really only eat the dessert--it should be the sweet AFTER the main course. "ALL ABOUT 'ALL ABOUT EVE'" is more for lovers of Trivia than it is for lovers of pertinent and important movie-history facts. Is it really important for you to know that the best friends in the movie, played by Bette Davis and Celeste Holm, were barely on civil speaking terms? Is it truly necessary for you to know that Davis and her leading man Gary Merrill lived their hot-blooded, tempestuous romance off-screen as well as on-screen? Is it absolutely pertinent for you to know who the now-forgotten European actress is whom the character of 'Margo Channing' (the Bette Davis character) was based on in the original novel by Mary Orr? Do you really want to know about all the hirings and firings of the second-rate Broadway musical which is based on this altogether first-rate movie? If so, this is definitely the book for you. What turned me off was Sam Staggs' decision to put into his "history" book, his own personal, critical opinions of various performances, films, scripts and plays. In this kind of book, it seems to me, facts--the author's documented research-- are what are important, not his own opinions. Also, in a first quick scimming, I found a few mistakes, one of which is not trivial at all--it is a matter of authorship: Lee Adams is given credit by Staggs for writing the lyrics to the song "Tomorrow" from the long-running Broadway musical ANNIE when, actually, the lyricist is Martin Charnin. The front cover blurb declares that ALL ABOUT EVE is the "bitchiest film ever made!" It is, of course, much more than that. It is blistering and brilliant in conception and execution and, because of videotape tapes and DVD's future viewers will be able to watch this classy, funny, bitter, knowing look into the hearts of a group of people who love and hate one another, who romance and betray, who bolster up and rip apart one another, all in the name of The Theatre.
Rating: 
Summary: Needed an editor!
Review: A few good tidbits here, but way too much extranneous gushing. And where were the proofreaders and copy editors? Here's one small example of an unfortunate mistake, on page 8: "...Mankiewicz had just started All About Eve, a film that, while technically about Hollywood rather than Broadway, in fact amounted to exploratory surgery on the dysphoric underbelly of show business." Of course he meant to say, "while technically about Broadway rather than Hollywood...." It's just one of dozens of examples of extreme sloppiness that casts doubt on the whole enterprise. Too bad, too -- this could have been a really great must-have book for all movie fans. Instead, it's really a wasted opportunity.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite All About Eve
Review: A note reminds the reader that an excerpt from the book appeared in Vanity Fair, and the book has the fluffy, padded feel of a magazine article expanded beyond what it should be expected to bear. Is it entertaining? You bet, how could it not be with that cast of characters. Is it scholarly? Well, let's just assume that wasn't its intent. Readers need to be aware that some of the obvious sources for the book had a fairly perpheral connection with the movie. Based on all the material Staggs apparently got from George Sanders' then wife Zsa Zsa Gabor, he could probably write a treatment (a la Tom Stoppard's take on Hamlet in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead") on the filming of "All About Eve" from her point of view. You could certainly make that approach amusing, but it wouldn't tell much about what make the movie so memorable. It's the epigrammatic dialogue, the way the characters are always able to offer the bitingly perfect rejoinder at precisely the right moment -- the kind of thing you or I would only be able to come up with after hours of brain wracking; that's what gives you the goosebump experience when you watch the movie. And goosebumps are what's missing from this book. There's a volume that's rare and unfortunately out of print now that does deliver the goods. That's director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's More About All About Eve from the early 1970's. It's worth looking for.
Rating: 
Summary: Everything you wanted to know and then some
Review: All About Eve is a cult film, a camp classic and an all-around tremendous movie that won six Oscars in 1950. It influenced the making of motion pictures to come and was the inspiration of the play "Applause." Somehow nobody wrote THE book on "All About Eve," its inspiration, its making, its reception and following, and how it lives on today--not until now. Now we have All About "All About Eve" and it's everything a fan could want. Author Sam Staggs did a huge amount of painstaking research for this book, especially noteworthy because all of this fifty-year-old movie's principal players are dead (with one notable exception: Celeste Holm, who would not grant him an interview). Staggs locates the kernel of the movie in a magazine story, "The Wisdom of Eve," about a conniving young woman who befriends and then betrays an insecure older actress, "Margola Cranston." He goes beyond the magazine story to find the actual, real-life "Eve" figure and interviews her, finding that life and art are not necessarily the same. All About "All About Eve"'s book jacket calls the film "the bitchiest film ever made." (There is room for disagreement--what about "Stage Door"? "The Women?" "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"?) But the movie was a solid career-starter for Marilyn Monroe as Miss Caswell, "a graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts." Otherwise, Staggs' thesis is controversial, and probably makes Celeste Holm furious: "For others in the cast--Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Gary Merrill, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, and for [writer/director Joseph] Mankiewicz himself--All About Eve was the climax. . . . If not for this movie, half the cast would be forgotten." Pretty harsh stuff. After its thunderous critical and box-office success, "Eve" went on to become the movie that never really faded from conscious-ness thanks to revivals and TV broadcasts. As Staggs says, "[t]he subtext has beguilded several generations of devotees, largely gay men, who have 'read' the film as though it beamed a limelight into the closet of their hearts." Margo Channing, woman on the edge; Birdie Coonan, the buddy with common sense; and Addison DeWitt, serpentine critic, have their camp charms delineated here. Some critics have said that at 340 pages of text All About "All About Eve" may be too much of a good thing. Take this simple test: Of course everyone knows that "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night" comes from the movie. Do you also thrill to lines like "Shucks, and I sent my autograph book to the cleaners," "Eve evil, Little Miss Evil," or "The minutes will fly like hours"? If you do, then this book is for you. It's a great read, and to turn Addison DeWitt's quip rightside-up where it belongs, the hours will fly like minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you wanted to know and then some
Review: All About Eve is a cult film, a camp classic and an all-around tremendous movie that won six Oscars in 1950. It influenced the making of motion pictures to come and was the inspiration of the play "Applause." Somehow nobody wrote THE book on "All About Eve," its inspiration, its making, its reception and following, and how it lives on today--not until now. Now we have All About "All About Eve" and it's everything a fan could want. Author Sam Staggs did a huge amount of painstaking research for this book, especially noteworthy because all of this fifty-year-old movie's principal players are dead (with one notable exception: Celeste Holm, who would not grant him an interview). Staggs locates the kernel of the movie in a magazine story, "The Wisdom of Eve," about a conniving young woman who befriends and then betrays an insecure older actress, "Margola Cranston." He goes beyond the magazine story to find the actual, real-life "Eve" figure and interviews her, finding that life and art are not necessarily the same. All About "All About Eve"'s book jacket calls the film "the bitchiest film ever made." (There is room for disagreement--what about "Stage Door"? "The Women?" "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"?) But the movie was a solid career-starter for Marilyn Monroe as Miss Caswell, "a graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts." Otherwise, Staggs' thesis is controversial, and probably makes Celeste Holm furious: "For others in the cast--Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Gary Merrill, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, and for [writer/director Joseph] Mankiewicz himself--All About Eve was the climax. . . . If not for this movie, half the cast would be forgotten." Pretty harsh stuff. After its thunderous critical and box-office success, "Eve" went on to become the movie that never really faded from conscious-ness thanks to revivals and TV broadcasts. As Staggs says, "[t]he subtext has beguilded several generations of devotees, largely gay men, who have 'read' the film as though it beamed a limelight into the closet of their hearts." Margo Channing, woman on the edge; Birdie Coonan, the buddy with common sense; and Addison DeWitt, serpentine critic, have their camp charms delineated here. Some critics have said that at 340 pages of text All About "All About Eve" may be too much of a good thing. Take this simple test: Of course everyone knows that "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night" comes from the movie. Do you also thrill to lines like "Shucks, and I sent my autograph book to the cleaners," "Eve evil, Little Miss Evil," or "The minutes will fly like hours"? If you do, then this book is for you. It's a great read, and to turn Addison DeWitt's quip rightside-up where it belongs, the hours will fly like minutes.
Rating: 
Summary: Low on bitchy, high on fun!
Review: ALL ABOUT EVE is one of my most favorite films ever, and when I saw this book on the shelf at work (I won't mention which bookstore I work for), I had to get it! That was 2 days ago, and I have not been able to put the book down! All of the behind the scenes scoops and sidebars of background and tangent items makes this book a must have for not only fans of the film, but of fans of film-making. This not a book of just bitchy quips and over-adoration on the part of the author. Rather, Mr. Staggs presents a book about a film that was about the theater (or Hollywood). I cannot gush about this book enough. Please read it (I am not getting paid to say that).
Rating:
Summary: THIS LADY EVE DESERVES APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!
Review: Buckle your seat belts ... it's gonna be a bumpy night ahead! Bumpy because author Sam Staggs has written a warts-and-all, behind-the-scenes look at one of the Hollywood's greatest and wittiest films. The film won six Oscars, and was nominated for a titanic total 14 of the golden naked men, a record broken only recently by "Titanic." All the bitchery, butchery and backstage babble is here: From the performance that revived the flailing career of star Bette Davis to the introduction of a starlet by the name of Marilyn Monroe. Applause! Applause!
Rating:
Summary: FOR THE FANS....
Review: Fans of "All About Eve" will enjoy this exploration of the making of a classic. It's hard to put down and consistently entertaining. A perfect companion piece for the film as the backstage story of a backstage story of life in the theater from a life in Hollywood viewpoint. Celeste Holm's remarks are particularly revealing. You could say this is a bitchy look at a bitchy movie and it's well worth the read. Don't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: FOR THE FANS....
Review: Fans of "All About Eve" will enjoy this exploration of the making of a classic. It's hard to put down and consistently entertaining. A perfect companion piece for the film as the backstage story of a backstage story of life in the theater from a life in Hollywood viewpoint. Celeste Holm's remarks are particularly revealing. You could say this is a bitchy look at a bitchy movie and it's well worth the read. Don't miss this one.
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