All About Eve

Released: October 13, 1950

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: drama

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 0.30 Worldwide: ?

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 155.60 Worldwide: ?

Directing: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Screenwriting: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill

Review:

This “brilliantly sophisticated (and cynical) look at life in and around the theater” ^LM has become “an all-time classic.” ^VD “Wit and sarcasm reign supreme” ^FS in “Hollywood’s definitive backstage drama” ^TV via memorable lines such as “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!” Based on Mary Orr’s short story “The Wisdom of Eve,” “Mankiewicz’s biting script of ambition and betrayal in the New York theatre” ^A07 “says trunkloads about show business, human behavior and the direct correlation between talent and utter viciousness.” ^TV

In “the high point of Bette Davis’s long career,” ^TV she plays Broadway veteran Margo Channing, an “aging, bitchy accomplished star.” ^FS She takes an adoring fan – the ambitious, young starlet Eve Harrington (Baxter) – under her wing. As the story unfolds, we see the supposedly naïve protégé “insinuating herself into the life of her idol, and scheming to steal her theatrical roles and her lover Bill (Merrill). By ruthlessly exploiting the older woman’s kindness and hospitality, she manages to achieve her present success while almost destroying the veteran star in the process.” ^FS

“George Sanders is perfect as Addison De Witt – a cynical, egotistical columnist/critic.” ^FS The film also features “the young Marilyn Monroe as a budding talent” ^RS in a bit part and “the most literate catfight ever filmed.” ^TV in this “razor sharp satire on the theater world.” ^VD “This nearly flawless film was nominated for an astounding 14 Oscars, a feat not duplicated until 47 years later with James Cameron’s Titanic.” ^MSN