Review of All About Eve

Introduction

This classic film was made in 1950 and is remarkable for many reasons. One of the main reasons is that this is the pinnacle of Bette Davis` career.

A film about a single white female stalker might seem familiar as it`s a format that has been used to good effect in more contemporary films. This woman is stalking a profession. She stakes out Margo Channing and makes a play for her life and her (p)art. And yet this is essentially a comedy albeit with some dark tones particularly towards the end. It does not moralise but manages to make its point `do as you would be done by` or reap the bitter consequences.

As Sam Staggs points out in his commentary this was the peak of everyone`s career except Marilyn Monroe`s. It is also a high point in women`s pictures before they returned to being the side-kick, wife or mother of the action hero. It is a reminder of the power of words and how beautifully they can be put together in the right hands.

Video

This is a nice looking film indeed with the richness of tones that can only be seen in black and white.

Essentially based on a play this has a lot of enclosed sets but thanks to the powerful script it is always dynamic. It can do what a play cannot which is to do really great close-ups and reactions.

A special mention must go to the costumes that play their parts so well. This is from an era when women wore gloves in the daytime, and hats. They wore mink and sable and fabulous suits with pinched in waists, yes they had shape as well in those days.

Audio

As one of the commentators points out, "All About Eve" is all about script. Words lots of them are the strongest point of this film. Heck, the characters even get to soliloquise and we let them get away with it. It is simply packed with witty one-liners and memorable quotes. It is one of those films that is endlessly quotable sometimes lines might be repeated by people who haven`t even seen it!

Features

There are two commentaries on this DVD and both are corkers.

The first one is the polite one which includes Christopher, the son of Joseph Mankiewicz and Celeste Holm (who played Karen Richards)-the only surviving cast member. The additional speaker is Christopher Geist who wrote a book about Joseph Mankiewicz. He hates the book "All About All About Eve" so wants to have his say.it is comprehensive and interesting with most of the contributions coming from the two men. Celeste Holm sounds very breathy and does not add many comments. It is said by Staggs that she hates to talk about the film because Davis blew her off for the whole film.

The second is the camp-fire tale by the author of "All About `All About Eve`". This is wonderfully full of bitchy reminiscence and thus is far superior to the much more serious contribution from the first lot. I know which one I prefer and have now bought the book to enjoy some more gossip about the (mostly) long-dead.

The only problem with the commentaries is that the film is so good it` really hard not to watch that and read subtitles rather than listen to the commentary- a bit like patting your tummy and rubbing your head at the same time.

The additional extras are on the second disc which sadly has not been supplied so I will have to just tell you what they are. If they are anything like the additional items on Laura they may well be Biography channel programmes which are well worth a watch.

4 Movietone News Segments.
3 Featurettes.
Original Theatrical Trailer.

Oh and it comes in a tin-I can`t even begin to guess why…

Conclusion

I love this film so much I could eat it. This is the 70% cocoa content of movies. Just wrap yourself up in a towelling robe and enjoy a calorie-free indulgent evening (OK you can have the chocs as well, as you`ve been good).

What more can be said about this film that marks the height of the career of Bette Davis? It is simply a dream of a part for her but not only that but every member of the cast contributes towards the power of the film. Nothing is wasted, there are no throwaway lines here and from the suavity of George Sanders to the beautifully pointed performance of Marilyn this has oodles of class.

Buy it now -it does exactly what it says on the tin!