With a towering, self-mocking performance by Ms. Davis and almost equally memorable performances by the rest of the ensemble, "All About Eve" stands as a testament to screen writing of high wit and bitter sarcasm.
Also in the cast are Hugh Marlowe as Lloyd Richards, a playwright and friend of Margo; Celeste Holm as Karen Richards, Lloyd's wife; Gregory Ratoff as Max Fabian, a grumbling, always discomforted producer; Marilyn Monroe in an early but pivotal role as Miss Casswell, a young starlet of dubious talent beyond her obvious assets, whose only interest is in meeting influential men; Barbara Bates as Phoebe, another up-and-coming actress much like Eve; and Thelma Ritter as Birdie, Margo's hard-nosed and practical friend, maid, and dresser.
As wonderful as the performances are, though, it's the film's dialogue that carries the day. But it's also the film's dialogue that most sets the movie apart as a work of art, an entertainment, rather than a slice of life. Face it, no one talks the way the people do in this film; no one is so clever, so witty, so smart and sprightly all of the time. Oh, well; maybe they've become part and parcel of the characters they play onstage. Take some of these lines, for instance, all spoken at the same cocktail party at Margo's:
Miss Casswell: "Why do they always look like unhappy rabbits?"
Margo: "It's that Miss Casswell. I don't see why she hasn't given Addison heartburn." To which Bill Sampson replies, "No heart to burn."
Margo (regally, with a drink in her hand): "It is my last wish to be buried sitting up."
Margo: "If my guests do not like it here, I suggest they accompany you to the nursery where I am sure you will all feel more at home."
Richards to Margo: "You've got a new guest, a movie star from Hollywood." To which Margo responds: "Shucks, and I sent my autograph book to the cleaners."
Margo: "Bill's thirty-two. He looks thirty-two. He looked it five years ago; he'll look it twenty years from now. I hate men."
Karen: "Lloyd says Margo compensates for underplaying on stage by overplaying reality."
Karen: "Margo just doesn't miss performances. If she can walk, crawl, or roll, she plays."
Eve: "The show must go on."
Karen: "No, dear, Margo must go on!"
Birdie (looking at all the furs in the bedroom): "The bed looks like a dead animal act."
And Eve (on her love of the theater): "Why, if there's nothing else, there's applause. I've listened backstage to people applaud. It's like...like words of love coming over the footlights and wrapping you up. Imagine, to know every night that different hundreds of people love you...they want you; you belong. Just that alone is worth anything."
Later in the story, Lloyd announces his disdain for Margo's constant criticisms of his scripts. "It's about time," he tells her, "the piano realized it has not written the concerto!"
And Margo's comment after becoming jealous and self-destructive over Eve: "I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut!"
The need for stardom and the ends people will go to in order to achieve it are perfectly captured in "All About Eve." Backstabbing was never more fun.
Video:
The black-and-white picture quality in this restored print is practically flawless. The transfer is taken from the best fine-grain master copy that could be found, further touched up digitally to remove any remaining blemishes or age marks. The outcome is an image that is clear and clean, with generally prominent contrasts, and reasonably sharp delineation. Some scenes are deeper and more crystalline than others, but the bulk of the film holds up well, with not so much as a scratch, a fleck, or a defect to be found.
Audio:
The advantage of a newly created Dolby Digital two-channel stereo track is most noticeable during the beginning credits music, which opens up nicely, if a bit brightly, compared to the film's mono track. In other areas, applause is well handled by the stereo, although I sometimes preferred the softer, more natural sound of the monaural to the stereo's harsher upper middle and top end. Still, there's no arguing with the effectiveness of the stereo spread in creating a more modern, believable sonic picture, so stereo is the default setting on start-up. All of this is made all the more moot, however, when one considers that ninety-nine per cent of the movie is made up of dialogue that is served well by either audio format.
Extras:
There are three major and several minor bonus items on the disc that may be of interest movie buffs. These include two audio commentaries, the first with Celeste Holm, Christopher Mankiewicz, and Kenneth Geist (author of "Pictures Will Talk: The Life and Films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz") and the second with Sam Staggs (author of "All About All About Eve"); plus an American Movie Classics Backstory documentary, "All About Eve," that lasts about forty minutes. Then, there are original promotional interviews with Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, brief and obviously staged; original Movietone newsreel clips of the 1951 Oscar Awards Show and movie première; and a film restoration comparison. Twenty-eight scene selections; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English and Spanish subtitles; and a theatrical trailer conclude the special features.
Parting Thoughts:
Is it the best picture of all time, as some critics have suggested? I think that's a stretch. But in saying that "All About Eve" is "The wittiest, the most devastating, the most adult and literate motion picture ever made that had anything to do with the New York Stage," critic Leo Mishkin is closer to the mark. There probably hasn't been another film so drolly critical of Broadway stardom in the history of filmmaking.
With a towering, self-mocking performance by Ms. Davis and almost equally memorable performances by the rest of the ensemble, "All About Eve" stands as a testament to screen writing of high wit and bitter sarcasm. The resultant satire remains as entertaining today, and as relevant, as ever before.
As wonderful as the performances are, though, it's the film's dialogue that carries the day. But it's also the film's dialogue that most sets the movie apart as a work of art, an entertainment, rather than a slice of life. Face it, no one talks the way the people do in this film; no one is so clever, so witty, so smart and sprightly all of the time. Oh, well; maybe they've become part and parcel of the characters they play onstage. Take some of these lines, for instance, all spoken at the same cocktail party at Margo's:
Miss Casswell: "Why do they always look like unhappy rabbits?"
Margo: "It's that Miss Casswell. I don't see why she hasn't given Addison heartburn." To which Bill Sampson replies, "No heart to burn."
Margo (regally, with a drink in her hand): "It is my last wish to be buried sitting up."
Margo: "If my guests do not like it here, I suggest they accompany you to the nursery where I am sure you will all feel more at home."
Richards to Margo: "You've got a new guest, a movie star from Hollywood." To which Margo responds: "Shucks, and I sent my autograph book to the cleaners."
Margo: "Bill's thirty-two. He looks thirty-two. He looked it five years ago; he'll look it twenty years from now. I hate men."
Karen: "Lloyd says Margo compensates for underplaying on stage by overplaying reality."
Karen: "Margo just doesn't miss performances. If she can walk, crawl, or roll, she plays."
Eve: "The show must go on."
Karen: "No, dear, Margo must go on!"
Birdie (looking at all the furs in the bedroom): "The bed looks like a dead animal act."
And Eve (on her love of the theater): "Why, if there's nothing else, there's applause. I've listened backstage to people applaud. It's like...like words of love coming over the footlights and wrapping you up. Imagine, to know every night that different hundreds of people love you...they want you; you belong. Just that alone is worth anything."
Later in the story, Lloyd announces his disdain for Margo's constant criticisms of his scripts. "It's about time," he tells her, "the piano realized it has not written the concerto!"
And Margo's comment after becoming jealous and self-destructive over Eve: "I'll admit I may have seen better days, but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail, like a salted peanut!"
The need for stardom and the ends people will go to in order to achieve it are perfectly captured in "All About Eve." Backstabbing was never more fun.
Video:
The black-and-white picture quality in this restored print is practically flawless. The transfer is taken from the best fine-grain master copy that could be found, further touched up digitally to remove any remaining blemishes or age marks. The outcome is an image that is clear and clean, with generally prominent contrasts, and reasonably sharp delineation. Some scenes are deeper and more crystalline than others, but the bulk of the film holds up well, with not so much as a scratch, a fleck, or a defect to be found.
Audio:
The advantage of a newly created Dolby Digital two-channel stereo track is most noticeable during the beginning credits music, which opens up nicely, if a bit brightly, compared to the film's mono track. In other areas, applause is well handled by the stereo, although I sometimes preferred the softer, more natural sound of the monaural to the stereo's harsher upper middle and top end. Still, there's no arguing with the effectiveness of the stereo spread in creating a more modern, believable sonic picture, so stereo is the default setting on start-up. All of this is made all the more moot, however, when one considers that ninety-nine per cent of the movie is made up of dialogue that is served well by either audio format.
Extras:
There are three major and several minor bonus items on the disc that may be of interest movie buffs. These include two audio commentaries, the first with Celeste Holm, Christopher Mankiewicz, and Kenneth Geist (author of "Pictures Will Talk: The Life and Films of Joseph L. Mankiewicz") and the second with Sam Staggs (author of "All About All About Eve"); plus an American Movie Classics Backstory documentary, "All About Eve," that lasts about forty minutes. Then, there are original promotional interviews with Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, brief and obviously staged; original Movietone newsreel clips of the 1951 Oscar Awards Show and movie première; and a film restoration comparison. Twenty-eight scene selections; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English and Spanish subtitles; and a theatrical trailer conclude the special features.
Parting Thoughts:
Is it the best picture of all time, as some critics have suggested? I think that's a stretch. But in saying that "All About Eve" is "The wittiest, the most devastating, the most adult and literate motion picture ever made that had anything to do with the New York Stage," critic Leo Mishkin is closer to the mark. There probably hasn't been another film so drolly critical of Broadway stardom in the history of filmmaking.
With a towering, self-mocking performance by Ms. Davis and almost equally memorable performances by the rest of the ensemble, "All About Eve" stands as a testament to screen writing of high wit and bitter sarcasm. The resultant satire remains as entertaining today, and as relevant, as ever before.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]10705[/release]