All About Eve (1950)

Regisseur:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Drehbuchautor:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (written by)

Premierendatum:

15. Januar 1951 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Werbezeile:

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:

Star | Urban | Beautiful Woman | Maid | Theatrical Director

Filmpreise:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 15 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

A masterpiece of dramatic filmmaking

Besetzung

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

Alternativ:

Best Performance (USA) (working title)
Alles über Eva (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) [de]

Länge:

138 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Altersfreigabe:

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

Drehorte:

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

Firma:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Dies und das:

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #28 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Pannen:

Abfolgefehler: After Bill proposes a toast to Margo, she changes the cigarette from her left hand to her right. But next shot it is still in her left hand.

Dialogzitate:

Addison DeWitt: Is it possible, is it even conceivable, that you've confused me with that gang of backward children you play tricks on?

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in "NewsRadio: Led Zeppelin (#2.18)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

Stormy Weather

A masterpiece of dramatic filmmaking

Among the greatest dramas ever written, this brilliant film elevates an outstanding script with extraordinary acting. It received 14 Oscar Nominations in 12 categories and won 6 including Best Picture and Director. However, it is much better than that.

Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is a waif that is constantly seen waiting outside the theater for her idol Margo Channing (Bette Davis). When Margo's best friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) invites her in to meet Margo it begins a relationship that is destined to turn into a typhoon. Margo is taken in by Eve's hard luck story and her obsequious deference, and she decides to employ her as her personal secretary. With duplicitous and cunning ambition, Eve maneuvers her way into becoming Margo's understudy. Just turning 40, Margo begins to become self conscious about her age and sees Eve as a threat to her career and her relationship with Bill, who is eight years her junior. The resulting tension between Margo and Eve is electric, with power plays, blackmail and conniving at every turn.

John Mankiewicz was one of the most prolific and gifted auteurs of the studio era. He won back-to-back double Oscars for directing and screenplay in 1949 and 1950 for `Letters to Three Wives' and `All About Eve'. His accomplishment in this film is gargantuan, with a powerful script and forceful direction of a talented cast. The dialogue is fantastic, with snide humor and barbed innuendo that cuts like a stiletto. The scene between Eve and pompous theater critic Addison Dewitt (George Sanders) where he confronts her about her past is like a mating of snakes.

The acting is stupendous. Bette Davis appeared in over 100 films in her 58 year career, nominated for 11 Best Acting Oscars and winning two. This was one of her very best performances and it escapes me why she did not win the award that year. Davis is a whirlwind of dramatic power in a riveting portrayal of the tempestuous Margo. She imbues Margo with a gigantic ego and equally enormous insecurity, which yields some of the best and most bitter tantrum spewing ever been put on celluloid. Anne Baxter is deliciously evil as Eve. Her sweet helplessness veils a cold, calculating serpent waiting for her opportunity to strike.

The supporting actors were also superb. George Sanders won a best supporting Oscar for his haughty performance as Addison De Witt. Celeste Holm was nominated for a supporting Oscar and was terrific as Margo's well meaning, but meddling friend. One of my favorites was Thelma Ritter (also nominated for Best Supporting Actress) as Birdie, an unrefined and blunt woman with extraordinary perceptiveness about Eve's true nature.

This is one of the best dramas ever made and among my favorite films of all time. It was rated number 16 on AFI's top 100 of the century. I rated it a 10/10. They don't make them like this any more. It is required viewing for classic film buffs.