All About Eve

ALL ABOUT EVE is an amazing film whose story stands the test of time. At the time of its release the story of an appreciative fan being evil and diabolical for their own good only and doing anything to succeed must have had audiences spellbound. Now sadly that basic plot has been used in books, movies, tv shows so that the basic plot is old hat. But the class and A++ production that went into this film luckily makes it still deliver a wallop. Most of this credit goes to the writing and the superb acting. I must admit I have always liked Bette Davis but never been on the band wagon for her as the grand dame of cinema. But with this movie she certainly earns the status. This film from the 50s is later in her career. With many of her earlier films she often used an acting style that seemed over the top to me. Not here. Here she is provided with quick, witty, intelligent dialogue and a story plump with drama and emotion and she sinks her teeth into her character of Margot Channing. She holds back here and gives the character strength and vulnerability at the same time. For me this performance is the most raw Bette has ever been on film and through it her talent and star power shines. The entire cast holds their equal with her, especially Anne Baxter. Also it is great to see a film where the main characters are women and they are intelligent and succesful, appearing no lesser in equality than the men.But this is about the bu ray. As with all classic older films buyers must decide if they want to double or even triple dip for there have been many versions of this film released before. But take it from me this film more than benefits from the enhancements blu ray provides. Some close ups are crisp while some are shown with the soft focus they were filled with at the time to show the stars in flattering light. Luckily the combination of the soft focus scenes and the intense crisp scenes that pop off the screen is seamless. To watch the parties and wardrobes and look at the dresses and fur coats down to each gems sparkle is beautiful. Just seeing Marilyn Monroe in her very short apppearance shows all blu ray can do. As with all old films scenes where backdrops are used as the actors walk or drive become even more apparent but there is one basic question here. Is the blu ray a worthy investment. The answer is a definite yes. From the first shot you will never question that this blu ray version is a vast and far superior improvement over any dvd version released before. This film has been handled with loving care.Audio is enhanced to DTS HD Master 5.1 and for a strongly dialogue driven film it works immensely to improve the viewing experience. There is frequent background noise and dialogue is always crisp and clear. There are tons and tons of extras for fans to delve into. Granted many have been on previous releases of this film but here they are all together. We are presented here with a pristine blu ray presentation of a film classic. A classic whose message and story is still strongly relevant today showing the lengths to which people will go to gain star status. And ALL ABOUT EVE has never looked better. If you already own this I do highly recommend acquiring the blu ray and if you don't, it will never look better than this. Highly recommended

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!5/5Be sure to check out: Armadillo & Sands: Intellectual Properties at Work!