All About Eve [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Based on the story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr, All About Eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story revolving around aspiring actress Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter). Tattered and forlorn, Eve shows up in the dressing room of Broadway mega-star Margo Channing (Bette Davis), weaving a melancholy life story to Margo and her friends. Taking pity on the girl, Margo takes Eve as her personal assistant. Before long, it becomes apparent that naive Eve is a Machiavellian conniver who cold-bloodedly uses Margo, her director Bill Sampson (Gary Merill), Lloyd's wife Karen (Celeste Holm), and waspish critic Addison De Witt (George Sanders) to rise to the top of the theatrical heap. Also appearing in All About Eve is Marilyn Monroe, introduced by Addison De Witt as "a graduate of the Copacabana school of dramatic art." This is but one of the hundreds of unforgettable lines penned by writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the most famous of which is Margo Channing's lip-sneering admonition, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve received 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 2
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Screen: Black and White
• Features:
  • cc
  • Disc 1:
  • Commentary by actor Celeste Holm, Joseph Mankiewicz biographer Ken Geist and Christpher Mankiewicz
  • Commentary by author Sam Staggs
  • Isolated score track
  • Disc 2:
  • Directed by Joseph L. Makiewicz featurette
  • Joseph L. Makiewicz: A Personal Journey featurette
  • The Real Eve featurette
  • The Secret of Sarah Siddons featurette
  • AMC Backstory: All About Eve
  • Fox Movietonews: Academy Awards Honor Best Film Achievements, Hollywood attends Gala Premier of All About Eve
  • Holiday Magazine Awards, Look Magazine Awards
  • Restoration comparison
  • Original theatrical trailer and more!

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Black and White Costume Design - 1950 (Charles LeMaire, Edith Head)
•     Won Best Director - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
•     Won Best Picture - 1950
•     Won Best Screenplay - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1950 (George Sanders)
•     Nominated Best Actress - 1950 (Bette Davis, Anne Baxter)
•     Nominated Best Black and White Art Direction - 1950 (Thomas K. Little, George W. Davis, Walter Scott, Lyle Wheeler)
•     Nominated Best Black and White Cinematography - 1950 (Milton Krasner)
•     Nominated Best Drama or Comedy Score - 1950 (Alfred Newman)
•     Nominated Best Editing - 1950 (Barbara McLean)
•     Nominated Best Supporting Actress - 1950 (Thelma Ritter, Celeste Holm)

• American Film Institute

•     Won 100 Greatest American Movies - 1998

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best Film - Any Source - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

• Cannes Film Festival

•     Won Best Actress - 1951 (Bette Davis)
•     Won Special Jury Prize - 1951

• Directors Guild of America

•     Won Best Director - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Screenplay - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pictu - 1950 (George Sanders)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama - 1950 (Bette Davis)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic - 1950 (Thelma Ritter)

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1989

• National Board of Review

•     Nominated Best Picture - 1950

• New York Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Actress - 1950 (Bette Davis)
•     Won Best Director - 1950 (Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Bette Davis - Margo Channing
       Anne Baxter - Eve Harrington
       George Sanders - Addison De Witt
       Celeste Holm - Karen Richards
       Gary Merrill - Bill Sampson
       Hugh Marlowe - Lloyd Richards
       Thelma Ritter - Birdie Coonan
       Marilyn Monroe - Miss Claudia Caswell
       Gregory Ratoff - Max Fabian
       Barbara Bates - Phoebe
       Walter Hampden - Aged Actor (Speaker at Dinner)
       Randy Stuart - Girl
       Craig Hill - Leading Man
       Barbara White - Autograph Seeker
       William Pullen - Clerk
       Claude Stroud - Pianist
       Eugene Borden - Frenchman
       Helen Mowery - Reporter
       Steven Geray - Captain of Waiters
       Bess Flowers - Well-Wisher

• Director:

  Joseph L. Mankiewicz

• Producer:

  Darryl F. Zanuck

• Screenwriter:

  Joseph L. Mankiewicz

• Cinematographer:

  Milton Krasner

• Composer (Music Score):

  Alfred Newman

• Editor:

  Barbara McLean

• Art Director:

  George W. Davis, Lyle Wheeler

• Set Designer:

  Thomas K. Little, Walter Scott

• Costume Designer:

  Edith Head, Charles LeMaire

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  W.D. Flick, Roger Heman

• Makeup:

  Ben Nye, Sr.

• Special Effects:

  Fred Sersen

• First Assistant Director:

  Gaston Glass

• Short Story Author:

  Mary Orr

REVIEW:

• A skewering satire of the theatre world, All About Eve entertains while it eviscerates. This is a film that really does have it all: Joseph L. Mankiewicz's sure-handed direction and gloriously poisonous screenplay, celluloid diva Bette Davis at her disdainful best, uniformly excellent performances from the supporting cast, and costumes that further demonstrate that designer Edith Head did indeed give good wardrobe. The fact that All About Eve swept the 1950 Academy Awards speaks to all of these qualities, but a great deal of the film's historical and cinematic importance lies in its content. For years, Broadway had taken aim at Hollywood, and now the tables were turned with considerable venom. Mankiewicz's script summoned into existence a whole array of painfully recognizable theatre types, from the aging, egomaniacal grand dame to the outwardly docile, inwardly scheming ingenue to the powerful critic who reeks of malignant charm. The fact that the film succeeds in delivering such a wallop without descending into bitchy tirade makes it an enduring testament to the powers of elegant satire, further proof that there is no more dangerous combination than wit and a typewriter. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi