All About Eve (1950)

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writer:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (written by)

Release Date:

15 January 1951 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It's all about women---and their men!

Plot:

An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends.

Plot Keywords:

Theater | Director | Critic | Actress | Party

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Bette Davis	...	Margo
Anne Baxter	...	Eve
George Sanders	...	Addison DeWitt
Celeste Holm	...	Karen
Gary Merrill	...	Bill Simpson
Hugh Marlowe	...	Lloyd Richards
Gregory Ratoff	...	Max Fabian
Barbara Bates	...	Phoebe
Marilyn Monroe	...	Miss Casswell
Thelma Ritter	...	Birdie
Walter Hampden	...	Aged Actor
Randy Stuart	...	Eve's Pal on Telephone
Craig Hill	...	Leading Man in 'Footsteps on the Ceiling'
Leland Harris	...	Doorman
Barbara White	...	Autograph Seeker

Also Known As:

Best Performance (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (1987) | South Korea:15 | UK:U (2007) | USA:Approved (certificate #14544) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Contrary to popular belief, Margo Channing is not based on Tallulah Bankhead. The film was adapted from an original story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr (uncredited in this film), based on a real-life incident involving Austrian actress Elisabeth Bergner during her run in the hit stage thriller "The Two Mrs. Carrolls" in 1943-44. The story about it being based on Bankhead persisted, however, and when Bankhead heard it, she reportedly told a live radio audience that the next time she saw Bette Davis, she would "tear every hair out of her mustache".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the Cub room, after Eve has returned from her restroom talk with Karen, Addison DeWitt is tapping his cigarette into the ashtray. The cigarette falls off from the holder. He continues tapping until he realizes it fell off and then he attempts to hide the holder behind his hands.

Quotes:

Addison DeWitt: We all come into this world with our little egos equipped with individual horns. If we don't blow them, who else will?

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: America's Greatest Movies (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Blue Moon

A Magnificent Timeless Tale of Ambition, Manipulation and Betrayal - Certainly One of the Best Classics Ever

The ambitious Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) gets close to the great and temperamental stage artist Margo Channing (Bette Davis) and her friends Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) and her husband, the play-writer Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe); her boyfriend and director Bill Sampson (Gary Marrow); and the producer Max Fabian (Gregory Ratoff). Everybody, except the cynical critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), believe that Eve is only a naive, humble and simple obsessed fan of Margo and they try to help her. However, Eve is indeed a cynical and manipulative snake that uses the lives of Margo and her friends to reach her objectives in the theater business.

"All About Eve" is a magnificent timeless tale of ambition, manipulation and betrayal, and certainly one of the best classics ever. Everything perfectly works in this movie: the direction is very precise and tight; dialogs are very acid and intelligent; Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders and Celeste Holm have awesome performances in very powerful characters; the dramatic story is amazingly good, showing what an evil person can plot to reach fame and success. I believe this movie will always be among my ten favorite movies ever. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "A Malvada" ("The Wicked")