The man introduces himself as addison dewitt, a critic and commentator. All about eve, academy awardwinning best picture 1951 is based on the short story, the wisdom of eve by mary orr. Jan 15, 2012 casablanca, all about eve and citizen kane. Mankiewicz adapted the witty and sophisticated script from a short story called the wisdom of eve by mary orr, based on a real story related by actress elisabeth bergnier about an assistant manipulating her employer to improve her own. The greatest film scenes ever shot feature film the. It recounts the tale of margo channing bette davis, a seasoned veteran of the stage and the darling of broadway, taking under her wing eve harrington anne baxter, a young acolyte with nowhere else to go, whose motives are not what they seem.
From the moment eve accepts her award at the beginning of the film, she hangs there suspended while we figure out how we got there. Aug 28, 2017 eve tells the serpent that she cant eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, but arent both trees located in the middle of the garden. The black and white cinematography adds to the sense of claustrophobia that runs through the film. He is a theater critic, a gossip, eves confidant and coconspirator and a selfdescribed nobodys fool. She puts eves elegant cape around her shoulders, holds her sarah siddons trophy and stands before a mirror. At the beginning, manuela and her son sit on sofa and watch the old hollywood film all about eve joseph l. All about eve is a 1950 20th century fox film, written and directed by joseph l. Mankiewicz, with bette davis, anne baxter, george sanders, at turner classic movies. Apr 29, 2012 the character of addison dewitt in all about eve played george sanders who won a best supporting actor oscar plays a major role in the plot of this film. All about eve is told almost entirely in flashback. How does all about eve examine identity, sexism, and. How does all about eve examine identity, sexism, and ageism in.
Analysis of the movie all about eve essay 1292 words. Like the movie it celebrates, sam staggss all about all about eve is good, gossipy fun. After a series of events, the lives of a security operative and an assassin become inextricably linked. Mankiewiczs all about eve on bluray in a new 2disc set, delivering the film on the first duallayer disc in its original aspect ratio of 1. She puts eve s elegant cape around her shoulders, holds her sarah siddons trophy and stands before a mirror. The lasting allure of all about eve the new york times. Read the full synopsis of all about eve, 1950, directed by joseph l. Mel gussow article on lasting allure and lore surrounding 50yearold movie all about eve starring bette davis.
The following analysis reveals a comprehensive look at the storyform for all about eve. Calling all about eve the best film ever made about the american theater. Those of you who do not read, attend the theater, listen to unsponsored radio programs, or know anything of the world in which you live, the voice says, it is perhaps necessary to introduce myself. Breaking down everything about the twisted killer art the clown across his appearances in his full length terrifier, as well as the anthology all hallows eve where he made his debut. All about my mother is one of the best films of the spanish director, whose films present a tennessee williams sensibility in the visual style of a 1950s universalinternational tearjerker. With a dowhateverittakes attitude, eve is first introduced to the audience as a timid and mousy fan one with utmost dedication and devotion to margo. In this instance art imitates life and real life includes psychopaths and psychopathic behavior. All look upon miss harrington with a mixture of distaste and disgust on their faces, while off to the side sits the well known and often reviled theater critic addison dewitt george sanders, who, with a bemused look on his face, begins to recount eves recent past. So many films from that era dont hold up, but all about eve still feels. Analysis of the movie all about eve essay 1292 words 6 pages the movie, all about eve, is the melodramatic story of margot, an egocentric, insecure, and aging actress who discovers her greatest fan, young eve, waiting outside a stage door. To millions of fans, all about eve represents all thats witty and wonderful in classic hollywood movies. An older gentleman, an actor, is speaking at the awards ceremony.
In addition it has all the elements for the general runs. All look upon miss harrington with a mixture of distaste and disgust on their faces, while off to the side sits the well known and often reviled theater critic addison dewitt george sanders, who, with a bemused look on his face, begins to recount eve s recent past. Psychopaths in all about eve this is an excellent synopsis of the film. Furthermore, women without a man to love were displayed with masculine characteristics, and thus not truly a woman because they did not abide by reactionary american values. Is this literary foreshadowing or is adam being set up to fail. Eves scheme, which relies on her becoming margos understudy, wouldnt work in hollywood or on television. Walle is an animated science fiction movie, directed by andrew stanton and produced by pixar in 2008. The movie received six academy awards, including that for best picture. This also means it has been incorporated into the dramatica story expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example. All about eve character profiles lisas study guides. All about eve is one of my all time favorite films. The book is exhaustively researched, from behindthescenes anecdotes to a talk with the original, mysterious eve who sparked the dinner party conversation that inspired the magazine story that eventually became one of the best movies ever made. All about eve possesses one of the best screenplays ever to grace the silver. Like the run of a play itself, all about eve takes place over a few months in the present day of time period 1950.
British film institute chosen by beeban kidron, who came to international attention directing the bbcs adaptation of. All about eve film summary english with mr sommers. The 1950 oscarwinning film all about eve, a movie about ambition and backbiting in the theater world, has become a critical and a cult classic. Black and white cinematography all about eve mrs h. Glittering in the center of all about eve is a brief supporting appearance by marilyn monroe.
In this account of the movie, journalist and filmlorist staggs mm ii colors his treatment of the origins, influences, and spinoffs of the bette davis vehicle with fact, rumor, and all shades in. Margos a brassy dame, a powerhouse of a stage actress, a broadway legend. All about eve is a literate, adult film of the calibre that will do big league, big town business. The title is an allusion to bette daviss performance in joseph mankiewiczs film all about eve, and from another director this might be the occasion for an exploration of a gay sensibility and a. Mankiewicz this study guide consists of approximately 27 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of all about eve.
All about eve is one of the greatest movies about theatrean idea. The 1080p24hz highdefinition presentation comes from a 4k restoration scanned from the 35mm original camera negative. All about eve won six academy awards, including best picture, best supporting actor george sanders, best screenplay, best direction, and best costume design. I think the time has come to shed some of your humility. As mentioned above, he is eves equal in all things sinister and. A cinematic masterpiece and one of the alltime classic films, this award winner has flawless acting, directing, an intelligent. Structure all about eve is so easy to follow that, on first viewing, you hardly notice how complex its unfolding can be. Billing itself as the complete behindthescenes story of the bitchiest film ever made, i expected to learn about all the dirt the story of the real eve, the affair between bette davis and gary merrill, the animosity between davis and celeste holmes, the competition between davis and ann baxter for the best leading actress academy award, the. The actress in the film margo seems to disprove the idea that she could be seen as just a body and a voice but at the same time we are taken through the story by a man watching from a nearby stall. Mankiewicz adapted the witty and sophisticated script from a short story called the wisdom of eve by mary orr, based on a real story related by actress elisabeth bergnier about an assistant manipulating her employer to improve her.
All about eve tosses aside the earnest realism of the decades other great film about theater, the country wife. In the theatre, wherever theres magic and makebelieve and an audience, the theatre cast have a greater freedom compared to filmmaking. Black and white cinematography the black and white cinematography adds to the sense of claustrophobia that runs through the film. Almadovars film makes obvious note and reference to the film all about eve 1950. The devastating debunking of stage and theatrical characters was based on the short story and radio play the wisdom of eve by mary orr. Eve harrington played by anne baxter antagonist of all about eve, eve harrington later known as gertrude slojinski is an egotistical and ambitious theatre rookie. This film, and john hustons the asphalt jungle earlier the same year, put her on the map. Based on the story the wisdom of eve by mary orr, all about eve is an elegantly bitchy backstage story revolving around aspiring actress eve harrington anne baxter. Oct 01, 2000 at the end of all about eve, a young woman invades eve harringtons apartment. Black and white cinematography all about eve mrs h year. This movie is based on a true story from a book by corbett h.
It was based on the 1946 short story the wisdom of eve by mary orr, although screen credit was not given for it. Ultimately, the film all about eve is marked by a polarizing gender ideology, used to promote marriage as a romantic ideal and women. It is a caustic burlesque on success, for each of the sympathetic characters karen, lloyd. The 9page short story first appeared in cosmopolitan magazine in may 1946. Unlike most of the analysis found herewhich simply lists the unique individual story appreciationsthis indepth study details the actual encoding for each structural item. Currently, we are building the largest digital library of film and television inquiry and related.
The film stars bette davis as margo channing, a highly regarded but aging broadway star. It is just as false not to blow your horn at all as it is to blow it too loudly. All about eve is listed in just about every best list known to man, be it entertainment weekly, rolling stone, the village voice, vanity fair, tv guide and the national society of film critics. Essential films is a channel that aims to take a closer look at beloved and culturally important films, classic and modern, to examine what makes the films that are generally considered to. That movie talking about the actress named eve, the same way was used to reflect the story in all about my mother, it talk about mothers and women who have relationship with acting. Mar, 2010 bette davis and gary merrill in all about eve. The motion picture production code, also known as the hays code after censor stickinthemud will hays, regulated film content for nearly 40. The minor awards for writer and director have already been awarded, but eve, all about eve, will be discussed later. All about eve is a 1950 american drama film written and directed by joseph l. Antagonist of all about eve, eve harrington later known as gertrude slojinski is an egotistical and ambitious theatre rookie. Its oldfashioned, largerthanlife starsincluding bette davis, marilyn monroe, anne baxter, george sanders, and celeste holmfound their best roles in eve and its sophisticated dialogue has entered the lexicon but theres much more to know about all about eve. Summary and analysis summary and analysis when all about eve begins, a man speaks about the sarah sidons award.
With jodie comer, sandra oh, fiona shaw, kim bodnia. Almodovars all about my mother analysis film studies essay. Other important characters include addison dewitt george. The story takes place in a far future, when a robot named walle, programmed to clean up a desertic earth covered with waste, falls in love with eve, a probe sent to earth with a mysterious task. All about eve suffers no shortage of fascinating topics when it comes to analysis. All about eve is a perfect feminist film how did the play get it so. At the end of all about eve, a young woman invades eve harringtons apartment. All about eve was a critically acclaimed film in 1950 when it came out, and brought huge accolades for its cast as well as its director joseph l.
Mankiewicz and his brother herman coauthor of citizen kane were responsible for. It is a caustic burlesque on success, for each of the sympathetic characters karen, lloyd, bill, margo have found success in more acceptable ways than eve. Sep 25, 2016 essential films is a channel that aims to take a closer look at beloved and culturally important films, classic and modern, to examine what makes the films that are generally considered to be. Three faces of eve, the 1957 film, deals with a case based on a real woman s mental illness and treatment. Growing older was a smart career move for bette davis, whose personality was adult, hardedged and knowing. Her veteran actress margo channing in all about eve 1950 was her greatest.
All about eve film study guide contains a biography of joseph mankiewicz, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. All about eve 1950, is a realistic, dramatic depiction of show business and backstage life of broadway and the new york theater. Famous quotes from all about eve to those of you who do not read, attend the theater, listen to unsponsored radio programs or know anything in the world in which you live, it is perhaps. On occasion, the cinematography draws on film noir, a style typically associated with the detective and crime genres of the period. Eve anne baxter and margo bette davis in a showdown from all about eve. The opening scene of all about eve 1950 introduces the films players, including the narrator providing the introductions. Film noir uses light and dark and shadow to create a sense of moral uncertainty within the mise en scene. This shows how the loyalty of film fans is only on the surface whereas theatre fans are more faithful, evident by eve being being told off in no uncertain terms all over town.
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