Movie #113: All About Eve

Movie #: 113
Movie Title: All About Eve
Year Released: 1950

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Notable Cast: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Gary Merrill

Short Description: An ingenue insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress and her circle of theater friends. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: #28
IMDB.com: #96
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 5/29/2016

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)

Rationale: Not since I watched Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at #184 have I experienced a movie that contains such biting and sharp dialogue as All About Eve. There are scenes, much like in Virginia Woolf, that made me stare wide eyed and slack jawed before exclaiming "wow" at their conclusion. Bette Davis as Margo Channing unquestionably owns the screen in those moments and bravo to her. As the movie progressed I couldn't help but wonder if Anne Baxter's Eve Harrington had plotted from the very beginning to ascend to the level of stardom you find her at by the end of the movie or if circumstances along the way, such as Margo's ego causing her trouble and opening a door for Eve, molded Eve's plans into something more realistic than a seemingly unobtainable dream. The movie was very well written in that regard.