All About Eve [Blu-ray] [1950]

Sometimes hearing the background story to a movie can be almost as interesting as the movie itself. This isn't quite the case of All About Eve which still remains a brilliant and highly entertaining film, but that doesn't make some of the backstage info less interesting. One tidbit to learn is that Zsa Zsa Gabor was in the running to play Miss Casswell in a role that ended up going to Marilyn Monroe. Her husband, George Sanders, landed the role of Miss Casswell's mentor Addison DeWitt. As a result Gabor kept popping up on set out of jealousy. (Ronald Reagan and his future wife Nancy Davis were also up for roles in the film as well.) All About Eve for a long time held the record for most Oscar nominations with 14. In 1998 Titanic became only the second movie in history to garner that many nominations, but All About Eve still holds the record for most female acting nominations. Of particularly ironic interest is the fact that up and coming actress Anne Baxter possibly pressured the higher ups to market her for a Best Actress Oscar rather than Supporting Actress. This has lead people to believe that the Academy's vote was split between her and her costar Bette Davis, allowing Judy Holliday to win the Best Actress Oscar for Born Yesterday. Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is a big fan of stage actress Margo Channing (Bette Davis), and when Margo's good friend Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) offers her a chance to meet her idol she jumps at the chance. Eve proves herself humble and idolizes Margo, and due to her past hard life, and the fact that she has nowhere to go, Margo moves her into her home and hires her as an assistant. Slowly Eve begins to move her way in with Margo's friends and colleagues and eventually tries to take her position on the stage. All About Eve is constantly listed in the greatest movies lists (#21 in Entertainment Weekly, #28 in American Film Institute, #85 on IMDb) and with good reason. This is one of those rare occasions where everything comes together to create the perfect storm. The script provides us a brilliant look backstage at the theater, using it to parallel the still somewhat newer form of film at the time. In this way the film is still prescient to our ideals of ageism, and to a lesser extent sexism, in film. The acting is impeccable. While everyone speaks highly of the performances given by Baxter and Davis, and they are extremely brilliant performances, the one that stands out to me is George Sanders as Addison DeWitt. Equal parts savvy and slimy, he commands and controls every scene he's in with a flair for control. Baxter must also be further mentioned for the subtleties of her performance. In order to reach the end effectively she must not give anything away, but when the truth of who she is comes out Baxter brilliantly reaches full bitch mode. All About Eve helped to resurrect the career of Bette Davis whose relationship with Warner Brothers had just failed after a string of box office failures. It also helped launch Baxter's career as a leading lady after a decade in supporting roles, as well as Marilyn Monroe who was a relative unknown at the time. This is a film of many pleasures including one of the greatest lines of dialogue of all time ("Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night.") If you haven't seen this flick I highly recommend you pick it up and give it a try! 5/5 Be sure to check out: Armadillo & Sands: Intellectual Properties at Work !

Among the best films ever made. Cannot get enough of George Sanders, one of the stars. But the entire cast is superb. (Oddly, the weakest link is Anne Baxter, who just overacts one too many times as Eve.) Knew the movie well before purchasing this two-disc set – purchased because the commentary interested me. There was little in the commentary new to me. The huge surprise was that Claudet Colbert had been slated to play Margo, a role Bette Davis filled (superbly) when a medical issue took Colbert out of the cast. The movie would have failed with Colbert (much s “Casablanca” would have failed with Ronald Reagan as Rick). One of my favorite scenes is the assemblage of the principals sitting on the staircase in Mago’s home. To me, it has always spoken to the real but tense intimacy among the playwright, director, actor, producer and ancillaries who need one another and understand that (even though they may not like one another). One of the film critics on the commentary disc saw the same scene as a beehive – well, no. Definitely not a hive and Margo definitely not a queen bee (hate that term). It’s all a lot more complicated than that. And Mankiewicz captured it beautifully.

Great movie! It starts off at an awards ceremony, where Eve-Anne Baxter-is getting an award. Seated in the audience are people who saw Eve climb through the ranks: Bette Davis, an aging star who is insecure, the star that Eve admires most; Gary Merrill, Bette's longtime partner; Celeste Holm, Bette's best friend, and the one who brought Eve to Bette; Hugh Marlowe, Celeste's husband and playwright that has worked with Bette for years. Eve comes off as a wide-eyed yokel, but her true side inches out: she's a devious little witch! Not everyone was fooled though. Bette's dresser-Thelma Ritter-was suspicious from the start. And then George Sanders comes into play, recognizing the game Eve is playing. This whole cast was excellent! The climax is when all of Eve's treachery comes out, and is used against her. This movie spawned the famous line: "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night." Also, look for Marilyn Monroe, in her first role. This is a classic, and a Bette Davis fan will want it. By the way, it's captioned.

Bette Davis, een geschoolde toneelactrice wars van teveel Hollywood esthetiek, zet hier een prachtige, wulpse dame neer die niet onder de indruk is van een andere dame die haar zeer succesvol imiteert. Misschien is imitatie wel een groot compliment. Marilyn Monroe ,nog in haar beginjaren, komt ook even voorbij.

Das American Film Institute notierte "Alles über Eva" von Joseph L. Mankiewicz auf Platz 16 in seiner 1998 veröffentlichten Top 100 Liste der besten amerikanischen Filme aller Zeiten. Auch heute - nunmehr 62 Jahre nach seiner Enstehung im Jahr 1950 - wirkt der Film immer noch frisch und zeitlos. Keine Spur von irgendwelchen Alterserscheinungen lassen sich erkennen. Kein Wunder, denn die Geschichte, die erzählt wird, kann heute genauso wie damals passieren. "Alles über Eva" ist im Kosmos des Theatermilieus angesiedelt. diesem seit Jahrhunderten und damit traditionsreichsten Tempel der darstellenden Kunst. Die geistreiche Satire, in Hollywood inszeniert, schafft die fiese Gleichschaltung zwischen Filmbusiness und Theater. Wenn die Figuren in "Alles über Eva" mit Verachtung auf Hollywood blicken, so geben sie doch - nach und nach - preis, dass die Strukturen doch sehr identisch sind. "Alles über Eva" ist die Geschichte des großen Theaterstars Margo Channing (Bette Davis) und ihrem größten Fan, der bescheiden wirkenden und äusserst sympathischen jungen Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), die jeden Abend vor dem Theater wartet und keine der Vorstellungen ihres Idols verpasst. Die erste Einstellung enführt den Zuschauer aber in die Festlichkeiten der Sarah Siddons Gesellschaft, die alljährlich die Sarah Siddons Awards für die besten Leistungen des Theaters vergibt. In diesem Jahr dreht sich alles um Eve, denn sie hat es geschafft. Sie bekommt den Hauptpreis. Erstmalig wird einer so jungen Darstellerin dieser Hauptpreis zugesprochen, denn ihre Darstellungen auf der Bühne waren grandios. Im Publikum sitzen ihre Freunde und Gönner. Sie ist nun der große Broadway Star. An ihrer Seite der einflussreiche Theaterkritiker Addison de Witt (George Sanders), der sie zum Star der Szene aufgebaut hat. Den durchschlagenden Erfolg hat sie aber auch vor allem ihrem Ehrgeiz und ganz am Beginn Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) zu verdanken, die wie jeden Abend nach der Vorstellung ins Theater in die Gemächer der Diva Margo Channnig geht und wie jeden Abend den jungen Fan Eve erblickt. An einem dieser Abende nimmt sie die junge Frau mit in den erlauchten Kreis der Theatergrößen und so lernt Eve die exzentrische Margo kennen. Aber auch Karens Ehemann Lloyd (Hugh Marlowe), der die besten Stücke am Broadway schreibt, den Regisseur Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill), gleichzeitig auch Margos jüngerer Liebhaber. Oder den reichen Producer Max Fabian (Gregory Ratoff), der sich immer mit schönen Frauen (Marilyn Monroe) umgibt. Ausser Margos Garderobiere Birdie (Thelma Ritter), sind alle gleich am ersten Abend von Eves naiver und liebeswerter Art faszniert, in Margo erwachen Beschützerinstinkte für den jungen Fan und sofort wird Eve in den engsten Kreis von Margos Freunden aufgenommen. Die junge Frau macht sich auch schnell unentbehrlich... Ein herrlicher Film, der wie bereits erwähnt, gar nichts von seiner Faszination eingebüsst hat. Brilliante Dialoge finden sich zuhauf und Bette Davis liefert neben "Die kleinen Füchse" und "Geheimnis von Malampur" ihre beste Rolle ihrer Karriere. Und mit Anne Baxter hat sie eine ebenbürtige Partnerin, die die Rolle der aufstrebenden, über Leichen gehenden Jungschauspielerin, die nur ein Ziel vor Augen hat, grandios und glaubwürdig spielt. Auch alle Nebenrollen sind brilliant besetzt. Kein Wunder, dass der Film bei solch einer großartigen Ensembleleistung von den insgesamt 14 Oscarnominerungen alleine 5 davon an die Schauspieler gingen: Davis, Baxter, Holmes, Ritter...gewinnen konnte allerdings nur George Sanders. Er erhielt einen der 6 Auszeichnugen. Trotz riesengroßer Konkurrenz durch "Sunset Boulevard" war "Alles über Eva" siegreich beim Hauptpreis bester Film des Jahres. Wer ihn noch nicht kennt (das werden allerdings wenige sein), der sollte dies schnell nachholen. Denn "Alles über Eva" ist auf alle Fälle eine der besten 100 Filme aller Zeiten.

La película llegó en perfecto estado y está subtitulada, si amas el cine no dudes en agregarla a tu colección.

Excellent condition...speedy delivery... remarkable price.

Far more eloquent people than I have extolled the virtues of this classic - not least, the Academy themselves who nominated it for an unbeaten 14 Oscar nominations (it won 6). It's not often one can say a movie is perfect, especially one over half a century old - and yet this movie does just that. It is a perfect fusion of cast, director, and above all, script. And what a genius screenplay it is - literate, without ever being elitist. Scathing and caustic yet never lacking warmth, it is remarkable that such an insightful movie about women was made by a man - Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The story revolves around Eve Harrington, a young woman who appears as an adoring fan at the theatre back door, waiting for Margo Channing, played by Bette Davis. At first doting and adoring, then insinuating into her affairs, and then showing her ultimate goal - to take her place, Anne Baxter plays Eve with great restraint - allowing her eyes to shine bright with a sincerity we soon come to realize is hollow. While Eve represents all the young ingénues that wait in the wings, Margo as played by Bette Davis is a unique and uniquely well rounded and believable character - not least because it mirrored her own character so much. Scathing, brassy, and yet increasingly vulnerable as her 40th birthday passes, it is the sort of role that even today Hollywood actresses complain there is not enough of, and brilliantly portrayed through an almost permanent haze of cigarette smoke, as much a part of her character as the script. That 40th birthday party, incidentally, contains the infamous line - `fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night..'. Then there is Celeste Holm (heard on one of the commentaries) and a small first screen role for Marilyn Monroe, who, as is often said, appeared to draw all the light on herself when she was on the screen. Let's not forget the men though - Gary Merrill, later to become Bette Davis real life husband, plays the object of Bette Davis attentions, and is no push-over. When Eve turns her attention on him, he rebuffs her with the harsh "What I go after, I want to go after. I don't want it to come after me.". And then most of all, George Sanders, his mellifluous speech purring out bemusement and cynicism in equal measure, and who turns out to have teeth to go with the purr. Every character and every line deserves a mention, but instead of reading this review- watch the movie! It's no screwball comedy, but rather a superb character study and ensemble piece, which glitters with wit and talent. As a bonus, this Cinema Reserve tin set do the movie some justice - the movie itself has two commentaries, and the second disc has a couple of period interviews (more amusing for the dated way in which the actresses spout prescripted answers, than they are educational) and a half hour documentary which though short, covers some of the fascinating backstory to the movie and its real life parallels pretty well. All in all, great movie, great package, highly recommended.