All About Eve

Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Oscar-winning 1950 classic is one of the great critical commentaries on the thespian's art, in general, and New York theatre life, in particular. Bette Davis turns in a powerhouse performance as Margo Channing, an aging Broadway star, who takes a young girl under her wing--only to be bitten. Anne Baxter is Eve, the little lost lamb who slowly but surely insinuates herself into every nook and cranny of Margo's life--until it's no longer Margo Channing that the men, the critics, the audience want, but Eve Harrington. Featuring great supporting performances by Thelma Ritter, as Margo's maid, Birdie; George Sanders as a cynical critic; and Celeste Holm as a producer's sugary wife, the film also sports a great cameo by Marilyn Monroe. Winner of Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Sanders), and Screenplay, All About Eve is making its second appearance on DVD. While still lacking the sharpest image, the DVD transfer for this "Studio Classics" version represents a vast improvement over the first release. In addition, the disc includes two non-screen-specific commentary tracks (one by actress Celeste Holm, Christopher Mankiewicz, and author Kenneth Geist; the other by author Sam Staggs--both full of insider stories), a 25-minute episode of AMC's Backstory devoted to All About Eve, brief interviews with Davis and Baxter (the promo/trailer for the film's release), four Movietone newsreels (on the gala premiere, Oscars ceremony, Look magazine awards, and Holiday magazine awards), and a text/video segment on restoring the film. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman) [Blu-ray Review—Feb. 15, 2011—Fox, 138 min., not rated, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1950's All About Eve sports an excellent transfer and a DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first by costar Celeste Holm, biographer Ken Geist, and the director's son Christopher Mankiewicz; the second by Sam Staggs, author of All About 'All About Eve'), the filmmaker featurettes 'Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz' (26 min.) and 'A Personal Journey' (26 min.), an AMC Backstory segment (25 min.), 'The Real Eve' behind-the-scenes featurette (18 min.), four vintage Fox Movietone News segments (10 min.), 'The Secret of Sarah Siddons' on the real 18th-century actress (7 min.), vintage promos for costars Bette Davis and Anne Baxter (2 min. each), an isolated score track, and trailers, packaged in a 24-page digi-book case. Bottom line: an excellent Blu-ray debut for this classic backstage drama.] [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Dec. 3, 2019—Criterion, 2 discs, 138 min., not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1950’s All About Eve features a great transfer with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include two audio commentaries (one by costar Celeste Holm, author Kenneth L. Geist, and the director’s son Christopher Mankiewicz; the other by author Sam Staggs), the 1983 archival documentary 'All About Mankiewicz' (107 min.), a 1951 radio adaptation (60 min.), an episode and excerpt of The Dick Cavett Show from 1969 and 1980 with Davis and costar Gary Merrill (49 min.), two 2010 featurettes on director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (26 min. each), a 2001 'Hollywood Backstories' archival featurette (25 min.), 'The Real Eve' on the film’s inspiration (19 min.), a new video interview with costume historian Larry McQueen (18 min.), 'The Secret of Sarah Siddons' segment (7 min.), a promo featuring Davis (2 min.), and a booklet with an essay by critic Terrence Rafferty. Bottom line: a characteristically excellent Criterion edition of a Hollywood classic.]