All About Eve (1950)
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An ambitious young fan maneuvers herself into the life of a fading Broadway star, threatening her career and personal relationships.
The story
After a young fan named Eve Harrington is taken in by the aging Broadway star Margo Channing, Eve begins to manipulate her way into Margo's professional and personal life. Margo, who is currently navigating a complicated relationship with a younger director, finds her boundaries increasingly crossed by Eve's presence. As Eve positions herself as both a devoted fan and a talented understudy, the tension between the two women escalates. The conflict intensifies as Eve's ambitions begin to directly threaten Margo's standing in the theater world, forcing Margo to confront the consequences of her decision to take Eve into her inner circle.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The story begins at the Sarah Siddons Award ceremony, where a narrator introduces the complex history of Eve Harrington. It is revealed that Margo Channing took Eve in as an assistant after Eve shared a tragic backstory. Eve quickly maneuvers into Margo's life, even manipulating Margo's relationship with Bill Simpson and securing a role as Margo's understudy. When Margo is pressured to miss a performance, Eve takes her place and receives critical acclaim. Eve then uses a threat of exposure to force a playwright, Lloyd Richards, to cast her in his next play. Margo eventually realizes she is too old for the role and steps aside, allowing Eve to take center stage. The film concludes with a look at the cycle of ambition: Eve, now a star, encounters a new fan, Phoebe, who is already beginning to mirror Eve's own tactics of manipulation and advancement.
- First release year
- 1950
- Runtime (minutes)
- 138
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Writers
- Joseph L. Mankiewicz · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Bette Davis · Margo Channing; Anne Baxter · Eve Harrington; George Sanders · Addison DeWitt; Celeste Holm · Karen Richards; Gary Merrill · Bill Simpson; Hugh Marlowe · Lloyd Richards; Thelma Ritter · Birdie Coonan; Marilyn Monroe · Miss Casswell
- Genres
- drama; satire
- Themes
- ambition; aging; show business; manipulation
- Tone and mood
- sophisticated; satirical
- Premise and plot tags
- theatre; rivalry
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr
- Reception
- The film received widespread critical acclaim upon its release and is widely considered as among the greatest films of all time, being included in the National Film Registry and ranked highly on AFI's best films list.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 99% · scale: percentage · review count: 110; Metacritic · score: 98 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Actress · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Supporting Actress · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was the first to have its screenplay published in hardcover format.; Marilyn Monroe appeared in one of her earliest roles in the film.; The film's title inspired the name of an English rock band.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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