Rating: 
Summary: Maybe Mankiewicz's Best!
Review: Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 6 time Oscar winning film is my pick for one of the best black comdies of all time. It is one of the wittiest and most well paced comedies of all time as well (Though "His Girl Friday" is up there as well). They just don't make them like this anymore. All the rage today for comedies are to gross you out. The more disgusting a comedy, the more money it makes. Well, I'm not from that school of thought. To me, a good comedy is one that has wit, charm, and of course is actually funny. "All About Eve" has all three! Bette Davis stars as a fading Hollywood leading lady Marogo Channing, who must now step aside as her former pupil has become the new "it" girl, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). Both were up for Oscars in what has become the most talked about Oscar race in history (51 years so far and still going strong!). Everyone in this movie acts perfectly alongside each other. George Sanders is just great as Addison De Witt, the man who brought Eve and Margo together. He also happened to win an Oscar for best supporting actor. And the rest of the supporting cast is terrific also. Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm, and there's even room for Marilyn Monroe to make her first screen appearance! Mankiewicz, to me was never able to make a film as wonderful as this, and will always remain to me as his best film. If anyone who hasn't seen this film ever gets the chance to see it, please don't pass it up. It's definitely worth buying.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ultimate Movie to Sharpen Your Claws On
Review: "I wouldn't worry about your heart, Eve. You can always put that award where your heart ought to be."Classic lines, classic script, classic actors. This movie has it all. This is the movie where I learned that one smartly phrased quip could chill a person to the bone. Bette Davis proved that she hadn't lost her step and holds her ground with a classic ensemble cast that garnered fourteen Academy Award nominations and won six including Best Picture. This is the ULTIMATE film to watch. I could go on for pages and pages about how much I love watching the big climatic scene at the end and how controlled a performance Bette Davis gives -- even when she is at her most upset. Classic...
Rating:
Summary: One of the smartest, most entertaining movies ever made
Review: What a shame that people go to movies these days to watch, rather than to listen. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who won best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay Oscars for "All About Eve," understood what filmmakers today do not--that cinema is as much a verbal medium as it is a visual one. If you happen to doubt that statement, then consider "Eve," which, more than half a century later, is still one of the finest movies ever made, if not the finest. It is a brilliant black comedy, a social satire so scathing it almost leaves burn marks on the projector--but above all, it is a loving and beloved paean to the English language. To savor "All About Eve's" delicious dialogue, to relish every diabolical twist and turn, is as natural as responding to the visceral thrills in "Speed." The entire story unfolds in flashback, narrated at different times by different people, in a way that playfully undermines the notion of human perception. When we first meet Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), she seems to be a naive innocent, a slave to her idolatry--she all but worships the great stage actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Eve shows her true colors, however, as she subtly insinuates herself into a group of high-profile theater folk that includes Margo, her boyfriend/director Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill), playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife, Karen (Celeste Holm). A word of warning: this movie is talky. Real talky. And anyone who dares consider himself a movie fan should thank his lucky stars that it is, for "All About Eve" may be the most gloriously, decadently, magnificently talky film ever. Mankiewicz, who couldn't write a flat or uninvolving sentence if he tried, is positively drunk on the intoxicating power of the spoken word, and in "Eve" he wrote a script that, with its pacing, structure, suspense, and razor-sharp wit, remains the standard against which all screenplays are measured. "Fasten your seat belts; it's going to be a bumpy night" doesn't even begin to describe how sheerly pleasurable it is to listen to these people speak, to listen as they plot, connive, banter and lash out at each other with an articulation that today's hack writers, favoring expletives over eloquence, couldn't even dream of duplicating. In a cast filled with memorable performances--among them that of Oscar winner George Sanders, as the acerbic theatre critic Addison DeWitt--Davis' is the strongest. She's vitriolic and vulnerable, childish and mature, maddening and lovable all at once. When Eve, in a moment of typically disingenuous flattery, calls Margo "a great actress--and a great woman," we don't doubt it for a second. The title may say otherwise, but Davis never lets us forget who this movie is really all about.
Rating:
Summary: Fasten your seatbelts!
Review: All About Eve is by far the best performance given by Bette Davis. She is far superior as an actress in this role as opposed to her earlier films where she "over-acts" quite a bit (Dark Victory and Jezebel). Made in 1950, this film is a classic of the noir genre. Directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, this film is packed with complex characters superbly played by the entire cast. Bette Davis plays an aging theatre actress (Margo Channing) who's time is waning and she is beginning to fear the pressures of age. A seemingly harmless fan, Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) appears night after night to watch her idol perform on the stage and manages to tug at the heartstrings of Margo's best friend played by Celeste Holm who brings Eve, unwittingly, in to the fold of the theatre and Margo. There is something about Eve that strikes one as almost too wholesome and true. She claims to be just a fan with a dream to be on the stage but is content to meet her idol. As things progress, Margo hires her on as a personal assistant and reveals intimate details of her personal life. Only the esteemed theatre critic (Addison Dewitt) played brilliantly by George Sanders and Margo's old time assistant, played by Thelma Ritter suspect that there is more than meets the eye. Eve begins to manipulate and scheme creating conflict and turmoil in Margo's personal life including almost destroying Margo's long time frienships, relationship with her director boyfriend (Gary Merrill) and her most trusted playwright friend (Hugh Marlowe) who has spent the better part of his career writing plays with nothing but Margo in mind to always play the lead. The cunning Eve by ways of blackmail eventually manuevers her way in to he coveted role of the hottest new play on broadway and is showered with critical acclaim. In the end, only the cynical theatre critic will remain by Eve's side and manages to turn the table on her with blackmail of his own, for you see, he has known all along. The movie culminates with Eve winning a coveted theatre award having only been in one play, much to the dismay of the above mentioned characters. The film is beautifully told via narrative of sorts by the theatre critic himself who gives an interesting perspective on the the final outcome. A very young Marlyin Monroe makes an appearance in this film and virtually steals the one scene she is in. You can already see that she is fine-tuning her comedic, dizzy and sultry blonde character that she is most known for in this film. The performances are brilliant and you can certainly see why this film had 14 oscar nominations. If you like psycho-dramas with a bit of wry wit thrown in, buy this now, you will not be sorry. It's well worth the effort if only for one of Bette's most famous lines "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night".
Rating:
Summary: Bette Davis Shines in Ensemble Piece
Review: Joseoph L. Mankiewicz's (writer and director) All About Eve was the perfect movie to usher in the 1950's. It is an ensemble drama/comedy with the now familiar plot of the evil Eve Harrington entering the life of Margo Channing to take it over (which she eventually does at a great cost supplied by the even more evil Addison DeWitt). Bette Davis has one of her finest moments in this movie as she manages the neat trick of turning the bitchy Margo (very much like Bette Davis' own public persona) into a warm flesh-and-blood human being, even while delivering some speeches that come across as quite dated in their view of women (the one sore point in the movie). The party sequences give her the best chance for throwing all of her delicious scenery chewing to beautiful effect (as well as giving the viewer the chance to see the future screen goddess, Marilyn Monroe, showing the darker side of her own future persona). The cast also shines with Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter, and George Sanders. Anne Baxter is quite adequate, rising above that in the final few minutes of the film. The men (except George Sanders) do not shine as the women do. It is a smart film that despite its moments of tender heartedness dazzles most in its cynicism. A wonderfully entertaining film.
Rating:
Summary: "Everything but the Bloodhounds Snappin' at Her Rear End"
Review: That might be how maid Thelma Ritter responds to the sob story told by theatre groupie Anne Baxter to Broadway star Bette Davis, but Davis and her friends Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, and Hugh Marlowe are quite touched. In fact, Bette is so touched that she takes Eve (Baxter) under her wing as a kind of protege. But it's not long before Bette begins to feel uncomfortable about Eve, and that's when the fur begins to fly, especially at a party attended by acerbic George Sanders and very young Marilyn Monroe. One of the real classics of American cinema, "All About Eve" showcases Bette Davis in her best role, Margo Channing, a star's star. The other most memorable performance is by Oscar-winning George Sanders, who simply gloats divinely as theatre critic Addison DeWitt. While the other men are good in their parts, I always wish they had been bigger name players. This is one of Joseph Mankiewicz's best movies--and he's the man who brought us "The Best Years of Our Lives". If you have yet to see this tribute to NY theatre life, drop everything and run to the video store.
Rating:
Summary: Now this is a film about everything!
Review: Scene: Rich and talented people talk so damn witty and sharp tounged you wish real life was this crass and spicy. Davis in her husky voice Clauddete Colbert mannerisms (who was the first choice for the role)is the aging star who takes a mentee under her wing played by Baxter. Baxter in turn does everything to steal Davis'life and friends and stage roles. the real force of the film is George Sanders his regal demeanor and and disticnt voice is scene stealing and he deserved the films only Oscar for acting. But back to the plot for all of Baxter's cunning ways she finally does get to take Davis' life and image from her with one star making role in a play originally cast for Davis'. Thank heavens mankiewicz never shows us Baxter's performance and he leaves it up to the imagination. By letting us draw our own conclusion we can never tuly know if Baxter was talented or if just the one character in the film with the balls to do what ever she wanted by using whom ever she had too. the message is sometimes it's not talent that wins but the people with the connections. Just listen to the scenes at the Davis' party when she realizes this and she convinces herself that it's friends that matter and not fame then watch when eve wins the award at the end of the film and she drops the facade, Davis is still bitter! perfect film and the perfect message for everyone who thinks life isn't fair this film let's you know it's not supposed to be!
Rating:
Summary: Fasten your seat belts!
Review: Perhaps no film has been more lauded than "All About Eve", the delightful, Oscar-winning, 1950 dramedy starring Bette Davis. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's script is brilliant and witty, his direction unmatched. Yet what elevates "All About Eve" above most other classics is its unmatched cast, led by the simply magnificent Bette Davis. Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, and George Sanders also turn in excellent performances, while Anne Baxter skillfully and subtlely plays the snakey Eve. And if nothing else, see the film for the brief but hilarious turns by Thelma Ritter and Marilyn Monroe. Every classic film fan should know all about "All About Eve".
Rating:
Summary: stunning study in human nature
Review: ALL ABOUT EVE is the perrenial backstage drama, filled with the colorful theatre folk that we all know and love, and some we don't.... Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) watches Margo Channing's (Bette Davis) play every night, in standing-room. One night, Karen (Celeste Holm) offers her into Margo's dressing room (and into their lives). Once there, Eve works her "magic" and pretty soon finds herself on her way to the top. Filled with faultless performances and a caustic script, ALL ABOUT EVE is an undeniable masterpiece of cinema. Also starring George Sanders, Thelma Ritter and Marilyn Monroe.
Rating:
Summary: Bette Davis leads the finest cast on the big screen
Review: The inspiration for the film ALL ABOUT EVE was taken, as Hollywood legend has it, from a 1949 Cosmopolitan article written about a German actress who was befriended by a young woman who aspired to the heights of greatness in the theatre. Whether or not you believe the story, the film showcases Bette Davis at her wittiest, bitchiest best. This role was Davis'best bet for a comeback and a Best Actress Oscar, yet she sadly lost it to Judy Holliday. The film is one of the most-honored in all Oscar history, garnering more than 12 nominations. Davis shares the big screen with Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter, Hugh Marlowe, George Sanders, and in her first movie appearance, Marilyn Monroe as the hapless Miss Caswell of the "Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts" as Addison Dewitt so charmingly introduces her in the birthday party scene at Margo's house. The ensemble acting is literally some of the best any film has ever offered. This is a film for Davis fans and everyone who can appreciate the old Hollywood! The DVD print is nice and crisp, and the sound is somewhat better than the VHS edition. It would have been nice if Fox had included a behind-the-scenes featurette: the making of the film is as interesting as watching it. There are several books on the subject worth taking a look at it (my personal favorite is ALL ABOUT 'ALL ABOUT EVE' by Sam Staggs. The detail is at times exhausting, but there's so much to learn about how the movie came to be, and the lives of the stars behind it. ENJOY! "It's going to be a bumpy night."
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