All About Eve Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: All About Eve 
Year: 1950
Director: Joseph Mankiewicz
Country: US
Language: English

"Fasten your seat-belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"The story of All About Eve originated in an anecdote related to Mary Orr by actress Elisabeth Bergner.While performing in The Two Mrs. Carrolls during 1943 and 1944, Bergner allowed a young fan to become part of her household, eventually regretting her kind favor as Orr constantly tried to undermine her.  This messy relationship was the basis of Bergner's short story The Wisdom of Eve (1946). In 1949 American film Director Joseph Mankiewicz  considered making a film treatment for Wisdom of Eve and presented his idea to Daryl F. Zanuck. The Twentieth Century Fox studio executive was thrilled to help produce the picture. It was eventually nominated  for 14 Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture.

An ingenue named Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) insinuates herself in to the company of an established but aging stage actress (Bette Davis) and her circle of theater friends. Eve slowly conspires against her friend, out of desire for success.

CAT FIGHT! Receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics upon its release, All About Eve has been intensely analyzed by film historians for the better part of a century. One can view the film as a study of post-war politics regarding sexuality and gender roles. The pressure to resume "traditional" female roles after being involved in the workplace while the men went to war is mocked by Margo and Eve. Karen Richards (Celeste Holm) is seen as a "happy little housewife" who is not truly a woman due to having a man constantly beside her. The feuding actresses in Eve and Margo are the opposite of the commercial 50's woman; they're competitive, ruthless, egotistic and powerful. They're physically and mentally strong, no man will get in their way on their rise to the top.

The Oscar-winning script allowed Joseph Mankiewicz to climb out from under the shadow of his older brother, Herman, who had earned an Oscar for writing one of the all-time great scripts in Citizen Kane (1941) Like Kane, All About Eve revolutionized the sort of non-linear, fratured narrative structure to which we’ve become so accustomed. The characters in All About Eve are rather complex; by the third act we have completely different sentiments for each character.  Mankiewicz's universe is as exuberant as it is cynical. Here every emotion is put on the table, no motive is far fetched and everyone is suspect of psychological manipulation. In the world of theater it seems as if nobody can be trusted, aside from the naive folk like Karen Richards.

All About Eve is one of my favorite films ever made. Bette Davis is quite a phenomenal actress, and I'm glad this picture gave her a boost to her then fading career. The run-time is well over two hours, but that doesn't seem enough. Mankiewicz could have made All About Eve a 4hr epic and I still would be glued to my seat. I suppose that's a testament to how well the film was made.  Praise it! 5/5