All About Eve
Bette Davis' tour de force performance in All About Eve resurrected her fading career at 42, in an era where starring roles for ageing actresses were non-existent. She plays Margo Channing, an ageing Broadway star with a penchant for Martinis and bon mots. Starlet Anne Baxter is Eve, a wide-eyed ingénue who insinuates herself into Margo's life and social circle, with an eye to taking her throne. From writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz - a filmmaker notorious for movies exploring the female psyche - All About Eve scooped the major awards at the 1951 Oscars and BAFTAs.
All four of the lead actresses garnered an Oscar nomination - still the only film in history to achieve such a feat. Also features Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest film roles.
Less1950Rating: PG138 minsUSA
ComedyDramaClassic
- Director:
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz ('The Barefoot Contessa', 'Guys and Dolls', 'Cleopatra')
- Writer:
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Cast:
- Bette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersCeleste HolmGary MerrillHugh MarloweBarbara BatesMarilyn MonroeThelma Ritter
All About Eve | Awards
Winner of Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor (George Sanders), Costume Design and Sound, Academy Awards 1951. Winner of Best Screenplay, Golden Globes 1951. Winner Best Film, BAFTA Awards 1951. Winner of Best Actress (Bette Davis) and Jury Special Prize, Cannes Film Festival 1951.
All About Eve | Reviews
99%103 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Time Out
Has more quotable dialogue in one movie than most screenwriters manage in a lifetime.
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The New York Times
A fine Darryl Zanuck production, excellent music and an air of ultra-class complete this superior satire. The legitimate theatre had better look to its laurels.
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Roger Ebert
Davis was a character, an icon with a grand style, so even her excesses are realistic.
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Hollywood Reporter
Mankiewicz's flair for dialog is so perfected that all three actresses shoot fireworks whenever they open their mouths.
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