All About Eve Blu-ray Review

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“You can always put that award where your heart ought to be,” Margo (Bette Davis) says to Eve (Anne Baxter) near the end of the film All About Eve, released on Blu-ray in a special Limited Edition Blu-ray Book on February 1, 2011, by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. All About Eve was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 6 Oscars in 1950 (including Best Picture). Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and originally chosen by producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Bette Davis told Mankiewicz that he’d resurrected her from the dead (even though years earlier Zanuch had vowed never to work with Davis again, and then phoned and asked her to be in All About Eve after his first leading lady choice, Claudette Colbert, sustained a back injury). (Before this Zanuck had also fired Marilyn Monroe for not being photogenic!)

All About Eve is about ruthless ambition, deceit, lies, trust, acting and the lives of women – as Margo tells Karen (Celeste Holm), “There’s one career all women have in common whether they want it or not – being a woman.” Based on a true story actress Elisabeth Bergner told writer Mary Orr about taking in a fan from the alley who appeared at her stage door after every performance, Martina Lawrence (whom Bergner should have suspected because Martina Lawrence was the name of a character Elisabeth had once played), after their conversation Mary Orr wrote a short story for Cosmopolitan about it entitled The Wisdom Of Eve (and was given only $5,000 by Zanuck for the film and not given any screen credits when the movie came out). Lawrence resented this, feeling that a part of her life had been robbed (ironically, because Bergner’s story was about Lawrence trying to rob her life!). Known to many as the Backstabbing Understudy story, All About Eve tells us about how young Eve Harrington comes to middle-aged actress Margo Channing’s backstage door for weeks in a trenchcoat and odd hat and finally gets taken in by Margo’s kind-hearted friend Karen, the writer Lloyd Richards’ wife (Lloyd being played by Hugh Marlowe). Eve attempts to make herself invaluable to Margo, “helping” her and then becoming her assistant, studying her every move and eventually plotting to oust her. Even though Eve becomes a well-known stage star with the help of theater critic Addison DeWitt (George Sanders), a few wild plot twists change everything.

This new remake of All About Eve is rich in background material, including part of a taped conversation between Mary Orr and Martina Lawrence, an interview with Joseph L. Mankiewicz, archival footage of impressive award ceremonies, details about the Sarah Siddons Award, and a 24-page collectible book packaging in which the Blu-ray is esconsed. These bonuses certainly add to the original version, as we hear how Bette Davis married her leading man from All About Eve, Gary Merrill (who played Bill Sanders, theater producer) and how many believed she was mimicking Tallulah Bankhead in this performance (including an incensed Tallulah herself!), plus a myriad of other facts and Hollywood tidbits.

Viewing this distinctive All About Eve Blu-ray package is a very pleasing experience, greatly enhanced with the original film plus featurettes centered on two great actresses, Bette Davis and Anne Baxter. Be certain not to miss this one!

All About Eve Blu-raySpecial Features

• Audio Commentaries
• Joseph L. Mankiewicz: A Personal Journey
• The Real Eve
• The Secret Of Sarah Siddons
• AMC Backstory – All About Eve
• Vintage Bette Davis Promotion
• Vintage Anne Baxter Promotion
• Fox Movietone News – Award Ceremonies
• Theatrical Trailer
• 24-Page Collectible Book Packaging of the All About Eve Blu-ray

MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Total Running Time: 138 minutes (Main Feature)
Blu-ray Release Date: February 1, 2011

1950 Black & White Film on Blu-ray
Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Produced by Darryl F. Zanuch
With Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Helm, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, Marilyn Monroe, Max Fabian and Walter Hampden

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Posted by Christina Zawadiwsky on Feb 19 2011. Filed under Blu-ray Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry