Critic Reviews
All About Eve (1950) Rank 5 Reviews
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TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
The screenplay ... may be the most biting example of hard-boiled wit ever to come out of Hollywood, and it is stylishly performed at a breakneck pace by a uniformly expert cast. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
Zap2it.com (Michael Szymanski)
One of the best send-ups of the inside back-stabbing and infighting that goes on in Hollywood ever put to film. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Zap2it.com (Michael Szymanski)
eFilmCritic.com (--)
Vivien Leigh in GONE WITH THE WIND, Marilyn Monroe in THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, and Marlon Brando in THE GODFATHER are three examples. The fourth, making up a kind of moviestar Mount Rushmore, is of course Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE.
Despite this film's ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at eFilmCritic.com (--)
DVDnett.no
Hver gang jeg ser en gammel film i sort/hvitt lurer jeg på om den klarer å holde mål etter dagens standard. All About Eve holdt i 1950, den holder i dag og kommer til holde lenge etter at denne DVD-platen har smuldret bort. Det er kanskje litt feil å ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVDnett.no
Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics
The presence of All About Eve, while a relief, is also a sad reminder of how in certain ways movies have regressed in the past 50 years. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Rotten Tomatoes - Reviews from the Nation's Top Critics
TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
ALL ABOUT EVE is the consummate backstage story, a film that holds a magnifying glass up to theatrical environs and exposes all the egos, tempers, conspiracies and backstage back-biting that make up the world of make-believe on Broadway. The screenplay, ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
DVD Verdict (Barrie Maxwell)
All About Eve originated with a 1946 short story by Mary Orr entitled "The Wisdom of Eve." It had been turned into a radio play aired in early 1949 before the film rights were acquired by Twentieth Century-Fox for $3500 or $5000 (sources vary). Orr ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVD Verdict (Barrie Maxwell)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
The conclusion is particularly ingenious. The introduction of a new character in the last scene tells us all we need to know about the future of another. What does All About Eve have to say about the stage? Its basic point is not subtle, but there are so ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Few Best Picture Oscar winners hold up over the years, and fewer still are as beloved as All About Eve (1950), which opens today at the Castro Theater and runs through Thursday in a sparkling new print. It's one of the few winners in that category ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
KQEK DVD Review (Mark R. Hasan)
Twentieth Century-Fox revisits several previously released titles via a new Oscar banner - films honored with multiple Oscars - and takes advantage of available biographers and scholars by including their thoughts in full-length commentary tracks. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at KQEK DVD Review (Mark R. Hasan)
MovieEye.com (David Litton)
There are some movies that slip into obscurity, and those that are remembered forever. There are actors and actresses who come and go with the latest issue of People magazine, and then there are some who become legendary. Once in a great while, the ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at MovieEye.com (David Litton)
Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
The fine acting, direction and script all add up to make this one of the few genuinely perfect movies. But in the final analysis the real credit for the enduring success of All About Eve is due Bette Davis. She IS Margo Channing. The way she holds a ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
GoneMovie.com
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is the queen of Broadway, playing the lead in Aged in Wood, directed by her beau Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill). Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) is a star struck Margo Channing fan. Margo takes Eve under her wing as both an ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at GoneMovie.com
The Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)
The film was adapted and transformed into a Broadway play called Applause in 1970, with Lauren Bacall (later replaced by Anne Baxter!) as Margo Channing. Eddie (Ed) Fisher's sole scene was cut from the final version, although he still received screen ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at The Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)
CultureDose.net (Rachel Gordon)
Hard work, determination, and patience are rumored to get you anywhere in life you wish to go, or so says the idyllic American dream. Sometimes a little well-played innocence and backstabbing don't hurt either. Once the person is aware that they are ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at CultureDose.net (Rachel Gordon)
Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Matt Bailey)
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is a successful stage actress concerned about her advancing age. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Not Coming to a Theater Near You (Matt Bailey)
homevideo.about.com (Ivana Redwine)
Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, and George Sanders star in "All About Eve" (1950), which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture, Best Director (Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Best Screenplay (Mankiewicz again), and Best Supporting ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at homevideo.about.com (Ivana Redwine)
The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
Margo Channing (Bette Davis), a Broadway diva beginning to show her age, meets the young fan who stands outside the theater after every performance (Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington). Taken by her devotion, humility, and hard luck story, Margo gives Eve a ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at The Movie Mom (Nell Minow)
filethirteen.com
"All About Eve" is considered one of the best films of all time by many people. It's one of those movies I've always wanted to see, but never got around to. A bout of insomnia remedied that problem this week. I finally saw it on one of those classic ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at filethirteen.com
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
In one of the wittiest films to be made by Hollywood about the Broadway theater, Bette Davis shines as declining diva Margo Channing, but, alas, she was deprived from getting an Oscar by various political factors. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
ToxicUniverse.com (Rachel Gordon)
It's easy to understand why All About Eve is described as the epitome of "classic". ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at ToxicUniverse.com (Rachel Gordon)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
A motion picture that, because of its priceless dialogue and unforgettable lead performance, will never lose its luster. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)
It is, unquestionably, one of America¡¯s proudest moments, and before you line up for tickets to the new Adam Sandler vehicle, you may want to remind yourself of what movies used to be able to accomplish. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Matinee Magazine (Jason Clark)
Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
There is very little one can say about ALL ABOUT EVE that hasn't already been said- countless times. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Cinema Laser (Derek M. Germano)
Entertainment Insiders (Rusty White)
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is the brightest star on Broadway. The dynamic, confident and talented actress is about to turn 40. For the first time in her life, Margo is scared. Margo's lover is Ben Sampson (Gary Merrill), a stage director leaving for ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Rusty White)
New York Times (Bosley Crowther)
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. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at New York Times (Bosley Crowther)
Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
My all-time favorite film. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Creative Loafing (Matt Brunson)
filmcritic.com (James Brundage)
I'd like to tell you that I checked this film out because it was nominated for the most Academy Awards in history (14 in 1950). I'd like to tell you that I checked out this film because it won Best Picture. I'd like to tell you that I checked out this ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at filmcritic.com (James Brundage)
Reel.com
Eve's story is one of the older ones in the book - a young upstart inveigles his or her way into the limelight of his or her mentor - but tells it with great panache. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Reel.com
The Oscar Guy (Wesley Lovell)
filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
All About Eve" is a black comedy that cynically skewers the theater, with an outstanding and wicked script. It was nominated for an amazing fourteen Oscars, winning six including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Joseph L. Mankiewicz both ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
Dallas Morning News (Chris Vognar)
Mankiewicz's 1950 gem is a wickedly cynical cocktail of laughter and deceit in which everyone has an angle to play. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Dallas Morning News (Chris Vognar)
Orbital Reviews
Margo Channing (Bette Davis) is a famous stage actress with thousands of adoring fans, but she does not think too highly of any of them. She says they are "autograph fiends, they're not people." After one of her performances in a play, Karen Richards ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Orbital Reviews
moviediva
All about Eve won the Best Picture Oscar in 1950. Mankiewicz won both for writing and directing, as he had in 1949 with A Letter to Three Wives. No one else has ever matched that feat. The film got 14 Academy Award nominations, a record only recently ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at moviediva
Time Out (Trevor Johnston)
Her display as Margo Channing shows Davis at the top of her game, not only for the acid-tongued egotism and bristling paranoia about the effects of the passing years, but for the moving realisation of the emotional toll exacted by her glittering career. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Time Out (Trevor Johnston)
Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
A suitable double bill companion with All About Eve , Gus Van Sant's To Die For , from a screenplay by Buck Henry, is about a starstruck young woman who wangles her way onto a cable program in a small New Hampshire town as a weather woman, and then ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Doug Pratt's Laserdisc Review
Crazy for Cinema
ALL ABOUT EVE is a classic Hollywood film about fame, friendship, deceit and betrayal. It's so evil in points it could have been directed by Hitchcock. It takes place in the theater world on Broadway, where the aging female star is deposed by a younger ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Crazy for Cinema
Nashville Scene (Jim Ridley)
For a movie regarded as the best ever made about the theater, the surprise is how little of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1950 classic All About Eve takes place onstage. It's always hard for movies to convey the greatness of stage performers, because the ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Nashville Scene (Jim Ridley)
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
The film opens with a ceremony honoring actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), with voiceover commentary from theater critic Addison Dewitt (George Sanders), his snide take on actors, playwrights, theater, Eve Harrington, and the distinguished award ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Classic Film Guide
Bette Davis' famous line "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" (#9 on AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Quotes list) is just one reason this film about ambition & ruthlessness is remembered. Another is the fact that this Best Picture ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Classic Film Guide
DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
No doubt about it, 1950 was a very good year for show business movies. Billy Wilder skewered Hollywood in "Sunset Boulevard" and Joseph L. Mankiewicz did the same for Broadway in "All About Eve." Of the two films, I prefer the darker humor of ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVD Town (John J. Puccio)
www.that-movie-site.com
In 1950 two landmark films detailing the dark side of show business and the lives of aging stars hit screens: Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve. Both were big successes, and the latter was nominated for a record ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at www.that-movie-site.com
DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
As it becomes clear that Eve is starting to pull the strings and make things turn in her favor, people start to doubt her. After all, the movie opens with Eve accepting the stage equivalent of an Oscar; so right away we know that something is going on ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVD Authority.com (Matt Brighton)
MediaScreen.com
Growing older did wonders for Bette Davis' career. Considered a has-been by the time she reached 40, Warner Brothers unceremoniously canceled her studio contract. It was a fortuitous departure, salvaged by Joseph L Mankewicz commitment to a new project ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at MediaScreen.com
Hollywood Reporter (Douglas Pratt)
Mankiewicz's flair for dialog is so perfected that all three actresses shoot fireworks whenever they open their mouths. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Hollywood Reporter (Douglas Pratt)
Empire Magazine [UK]
Forget Foreman vs. Ali, this is Baxter vs. Davis in one of Hollywood's greatest showdowns. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Empire Magazine [UK]
Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
In the opening moments of All About Eve, we learn that Eve (Anne Baxter) is a young and successful actor who has just won an award, much to the chagrin of several people attending the ceremony. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Apollo Guide (Brian Webster)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Growing older was a smart career move for Bette Davis, whose personality was adult, hard-edged and knowing. Never entirely comfortable as an ingenue, she was glorious as a professional woman, a survivor, or a bitchy predator. Her veteran actress Margo ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
UpcomingDiscs.com (David Annandale)
A corrosive satire of stardom in general, and the theatre world in particular, All About Eve
stars Bette Davis as an insecure theatre diva, and Anne Baxter as Eve, the young woman who
befriends Davis but is a the conniving, fawning sociopath who ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at UpcomingDiscs.com (David Annandale)
Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)
ALL ABOUT EVE is a classic Hollywood film about fame, friendship, deceit and betrayal. It's so evil in points it could have been directed by Hitchcock. It takes place in the theater world on Broadway, where the aging female star is deposed by a younger ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)
Needcoffee.com - DVD Review
Margo Channing (Davis) is an aging matriarch of the stage. She's forty, and that's the age at which your prospects begin to dim quite a bit. Enter Eve Harrington (Baxter). She's been hanging around the theatre, waiting for the chance to perhaps catch ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Needcoffee.com - DVD Review
Ciné-club de Caen (Jean-Luc Lacuve)
A New York, la jeune comédienne de théâtre, Eve Harrington reçoit ce soir-là , d'un vieux comédien, le "Sarah Siddons Award", qui est l'Oscar de la meilleure actrice de théâtre de l'année. A cette occasion, trois de ses proches, Karen, ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Ciné-club de Caen (Jean-Luc Lacuve)
Apollo Movie Guide (Brian Webster)
A young fan ingratiates herself to a Broadway star and then herself rises to success on stage – but is she as nice as she tries so hard to convince everyone? Bette Davis heads a strong cast in this smart and witty classic about stardom, insecurities ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Apollo Movie Guide (Brian Webster)
The Onion A.V. Club (Scott Tobias)
In the better of two commentary tracks on the new All About Eve DVD, biographer Kenneth Geist sees the film as a potent expression of writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's rivalry with his brother Herman, an Algonquin wit who had won an Oscar for ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at The Onion A.V. Club (Scott Tobias)
The Dual Lens (Marlee MacLeod)
Funny, indeed. Bette Davis had one of the funniest careers Hollywood ever spawned. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at The Dual Lens (Marlee MacLeod)
DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)
As well directed as it is, All About Eve remains a writer's picture. It starts like a drippy soap about personal sacrifice and the stage but quickly spreads out into a full portrait of Broadway life, and then some. Aging star Margo Channing has doubts ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVD Savant (Glenn Erickson)
San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
Is there anyone alive who hasn't seen "All About Eve" -- anyone who doesn't love movies, that is? In his dishy tell-all tome, "All About 'All About Eve,' " author Sam Staggs dubs it "one of the most entertaining movies ever made" and then, in a ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Edward Guthmann)
Austin Chronicle (Stephen Macmillan Moser)
With dialogue so crisp and poisonous, it makes you wonder where script-driven movies have gone. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Austin Chronicle (Stephen Macmillan Moser)
DVD MovieGuide
Embarrassing admission: when I first watched 1950's All About Eve a few years ago, the storyline quickly caught me off guard. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVD MovieGuide
Boxoffice Magazine
Recipient of a record 14 Oscar nominations, of which it finally won 6, including Best Picture, All About Eve is a classic of the American cinema - to this day the quintessential depiction of ruthless ambition in the entertainment industry, with ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
Film Freak Central
Time--moreover, the evolution of greed--has blunted the edge of this last of the champagne satires, which opens with ingénue Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) accepting what is, for all intents and purposes, a Tony. A-flashbacking we go to Eve's humble ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Film Freak Central
Chicago Reader (Dave Kehr)
The hoped-for tone of Restoration comedy never quite materializes, perhaps because Mankiewicz's cynicism is only skin-deep, but the film's tinny brilliance still pleases. ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at Chicago Reader (Dave Kehr)
DVD MovieGuide
As I've documented on a few other occasions, I want to review every DVD that won the Oscar for Best Picture. Today's stop on this long journey leads me to 1950's All About Eve, a film that also snagged prizes for George Sanders as Best Supporting ...read the complete All About Eve movie review at DVD MovieGuide
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