Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20413 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-03-04
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 134 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Alfred Hitchcock famously observed that movies should be more than just picture postcards of people talking. Sometimes, though, dialogue is all that's needed. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's immaculately scripted All About Eve is a case in point. There are no special effects (unless one considers Marilyn Monroe's wiggle or a scene in which a car breaks down). What the movie offers instead is some of the most coruscating one-liners ever committed to celluloid.

The top-name cast certainly know how to put Mankiewicz's words across. Anne Baxter is all doe-eyed charm as Eve, the ruthless aspiring actress who passes herself off as a little girl lost. George Sanders (eminent character actor and the voice of Shere Khan the tiger in The Jungle Book) shows his customary mellowness of sneer as Addison De Witt, theatre critic and professional cynic ("a venomous foot louse" as he's characterised) who helps push Eve up the greasy pole toward success, if not happiness. Best of all is Bette Davis, a soured but still resplendent stage diva, who takes Eve under her wing. ("I'll admit I've seen better days but I'm still not to be had for the price of a cocktail--like a salted peanut", she tells her lover.) The plotting and double-dealing on the screen, described in Sam Staggs' All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made, were matched by what went on behind the scenes. Davis heartily loathed fellow actress Celeste Holm who--ironically enough--plays her best friend. She fell in love with another co-star, the handsome, good-looking Gary Merrill, whom she later married. Backstage dramas are often self-indulgent and stagy affairs, but this one dazzles. --Geoffrey Macnab

Special Features
1.33 Full Screen
DVD 9
English
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Dolby Digital 2.0
Original Theatrical Trailer
Trailer Gentlemans Agreement
Cast Picture Gallery
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Czech\Danish\English\Finnish\Hebrew\Hungarian\Icelandic\Norwegian\Polish\Portuguese\Swedish

Synopsis
Given that she throws tantrums, gets intoxicated, and pushes people away when she needs them the most, it's a wonder New York theater star Margo Channing has any true friends. But when Eve, Margo's young and innocent-seeming protegee, schemes to gain both the affection of Margo's friends and a starring role originally written for Margo, the actress discovers just who is in her corner--and who is not. Released in 1950, ALL ABOUT EVE's power radiates undimmed through the years. The role of aging stage star Margo Channing is considered by many to be the best of Bette Davis's career, as Davis reveals and conceals Margo's vulnerabilities with a skill seldom seen onscreen. Anne Baxter is also marvelous as the subtle Eve, whose glowing enthusiasm masks a cold, calculated ambition. Both actresses garnered Best Actress Oscar nominations, and the film in its entirety took 14 nominations, winning seven of them, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. George Sanders was awarded Best Supporting Actor for his biting portrayal of potent, nasty theater critic Addison DeWitt. Consistently listed among the best films of all time, director-writer Joseph L. Mankiewicz's ALL ABOUT EVE shouldn't be missed; the acting, writing, and directing are unequivocally brilliant.

Customer Reviews

Is it only about Eve?
It is not only all about Eve, it is about the theatre world. Just as the final sequence rounds off our understanding of the real Eve Harrington, it also reveals that there will always be those who reach the top in the theatre world and those who aspire to reach it. As dialogue-laden and full of quotable quotes as any play, the film rarely provides glimpses of any play performance. Instead it reveals the back-stage relations between director, producer, writer, actress, their partners, dresser, critic, under-study, etc. Their world is a comedy/drama in itself.
Working from a tiny story by Mary Orr, Joseph Mankiewicz wrote, master-minded and directed the film and Daryl F Zanuck produced it. Their work, and the work of cast members Bette Davis, George Sanders, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Thelma Ritter and Gregory Ratoff is seen at its best here. In its year (1950) it garnered six Oscars and 14 nominations. Critics and audiences, ever since, have always rated it amongst their favourite films.

A marvellous piece of film-making. Top drawer stuff.
All About Eve is such a marvellous and wonderfully funny film that it should be owned by every film fan out there. So well written and a cast that includes Bette Davis (superb), Anne Baxter and even Marilyn Monroe.

It tells the story of how an obsessed fan sees her idol at the stage door one evening and suddenly and relentlessly takes the reigns of power straight from under her. The fan is Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) and the idol is Margo Channing (Bette Davis). Eve then manoeuvres into Margo's position and takes her lead roles becoming a sensation over night and causing havoc in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend (Gary Merrill), her playwright (Hugh Marlowe) and his wife (Celeste Holm). The cynical drama critic (an excellent Oscar-winning performance by George Sanders) is the only one who sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and flawless pattern of deceit.

This truly marvellous film packed with excellent one-liners such as the one Margo says at a party; "Fasten your seatbelts, we're in for a bumpy night", and filled with first-rate performances especially by Bette Davis and Anne Baxter and wonderful direction is an absolute joy from start to finish. Come the Oscar ceremony in 1951, this film garnered 14 Academy Award nominations which was a record that stood for 47 years. It won 6 of them. This film features in my top 10 films of all time. Sheer class.

Bette davis is the greatest actor of her era!
This is one of Davis' most famous films, and although I am a great fan of hers I had never seen it until now. The performances are all spot on I truly do adore this woman and her work with very few exceptions. This definately is a must have addition for any avid Davis fan's collection.