Rating: 
Summary: "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night..."
Review: Now 52 years old, this movie still sparkles with wit and brilliance! A real masterpiece, All About Eve is a must-see which features a great sarcastic script (lots of one-liners) and fantastic performances from a star-studded cast. It also is a true reflection on what the theater is all about...the only other movie that comes close is Stage Door, which expresses the same sentiment about the theater but in a slightly softer way. Basically, All About Eve is about an aging prima-donna, Margo Channing (Bette Davis, in her best performance) who takes in a young girl, Eve (Anne Baxter), who claims to be a devoted fan whose only wish is to serve Margo. Fooled by Eve's seemingly naive and sweet personality, Margo helps her out, not realizing until it is almost too late that Eve's real ambitions are to make herself a star by taking Margo's place. Anyhow, this movie is still as fresh, original, and relevant as if it had been made yesterday. With great performances from Davis and Baxter and a sarcastic, biting script, this movie is a must-see. Get it soon and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: top notch
Review: This is a can,t go wrong movie. Davis is at her best and Ann Baxter ,George Sanders,Celeste Holmes and Thelma Ritter match her all the way.
Both Davis and Baxter were up for an Academy Award,but the votes were split and allowed another actress to win.
It,s a great story,very well acted and has a great ending.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie
Review: Bette Davis gives her career defining performance as Margo Channing in this film. This film gives a brilliant depiction of the back stabbing and heartache's that go into a play and the Broadway world. Anne Baxter plays the title character of Eve Harrington, the mousy little girl who isn't who she appears to be. She claws her way to the top stepping over Margo, but in the process makes a lot of enemies, which makes me ask the question was it worth it, Eve? George Sanders gives his best performance ever as slimey sneaky Addison DeWitt, the only person in this movie to see through Eve's wall of lies and to confront her about it. Celeste Holm and Gary Merrill are also good in their roles. The one supporting person who really gave an outstanding performance was Thelma Ritter as Margo's assistant, Miss. Birdy Cooper. Thelma Ritter was dazzaling and brilliant in this role and should have won the Oscar that year. This landmark film recieved the most Oscar nominations ever [14].
14 Academy Award Nominations including-
*Best Picture [1950]
*Best Director-Joseph L. Manckewicz
*Best Screenplay-Joseph L. Manckewicz
Best Actress-Bette Davis
Best Actress-Anne Baxter
*Best Supporting Actor-George Sanders
Best Supporting Actress-Celeste Holm
Best Supporting Actress-Thelma Ritter
Best Cinematography [B/W]
Best Art Direction/Set Decoration[B/W]
*Best Costume Design[B/W]-Edith Head
*Best Sound Recording
Best Film Editing
Best Score
Rating:
Summary: The Two Faces of Eve
Review: I prefer more visual movies (Hitchcock, Welles, Hawks), but every now and then I like to watch a movie that's got perfect dialogue. And, having seen it for the first time in a long while, I forgot how much I loved "All About Eve." Firstly, it appeals to my cynical nature. But, secondly, each character is so sharply defined, the dialogue so perfectly tailored to each actor that you just have to marvel at Joseph Mankiewicz' screenplay. "All About Eve" is a brilliant, caustic and cynical movie that centers around the disparate personalities of three women, though it hardly can be called a "chick flick." "Click flicks" ultimately wallow in romance novel sentimentality that no woman actually believes in, except as futile wishful thinking. "All About Eve" instead gives the viewer a double-shot of reality with no chaser. Margo Channing, played by Bette Davis, plays an aging stage actress who's become quite accustomed to being The Star, onstage and off. More than just a woman, Margo is a force of nature. Tempestuous, spoiled and insecure, she can turn into Hurricane Margo at the drop of a hat (or a hint about her age). Anne Baxter plays Eve Harrington, a snake in the grass and veiled temptress who recalls that other Eve (the Biblical one). With single-minded purposefulness, she sets on a course to undermine Margo, in order to take over her spot in the limelight. Eve knows enough about human nature to climb over corpses on the way to the top, but to do so without even having to lift a finger. This is the genius of Manckiewicz's crafting of her character. Eve is the most cunning of any villain I've yet to encounter: As crafty as Iago, backstabbing like Brutus and as icily emotionless as Mrs. Danvers, Eve merely stands by as she engineers situations behind the scenes that exploit her friends' weaknesses and jealousies. The beauty of it is that Eve comes out the victim and the victor, her credibility raised a notch as she comes out of her shrewd manipulations as lily-white as Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. There are some today, who view this movie as a relic; that the catiness of its female leads was some kind of anti-woman sexism on the part of Mankiewicz. Bosh! Unlike the Pollyanna Phillistines of the Gender Studies department, Manck never had on any blinders or rose-coloured glasses on when it came to human nature. Any honest woman will -- and I agree -- tell you that women can be much more vicious than men, and this screenplay gorgeously fleshes out this observation. If anything, the men in this movie come out looking a bit slower and naive than the women. From the start, Eve wraps playwright Lloyd Richards (played by Hugh Marlowe, in his best role) around her finger, and finagles a leading role in his new play at Margo's expense. Lloyd is all agog over Eve, though Lloyd's wife, the hard-headed realist with a heart, Karen (Celeste Holm) immediately sees right through her ruse. Accused of cynicism by Lloyd, she retorts "That cynicism as you call it, I got the day I discovered I was different from little boys!" Even a self-confirmed cynic as Margo's fiance, director Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill) is at first snowed by Eve's act, and admires her for what he believes is her youthful idealism in emulating Margo (which we later see is how the pods emulated the townsfolk in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"). The only man who sees through Eve right from the start (long after all the women in the movie had her number) is drama critic Addison DeWitt -- played with droll sophistication by that cad's cad, George Sanders --who's seen every trick, especially since his office is apparently an anteroom to further "casting couches" for young ingenues. The battle of wits between Addison and Eve at the end of this movie will leave you breathless, though it's clear that Eve has more than met her match in the controlling, dominating Addison. "All About Eve" is the Great Black Comedy, because of the ironic observation that Eve didn't even need to use her treachery and backstabbing ruses to get to the top; She was surrounded by friends who were more than happy to nurture her in her struggle in the theatre. But that's the beauty of Eve's characterisation: She is so evil, so blackhearted, that she thinks the only way to the top is by screwing everyone over, even when no one's mounting opposition to her progress. "All About Eve" is a textbook on economy of dialogue, sharp wit and well-placed punches. Certainly, the 1940s and 50s were an era in which the craft of screen-writing was a highly polished one, versus the casual, aimless grunt-and-groan-and-sigh scripts of today. And "All About Eve" is the most brilliant of gems. I always admired the movies of Hawks, Wilder, Hitchcock and John Huston for their use of innuendo and understatement, implying rather than explicating meaning within the conversation. Mankiewicz' uniqueness is his use of this technique not in making the dialogue more indirect, subtle and mysterious, but in using
turn-of-phrase in making it more direct, uncomfortable and brutally honest. That is genius.
Rating:
Summary: The Movie the Eats Like a Meal!
Review: I think Bette Davis would appreciate my review title in the spirit in which it is offered. After more that a dozen viewings of this movie I continue to pick up things that I had missed or, depending on my frame of mind at the time, overlooked. There are so many layers to this film that it's like opening up a gift over and over. Bravo! Favorite Lines: "Why do they always look like nappy rabbits?"
"It was a drizzly night. I remember I asked the taxi to wait."
"I'll admit I've seen better days but I'm not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut!"
"I'm so happy you're happy."
"How nice for you, how nice for Eve, how nice for everybody!"
"What a story. Everything but the blood hounds snappin' at her rear end."
"Here you are, Max. One burp and you'll be all rid of that Miss Caswell."
"I wouldn't like!"
"It has everything a dressing room needs except a basketball hoop."
"It's about time that the piano learned that it has not written the concerto!"
Rating:
Summary: Bette is at her best
Review: I am a fifteen year old who is diving head-first into all the old classic movies. "All About Eve" is one of the ultimate great movies. I saw it and then immediately had to read the review given at filmsite.org (this site helps me understand many of the underlying themes in the old movies.)) The story is timeless and even 50 years later I can imagine a selfish scrupleless upstart working her backhanded way to the top. Bette Davis is at her best. This beautiful film was unmatched for Oscar nominations until Titanic came out in 1997. Anyone who wants to have an enjoyable evening with a top of the line film with top of the line acting should rent or buy this film. Take the time to relive it if you've already seen it. It won't go to waste.
Rating:
Summary: "Everybody has a heart -- except some people."
Review: Having only seen one other Bette Davis film to date ("Dark Victory"), I don't know if her role as the aging actress Margo Channing is her best performance. But Davis is no doubt dynamic in this 1950 drama about the New York Theater from Director/Writer Joseph Mankiewicz. Channing is a near middle aged but very successful actress in New York. She is visited by an obsessive fan named Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) after a play, one that Eve claims to have seen every performance of. Margo takes her under her wing and Eve seems to be almost like the girl from next door. About the only one who sees her differently is Margo's housekeeper "Birdie" (Thelma Ritter, who is also excellent). Soon, Margo becomes paranoid that Eve is plotting against her, feelings of which break out at a
birthday party for her boyfriend and groom-to-be (Gary Merriell). Eventually, Margo's efforts take a toll on her, costing her some trust in others. Unknowingly to Margo, Eve becomes her understudy and when Margo misses some performances, Eve fills in and does so with great success. Soon, she is a big hit and Margo starts to drift toward obscurity. But Eve's plans-Which involved trying to get a major part by blackmailing the wife of a playwright-and the truth about her "girl from next door" background are revealed by venomous play columnist Addison DeWitt (George Sanders, also superb). The movie is narrated throughout by several different people: Addison, Margo and Karen Richards (Celeste Holm), wife of playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe). They reveal various feelings and shifting attitudes towards the main female leads. And, although it is sort of [bad], I liked the ending. After receiving a major theatrical award, Eve, now a matured, whiny actress, returns home only to find a girl there named Phoebe (Barbara Bates) who claims to be studying Eve for school. She is very similar to how Eve was at the film's beginning. The last shots in the film, which I cannot reveal but you might agree with me, also show that a circle of life is now complete. After knocking Margo off her throne, Eve may now be the top actress, but that throne is threatened, as it was with Margo and has it will be with the next actress. I can also tell you that this movie is great as straightforward entertainment. It is written with wit and humor when it needs to be. Particularly memorable is Miss Caswell's (A young Marilyn Monroe) line about the producers: "Why do they always look like unhappy rabbits?" The irony-or some say brilliance-of this movie is that it is about the New York Theater, yet never shows any onstage acting.
Rating: 
Summary: All about Eve
Review: Bette Davis were superior as always, the movie is entertaining and will hold your attention until the very end. Anne Baxter was totally uncanny the way she play the innocent little backstabbing liar. She over stepped her bounds and learned a lesson that can only be taught by experience. Very very good movie, a must have in your collection. Thanks.
Rating:
Summary: "Let's Hear It For The Dialogue"
Review: Many explanations have been offered for the enduring appeal of this wonderful comedy about the New York theater. The extraordinary cast is what's most often praised, and it is true that for once the abrupt pivots, struts, and semaphoric hand gestures of late Bette Davis at her most unrestrained are exactly right, and the same goes for the slightly stagey overacting of Anne Baxter and the remarkably suave slithering about of George Sanders. The remaining players also to a person shine in their roles. However what usually isn't praised highly enough is the film's remarkably fresh dialogue. Though the pre-feminist relationship between the sexes and the too pat ending may seem dated or weak, no matter how many times one hears certain of the incessant wisecracks that distinguish almost every character's speech, there is a vitality on screen coming from the language that one never tires of. Years ago, Pauline Kael pointed out that "All About Eve" gave the lie to the easy categorization of the film schools, the assumption that films are visual whereas the stage is verbal. Kael traced this film's remarkableness almost wholly to its enduring verbal brilliance. Surely this is what propels the scenes forward with such dash and energy and makes the film not only the indicated treat for repeat viewers but a necessary study for urbane movie makers of the future.
Rating:
Summary: engrossing drama
Review: normally, i don't favor Bette Davis, but in this film she gives one stellar performance. as for the rest of the cast: they give nothing less than superior performances. what a great ensemble of actors assembled in one film. Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, George Sanders, Hugh Marlowe etc.; what a cast. this film was voted "best picture of the year" at the academy awards ceremony, and deservedly so. it seizes the viewer's attention and maintains it throughout. in a word: FASCINATING!!! to divulge any elements of the premise of this film would be criminal. as for the DVD, it has few extras but the movie alone is worth the price. highly recommended.
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