With All AboutEve, Hollywood starts a period of Movies who are excellent
in Story and acting. A well known actress as Bette Davis return on
screen with a performance long remebered. Ann Baxter as a young star,
gives a strong performance of a ruthless actrice on her way to the top.
George Sanders as an cynical and critical person who!s acting is just
perscibes the Hollywood machine of ruthless careermaking.

The extras alone are worth the price of the set. First, the movie is 2-1/4 hrs. long, and never seems to drag. Second there are two feature-length commentaries (the 2nd is the superior). Then there's the 2nd disk with wonderful insights into the people involved in the movie, the personal interactions, the lives of the cast and crew. Heck, the 2nd disk alone is worth the price of admission.
I have over 400 DVD albums, and this is one in the top ten-percent.

I bought this simply for the cast and a vague memory of hearing the title somewhere. When it came, I popped it into the player, and immediately became sucked into this darkly humorous piece of manipulation.

We see from the movie's beginning how it will end. A beautiful young starlet appearing from practically nowhere to achieve great fame. The rest of the movie takes us back to this young woman's beginnings and her trail of lies that positioned herself just where she wanted to be. Even though Eve is the title character, what we see the most of is the results of her actions among her so-called friends.

It has all the right elements of drama and intrigue, just short of someone literally stabbing someone else in the back. Modern crowds used to constant action might be bored, but if one is willing to watch the ingenious and devious dance, he will be rewarded.

I have always been a fan of this film. I had a DVD copy already, but opted to buy this for its special features. There is not one wasted line of dialogue in this exercise in backstabbing. For those who are ardent admirers, I also suggest the book "All About 'All About Eve'." Two of the films supporting stars, the snide Thelma Ritter and the sarcastic George Sanders (who won an Oscar for his role) are superb. This is not to say that the others are not, Davis, Merrill, Marlowe, Holm all deliver their lines as if they were born to play those roles. I could go on about this film, but I'd be at the keyboard all day.

As my review title would suggest, this movie is all about the dynamic acting talents of Bette Davis; one of the greatest actresses the world has ever seen. If she had done no film other than `All About Eve' she would still go down in history as one of the most iconic film actresses of all time. This singular performance alone ranks as one of the greatest (I believe it falls in around number 5 according to Premiere Magazine) and rightfully so. As Margo Channing (no, Davis doesn't play Eve) Davis is extraordinary, barreling through every range of emotion with stamina and grace.

The film revolves around a friendship that turns to bitter rivalry. Young Eve Harrington will do anything to get a shot in the movies, and when she is introduced quite unexpectedly to the famous Margo Channing it seems that she may get her chance. Margo soon finds that Eve may seem simple and sweet, but her interference with her life starts to cause her more problems then she could have imagined. It soon becomes apparent that Eve wants nothing more than to become Margo, even if that means stripping her of everything that she holds dear to her.

What could have been nothing more than a simple story becomes so much deeper thanks to the brilliant performances by the entire cast, not just the glorious Bette Davis. Anne Baxter is splendid as Eve and George Sanders (who won the Oscar) is superb as Addison DeWitt, the critic who supports Eve's rise to fame. Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter all deliver spot on performances that only help elevate the film to instant classic.

The actors don't have to do all the work on their own though; the script they are given helps them a great deal. Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz adapts Mary Orr's `The Wisdom of Eve' with wit and class, serving up a delightfully entertaining film from start to finish. My wife, who has testified plenty of times to loathing films made pre-90's absolutely loved this film, so much so that we watched it a second time the following night. There is just so much to love about `All About Eve' since there appears to be nothing wrong with it. I honestly can't find a flaw.

`All About Eve' may not seem like an extremely deep film, although the ending flirts with the concept of karma and the idea that one can only get away with deception and trickery for so long, but even at it's simplest `All About Eve' is intelligent and thought-provoking. It brilliantly balances the need to be important with the need to be entertaining. There are few films that can match `All About Eve' frame for frame, and that alone solidifies its very necessity.