All About Eve is one of the wittiest and most cynical comedies in the history of American motion pictures. The film was released in 1950 and received a record 14 Academy Award nominations. All About Eve won the Oscar as best picture. Joseph L. Mankiewicz won Oscars as best director and for his screenplay, and George Sanders won the award as best supporting actor.
The film takes place in the world of the Broadway theater. It follows the career of ambitious young actress Eve Harrington as she ruthlessly schemes to become a stage star. The film became famous for its sharp, wisecracking dialogue. Much of the savage wit came from the characters of theater critic Addison De Witt, played by Sanders, and established star Margo Channing, played by Bette Davis. Anne Baxter played Eve, who plots to steal Margo’s stage roles. Eve finally becomes a star, but at the cost of a loveless future and the contempt of her colleagues in the theater. Other supporting performers included Gary Merrill (Bette Davis’s real-life husband), Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, and Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest film appearances.
All About Eve was based on a 1946 short story by Mary Orr called “The Wisdom of Eve.” The film was adapted into a hit Broadway musical comedy called Applause (1970).
See also Davis, Bette .
