All About Eve

This article is about the film. For other uses, see All About Eve (disambiguation).

All About Eve
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Screenplay byJoseph L. Mankiewicz
Based on"The Wisdom of Eve"
by Mary Orr
Produced byDarryl F. Zanuck
Starring
CinematographyMilton R. Krasner
Edited byBarbara McLean
Music byAlfred Newman
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • October 13, 1950 (1950-10-13) (New York City)[1]
Running time
138 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.4 million[3][4]
Box office$8.4 million[5]

All About Eve is a 1950 American drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story (and subsequent 1949 radio drama) "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit.

The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star, and Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who maneuvers herself into Channing's life, ultimately threatening Channing's career and her personal relationships. The film co-stars George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, and Hugh Marlowe, and features Thelma Ritter, Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates and Walter Hampden.

All About Eve held its world premiere in New York City on October 13, 1950.[1] Highly praised by critics at the time of its release, it received a record 14 nominations[a] at the 23rd Academy Awards, becoming the only film in Oscar history to receive four female acting nominations (Davis and Baxter as Best Actress, Holm and Ritter as Best Supporting Actress). It went on to win six awards, including Best Picture, as well as Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, Mankiewicz's second consecutive wins in both categories.

Widely considered as among the greatest films of all time, in 1990, All About Eve became one of 25 films selected that year for preservation in the United States Library of Congress's National Film Registry, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6] The film was ranked No. 16 on AFI's 1998 list of the 100 best American films.[7][8]

Plot

Bette Davis as Margo Channing
Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington

At the Sarah Siddons Award ceremony honoring rising actress Eve Harrington, narration from acerbic theatre critic Addison DeWitt introduces the attendees and hints that there is more to Eve's story.

The narration switches to Karen Richards, wife of playwright Lloyd Richards. She recalls the previous October, when she introduced Eve to aging Broadway star Margo Channing, who was starring in a play written by Lloyd. Eve tells Karen, Lloyd, and Margo's maid Birdie that she followed Margo's last theatrical tour to New York City after seeing her perform in San Francisco. She tells of her impoverished childhood and losing her husband in the South Pacific during World War II, and, moved by Eve's story, Margo takes her into her home as her assistant. Eve quickly manipulates her way into Margo's life as both secretary and adoring fan.

Margo is also concerned about her romantic relationship with Bill Sampson, eight years her junior, who is directing a film in California. Without telling Margo, Eve arranges a midnight long-distance phone call from Margo to Bill on his birthday. Eve hopes the unexpected late call will show Bill that Margo forgot his birthday and also sends her own greeting. Margo realizes that Eve set her up and asks producer Max Fabian to hire Eve at his office to get her away from Bill; instead, Eve has Karen convince Fabian to make Eve Margo's understudy without Margo's knowledge.

As Margo's irritation grows, Karen sympathizes with Eve, believing that Margo is overdramatizing her resentment towards her. Hoping to humble Margo, Karen conspires for her to miss a performance so Eve can perform in her place. Eve secretly invites the city's theater critics, including Addison, to attend the performance. Eve's performance is a triumph. Later that night, Eve attempts to seduce Bill, but he rejects her.

Addison interviews Eve for a column, which harshly criticizes Margo for resisting younger talent. Eve apologizes to Lloyd for the things said in the article, and subtly convinces him to consider her instead of Margo for the lead role, Cora, in his next play.

Margo and Bill announce their engagement while dining out with Lloyd and Karen. Eve, who had been dining at the same restaurant with Addison, summons Karen to the ladies' room. After first appearing regretful, she delivers an ultimatum: Karen must recommend her to Lloyd to play Cora or she will have Addison expose Karen's part in Margo's missed performance in his newspaper column. When Karen returns to the table—to her relief—Margo surprisingly announces that she does not wish to play Cora. Margo admits that she is too old for the ingénue role, and her impending marriage means that the theater no longer has to be her entire life.

Eve is cast as Cora, despite the objections of Bill, who is directing the play. Just before the out-of-town opening, Eve tells Addison that she had seduced and plans to marry Lloyd so that he can write plays for her to star in.

Angered by Eve's audacity, Addison reveals he knows her backstory is false; her real name is Gertrude Slescynski, she never went to San Francisco, she was never married, and she was paid to leave town over an affair with her married boss. He blackmails Eve, forbidding her from trying to marry Lloyd and saying she now "belongs" to him.

The story catches up to the opening scene; months later, Eve is a Broadway star headed for Hollywood. While accepting the Sarah Siddons Award, Eve thanks Margo, Bill, Lloyd, and Karen, who react with indifference. Eve skips the after-party and returns home, where she encounters Phoebe, who claims to be a teenage fan who slipped into her apartment and fell asleep. Eve is angry but softens after Phoebe professes her adoration and ingratiates herself. Eve is considering inviting her to stay over rather than take the long subway ride back home when the doorbell buzzes. Phoebe offers to answer the door and recognizes Addison, who was bringing Eve's award back from the after-party. Addison quickly realizes that Phoebe isn't her real name and that she, like Eve, has her sights on stardom. Phoebe lies to Eve that a taxi driver had dropped off the award. When she is alone, Phoebe puts on Eve's elegant cloak and poses in front of a floor-length mirror, holding the award and bowing.

Cast

A young and unknown Marilyn Monroe as Miss Casswell in a scene with Anne Baxter, Bette Davis and George Sanders

Production

Development

Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1950

All About Eve originated from the short story "The Wisdom of Eve" written by Mary Orr, published in Cosmopolitan magazine in May 1946. The story was a highly fictionalized account based on an anecdote, as related by Austrian actress Elisabeth Bergner.[10] She and her husband Paul Czinner had invited Orr and her husband Reginald Denham, who had directed Bergner in the play The Two Mrs. Carrolls during the 1943–44 Broadway season, for dinner in Woodstock, Vermont. There, Bergner told Orr about a young woman who stood outside at the Booth Theatre for several days. She invited the woman to her dressing room for a visit, where the woman claimed she was English and had fled to the United States during World War II. She gave her a job as her secretary to her husband, whereby the young woman later became Bergner's understudy. From there, the woman tried to "take over" Bergner's life.[11]

In Orr's story, the young woman is named Eve Harrington, who wins the sympathy of Margola Cranston, a happily married Broadway actress. Eve becomes Margola's understudy, whereby she succeeds in taking the lead role in a new play written by Lloyd Richards, Margola's favorite playwright. Though Eve fails to win over Margola's husband, she eventually steals Lloyd away from his wife, Karen, another actress and Margola's best friend.[10] Bergner later confirmed the basis of the story in her autobiography Bewundert viel und viel gescholten (translated as Greatly Admired and Greatly Scolded), devoting five pages to her anecdote.[12]

On January 24, 1949, "The Wisdom of Eve" was adapted into a radio episode broadcast on NBC's Radio City Playhouse. Orr wrote the radio play, whereby she renamed the character Margola into "Margo". Claudia Morgan was cast as Margo while Marilyn Erskine played Eve and Mary Orr as Karen Richards.[13] A few days later, Twentieth Century-Fox optioned the film rights to Orr's story for $5,000 (equivalent to $66,077 in 2024).[14] The story caught the attention of James Fisher, then the head of Twentieth Century-Fox's story department. He mimeographed the story to several contracted producers, writers, and directors.[15] On April 29, Joseph L. Mankiewicz sent a memo to Darryl F. Zanuck, the president of Twentieth Century-Fox, suggesting they exercise their option on Orr's story. He stated the story "fits in with an original idea [of mine] and can be combined. Superb starring role for Susan Hayward."[16]

As he was filming No Way Out (1950), Mankiewicz wrote a 82-paged film treatment titled Best Performance during the summer and early fall of 1949.[17][18][19] By December 1949, he spent several nights over the course of six weeks alone at the San Ysidro Ranch, near Santa Barbara, California, expanding his treatment into a first draft.[18] Mankiewicz changed Margo's surname from Cranston to Channing, but Mankiewicz retained several of Orr's characters—Eve Harrington and Lloyd and Karen Richards. He also removed Margo's husband found in the original story and replaced him with a new love interest, Bill Sampson.[20] Mankiewicz also created the characters: Addison DeWitt, Birdie Coonan, Max Fabian and Phoebe.[21]

By January 1950, Zanuck received Mankiewicz's draft, in which he provided numerous suggestions for improving the screenplay. As he made suggestive notes, Zanuck underlined a phrase in Addison DeWitt's voice-over narration: "Eve...but more of Eve, later. All about Eve, in fact."[22] Elsewhere, he suggested removing a potential foreshadowing by diluting Birdie Coonan's mistrust of Eve so the audience would not recognize Eve as a villainess until much later in the story. After inserting several of Zanuck's suggestions, Mankiewicz delivered another revised draft—dubbed the "temporary draft"—on March 1.[22]

On March 7, Zanuck wrote in a memo to Mankiewicz: "Without any question of a doubt you have done a remarkable job. The holes that were present in certain sections of the original treatment have disappeared."[23] Nevertheless, Zanuck sent nine pages of notes, detailing recommended cuts or revisions: "I have tried to sincerely point out the spots that appeared dull or overdrawn. I have not let the length of the script influence me. I have tried to cut it as I am sure I would cut if I were in the projection room."[24] Mankiewicz's draft, which had ran 223 pages, was then truncated to 180.[25] According to Fox's records, Mankiewicz's writing services on the project were terminated on March 24 and by April, he started his offical assignment as director.[21]

All About Eve was the first film to have its screenplay published in hardcover format.[26] Published by Random House in 1951, Mankiewicz wrote the following dedication inside the publication: "To Rosa—the critic on my hearth" (a pun of "cricket on the hearth".)[27]

The principal cast of All About Eve. (Left to right) Gary Merrill, Bette Davis, George Sanders, Anne Baxter, Hugh Marlowe and Celeste Holm

Casting

Several actresses were considered for the role of Margo Channing. Mankiewicz's original choice was Susan Hayward, but at 32 years old, she was deemed too young.[28] As the script was being written, Zanuck was favorable to casting Claudette Colbert or Barbara Stanwyck.[29] By February 1950, the role went to Claudette Colbert but while filming Three Came Home (1950), she was hospitalized indefinitely for an injured back and had to withdraw.[30] To replace her, Mankiewicz suggested Gertrude Lawrence. However, Lawrence's attorney Fanny Holtzmann insisted the screenplay be changed so that Lawrence did not smoke or drink in the film, and would sing a torch song (instead of "Liebesträume" by Franz Liszt) about Bill in the party scene. Mankiewicz declined her alterations.[31][32]

Mankiewicz and Zanuck briefly considered Marlene Dietrich, but Mankiewicz felt her German dialect would be incompatible with the dialogue. In 1972, Mankiewicz stated: "I was, and am, a great admirer of Marlene. But from what what I knew of her work and equipment as an actress, I simply could not visualize—or hear—her as a possible Margo."[33] Zanuck contacted Ingrid Bergman to replace Colbert, but Bergman refused to leave Italy for the production.[32]

Meanwhile, Bette Davis, who had ended her decades-long association with Warner Bros., was filming Payment on Demand (1951) at the time. She had received a phone call from Zanuck, but was convinced it was a prank. The two had not been on speaking terms since Davis resigned from the Academy. Zanuck sent over the script, suggesting she read it and should she like the role of Margo Channing, she was to be ready to film within ten days. In her 1962 autobiography The Lonely Life, Davis recalled: "When I finished reading All About Eve, I was on cloud nine. Any inconvenience was worth it."[34]

Jeanne Crain was Zanuck's first choice for Eve Harrington.[35] Mankiewicz had worked with Crain on A Letter to Three Wives (1949) but felt her performance was unsatisfactory. He promptly told Zanuck he felt Crain lacked the "bitch virtuosity" required by the part.[36] Mankiewicz suggested Anne Baxter, who was also under contract to Fox, as an alternative, to which Zanuck approved.[37] By then, Crain had became pregnant, which took her out of consideration.[38]

At least a dozen actress, including Sheree North, had tested for the role of Miss Casswell. Marilyn Monroe had been Mankiewicz's first choice for the part after her agent Johnny Hyde had brought her in to audition. Decades later, Mankiewicz reflected there "was a breathlessness and sort-of glued on innocence about her that I found appealing."[39] During filming, Monroe appeared in only two scenes. On her first day of shooting for the party scene, with most of the cast present, Monroe arrived an hour late. According to her co-star Gary Merrill, there were 25 takes for the scene with Miss Caldwell and Addison DeWitt in the theater lobby.[40]

Mankiewicz wrote the character of Birdie Coonan for Thelma Ritter, having working with her on A Letter to Three Wives.[41] José Ferrer was Zanuck's first choice for Addison DeWitt, but he was replaced by George Sanders.[36] Barbara Bates won the part of the minor character Phoebe.[42]

Reception

Bette Davis and Gary Merrill

Box office

By January 1951, All About Eve earned $3.1 million in box office rentals in the United States and Canada during its release,[43][44] more than double its original budget of $1.4 million.[3][4] The film had a cumulative gross of $8.4 million.[5]

Critical response

All About Eve received widespread critical acclaim upon its release on October 13, 1950, at a New York City premiere. The film's competitor, Sunset Boulevard, released the same year, drew similar praise, and the two were often favorably compared. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times loved the picture, stating that "a fine Darryl Zanuck production, excellent music and an air of ultra-class complete this superior satire."[45] Abel Green of Variety called it "a literate, adult film" with "exceedingly well-cast performances wherein Miss Davis does not spare herself, makeup wise, in the aging star assignment. Miss Baxter gives the proper shading to her cool and calculating approach in the process of ingratiation and ultimate opportunities; and the other principals mouth dialog which is real and convincing."[46]

Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called All About Eve "the wittiest comedy of the year" and stated Davis gives "the finest role of her honorable career."[47] Harrison's Reports called it "a fascinating, continually absorbing story about Broadway theatrical people, given a mature treatment and penetrated with realistic dialogue and flashes of slick, sardonic humor."[48] John McCarten of The New Yorker called it "a thoroughly entertaining movie."[49]

In a 2000 review, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times praised the film, saying of Bette Davis that "veteran actress Margo Channing in All About Eve was her greatest role."[50]

All About Eve holds an approval rating of 99% based on 110 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Smart, sophisticated, and devastatingly funny, All About Eve is a Hollywood classic that only improves with age."[51] Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 98 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[52]

Thematic content

Gary Merrill as Bill Sampson

Critics and academics have delineated various themes in the film. Rebecca Flint Marx, in her Allmovie review, notes the antagonism that existed between Broadway and Hollywood at the time, stating that the "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."[53] Abel Green, writing in Variety said, "The snide references to picture people, the plug for San Francisco ("an oasis of civilization in the California desert") and the like are purposeful and manifest an intelligent reflex from a group of hyper-talented people towards the picture business."[46]

Roger Ebert, in his review in The Great Movies, says Eve Harrington is "a universal type", and focuses on the aging actress plot line, comparing the film to Sunset Boulevard.[54] Similarly, Marc Lee's 2006 review of the film for The Daily Telegraph describes a subtext "into the darker corners of show business, exposing its inherent ageism, especially when it comes to female stars."[55] Kathleen Woodward's 1999 book, Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations (Theories of Contemporary Culture), also discusses themes that appeared in many of the "aging actress" films of the 1950s and 1960s, including All About Eve. She reasons that Margo has three options: "To continue to work, she can perform the role of a young woman, one she no longer seems that interested in. She can take up the position of the angry bitch, the drama queen who holds court (the deliberate camp that Susan Sontag finds in this film). Or she can accept her culture's gendered discourse of aging which figures her as in her moment of fading. Margo ultimately chooses the latter option, accepting her position as one of loss."[56]

George Sanders as Addison DeWitt

All About Eve has long been a favored film among gay audiences, likely due to its campy overtones (in part due to the casting of Davis) and its general sophistication. Davis, who long had a strong gay fan base, expressed support for gay men in her 1972 interview with The Advocate.[57][58][59]

Accolades

Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Motion Picture 20th Century-Fox Won [60]
Best Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz Won
Best Actress Anne Baxter Nominated
Bette Davis Nominated
Best Supporting Actor George Sanders Won
Best Supporting Actress Celeste Holm Nominated
Thelma Ritter Nominated
Best Screenplay Joseph L. Mankiewicz Won
Best Art Direction – Black-and-White Art Direction: Lyle R. Wheeler and George Davis;
Set Decoration: Thomas Little and Walter M. Scott 		Nominated
Best Cinematography – Black-and-White Milton R. Krasner Nominated
Best Costume Design – Black and White Edith Head and Charles LeMaire Won
Best Film Editing Barbara McLean Nominated
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Alfred Newman Nominated
Best Sound Recording Thomas T. Moulton Won
Bodil Awards Best American Film Joseph L. Mankiewicz Won [61]
British Academy Film Awards Best Film from any Source Won [62]
Cahiers du Cinéma Best Film Joseph L. Mankiewicz 5th Place
Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Nominated
Special Jury Prize Won
Best Actress Bette Davis Won
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures Joseph L. Mankiewicz Won [63]
Dorian Awards Timeless Award Won [64]
Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture – Drama Nominated [65]
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Bette Davis Nominated
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture George Sanders Nominated
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Thelma Ritter Nominated
Best Director – Motion Picture Joseph L. Mankiewicz Nominated
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Won
Kinema Junpo Awards Best Foreign Language Film Won
Nastro d'Argento Best Foreign Actress Bette Davis Won
National Board of Review Awards Top Ten Films Won [66]
National Film Preservation Board National Film Registry Inducted [67]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Film Won
Best Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz Won
Best Actress Bette Davis Won
Online Film & Television Association Awards Film Hall of Fame: Productions Inducted [68]
Picturegoer Awards Best Actress Anne Baxter Nominated
Bette Davis Nominated
Producers Guild of America Awards PGA Hall of Fame – Motion Pictures Won
Writers Guild of America Awards Best Written American Comedy Joseph L. Mankiewicz Won [69]
Best Written American Drama Nominated

Later recognition and rankings

In 1990, All About Eve was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[6] The Academy Film Archive preserved All About Eve in 2000.[70] The film received in 1997 a placement on the Producers Guild of America Hall of Fame. The film has been selected by the American Film Institute for many of their 100 Years lists.

Year Category Nominee Rank
1998 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies All About Eve 16
2003 AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains Eve Harrington (Villain) 23
2005 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." 9
2007 AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) All About Eve 28

When AFI named Bette Davis #2 on its list of the greatest female American screen legends, All About Eve was the film selected to highlight Davis' legendary career. The Writers Guild of America has ranked the film's screenplay as the fifth greatest ever written.[71]

Sarah Siddons Award

The film opens with the presentation of the fictional Sarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement, described by the character Addison DeWitt as "the highest honor our theater knows." The statuette is modeled after Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, an 18th-century painting by Joshua Reynolds. A reproduction of the painting is seen in the entrance of Margo Channing's apartment and is prominently featured during the party scene. In 1952, inspired by the film, a group of Chicago theater patrons founded the Sarah Siddons Society and began awarding a real-life version of the Sarah Siddons Award, designed to resemble the fictional trophy depicted in the film. The first award was presented to Helen Hayes in 1953, and subsequent recipients have included Bette Davis, Celeste Holm, Lauren Bacall, and Angela Lansbury.[72][73][74][75][1][76]

Home media

All About Eve was released on VHS in 1979, LaserDisc in 1996 and DVD in 1999.[77] A restored Fox Studio Classics edition was released on DVD in 2003 and on Blu-ray on February 1, 2011, with an up-mixed 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track.[78][79] It was reissued on Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection on November 25, 2019, which uses film's original mono audio.[80]

Adaptations

The first radio adaptation was a one-hour broadcast on Lux Radio Theatre on CBS Radio on October 1, 1951, with Bette Davis, Gary Merrill and Anne Baxter reprising their original roles.[81] Lux Radio Theatre did a follow-up adaptation on November 23, 1954, this time on NBC radio with Ann Blyth and Claire Trevor playing the lead roles, with Trevor replacing Ida Lupino when she became ill and was unable to attend the broadcast.[82]

A radio version of All About Eve starring Tallulah Bankhead as Margo Channing was presented on NBC's The Big Show by the Theatre Guild of the Air on November 16, 1952. Bankhead and many contemporary critics felt that the characterization of Margo Channing was patterned on her, a long-rumored charge denied by both Mankiewicz and Davis,[83] but attested by costume designer Edith Head.[84] Additionally, Bankhead's rivalry with her understudy (Lizabeth Scott) during the production of The Skin of Our Teeth[85] is cited as an alternative hypothesis for the origin of Mary Orr's The Wisdom of Eve, the original short story that formed the basis for the film.[86][87] Bette Davis played three roles on film that Tallulah Bankhead had originated – Dark Victory, Jezebel and The Little Foxes, much to Bankhead's chagrin. Bankhead and Davis were considered to be somewhat similar in style.[88] Several decades later Davis called Channing "the essence of a Tallulah Bankhead kind of actress" in an interview with Barbara Walters.[89] The production is notable in that Mary Orr, of The Wisdom of Eve, played the role of Karen Richards. The cast also featured Alan Hewitt as Addison DeWitt (who narrated), Beatrice Pearson as Eve Harrington, Don Briggs as Lloyd Richards, Kevin McCarthy as Bill Samson, Florence Robinson as Birdie Coonan, and Stefan Schnabel as Max Fabian.[88]

In 1970, All About Eve was the inspiration for the stage musical Applause, with book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. The original production starred Lauren Bacall as Margo Channing, and it won the Tony Award for Best Musical that season. It ran for four previews and 896 performances at the Palace Theatre on Broadway. After Bacall left the production, she was replaced by Anne Baxter in the role of Margo Channing.

In 2019, a stage adaptation of All About Eve premiered at the Noël Coward Theatre in London, directed by Ivo van Hove and starring Gillian Anderson as Margo Channing, Julian Ovenden as Bill, and Lily James as Eve Harrington.[90]

  • The plot of the film has been recycled numerous times, frequently as an outright homage to the film, with one notable example being a 1974 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show titled "A New Sue Ann". In the episode, Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), hostess of a popular local cooking show, hires a young, pretty, and very eager fan (Linda Kelsey) as her apprentice and assistant, but the neophyte quickly begins to sabotage her mentor in an attempt to replace her as host of the show. Sue Ann, unlike Margo Channing, prevails in the end and counters the young woman's attempts to steal her success before sending her on her way.[91]
  • Brazilian telenovela Celebridade was loosely based on the plot; it features Malu Mader as the successful businesswoman and former model Maria Clara Diniz, who hires Laura Prudente da Costa (Cláudia Abreu) for a job in her company after she saves her life and claims to be her greatest fan — but she is, in fact, an imposter who wants not only to take everything from the other woman, but to become a new Maria Clara.[92]
  • The English rock band All About Eve took their name from the film.[93]
  • Steven Soderbergh's 2012 film Magic Mike is a loose re-working of the All About Eve plot and includes subtle references in homage to the original. The lead actor Channing Tatum name checks Bette Davis's character Margo Channing, and instead of Eve, the ambitious young upstart is named Adam, played by Alex Pettyfer. Like Eve, Adam gets his stage debut filling in for an absent star, and his subsequent ruthless rise to glory at the expense of others mirrors that of Eve.[94]
  • A 2008 episode of The Simpsons titled "All About Lisa" is influenced by this film. In the episode, Lisa Simpson becomes Krusty the Clown's assistant, eventually taking his place on television and receiving an entertainment award.[95]
  • Pedro Almodóvar's 1999 Academy Award-winning Spanish-language film Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother) has elements similar to those found in All About Eve. The title of the film itself is an homage to the 1950 film.
  • In the fifth season of The L Word, a fan becomes Jenny Schecter's assistant while she is directing a movie; later the fan blackmails the movie studio into letting her direct and she proceeds to take over Jenny's life.
  • In the third season of Gilligan's Island, the episode "All About Eva" concerns the character of Eva Grubb coming on the island and taking over Ginger's persona, with both roles played by actress Tina Louise.
  • The season 20 episode of Family Guy titled "All About Alana" is a homage to the film and sees Lois Griffin allowing one of her piano students Alana Fitzgerald to move in with the family, who begins slowly taking over Lois' life.
  • The film was a direct influence on a professional wrestling storyline in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2023 to 2025, in which Mariah May debuted as a superfan and later protegé of "Timeless" Toni Storm (whose character is a classical Hollywood actress based on Sunset Boulevard), only to betray Storm and reveal herself as a villain whose plan all along was to supplant Storm as the AEW Women's World Champion.[96]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ This feat was only matched by the 1997 film Titanic and the 2016 film La La Land.

References

  1. ^ a b c "All About Eve". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute.
  2. ^ "All About Eve (A)". British Board of Film Classification. October 2, 1950. Archived from the original on December 6, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Solomon 1988, p. 245.
  4. ^ a b Behlmer 1990, p. 208.
  5. ^ a b "Box Office Information for All About Eve". The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  6. ^ a b "National Film Registry" Archived March 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Library of Congress. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  7. ^ "America's Greatest Movies". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 5, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  8. ^ Gamarekian, Barbara (October 19, 1990). "Library of Congress Adds 25 Titles to National Film Registry". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tinée, Mae (November 3, 1950). "Scintillating, Sharp - That's 'All About Eve'". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. p. 39 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, pp. 17–18.
  11. ^ Staggs 2000, pp. 17–18.
  12. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 39.
  13. ^ Staggs 2000, pp. 34–35.
  14. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 35.
  15. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, p. 18.
  16. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 43.
  17. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, pp. 18–19.
  18. ^ a b Staggs 2000, p. 44.
  19. ^ "Robert Ryan Gets Lead in RKO Film". The New York Times. June 1, 1949. p. 43. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  20. ^ Stern 2019, p. 216.
  21. ^ a b Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, p. 19.
  22. ^ a b Staggs 2000, p. 47.
  23. ^ Gussow, Mel (October 1, 2000). "The Lasting Allure Of 'All About Eve'". The New York Times. Section 2, p. 13. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  24. ^ Gussow 1971, p. 157.
  25. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 48.
  26. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, p. 100.
  27. ^ Geist 1978, p. 167.
  28. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 62.
  29. ^ Stern 2019, p. 218.
  30. ^ Staggs 2000, pp. 62–63.
  31. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, p. 71.
  32. ^ a b "All About Eve: Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  33. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, p. 69.
  34. ^ Davis 1962, p. 224.
  35. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 71.
  36. ^ a b Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, pp. 69–70.
  37. ^ Staggs 2000, p. 72.
  38. ^ Passafiume, Andrea (January 3, 2008). "The Big Idea – All About Eve". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  39. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, pp. 76–77.
  40. ^ Geist 1978, p. 170.
  41. ^ Mankiewicz & Carey 1972, p. 70.
  42. ^ Staggs 2000, pp. 147–148.
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