Movie – All about Eve
Score : 9/10
Year : 1950
Country : USA
Language :English. French
Duration: 2h18
As the title of this movie announces, the main character's name is Eve, and tells of her person, through other people's narration - the first being Addison DeWitt, through George Sanders' distinctive voice, recalling how Eve entered into Margo Channing's life and circle of theater friends.
All about Eve is a bit difficult for me to watch, because of the overwhelming presence of fur throughout the film. Realistic and proper for the period, but difficult for me nonetheless.
However, it has many qualities to entertain and raise questions in the art and entertainment business :
The acting is superb and the ending alludes to certain cycles, in a very original scene to depict them.
The atmosphere rendered thorough the beautiful cinematography entertains fully, never letting a dull moment to set, especially helped by superbly written dialogues , except for a couple lines here and there which are quite inappropriate and awkward - at least in our modern standards ; but were, unfortunately, common in the 1950's.
Mankiewicz's screenplay depicts characters in many shades of grey : no one in the movie is truly good or truly bad ; the characters are dimensional, human beings, with their qualities and flaws.
He also shows a great understanding of his female characters - who are the most important in this film. To each woman her challenge, and possible evolution/solution to a given problem.
One of these relates to midlife crisis, which wasn't all that often talked about, especially regarding women. On that level, Mankiewicz certainty gets kudo points for this brave, unequivocal writing.
I especially loved the quirky personality Thelma Ritter portrays, as seems to be her 'shtick' ; she has quite funny, spunky lines, just like in Hitchcock's Rear Window.
The costuming, aside for the fur, is gorgeous : men's suits are handsome, and the women's dresses & gowns are exquisite.
Starring :
Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Thelma Ritter, and of note, Marilyn Monroe's first appearances are in this movie.
All about Eve... in the media
I recently bought the French bluray''selection blu-vip'' edition EAN 3344428044275 for a mere 5 € during the sales. As stated on dvdfr.com, this edition sometimes contains an added dvd of the movie which my copy indeed has. This dvd is housed in a small plastic wallet.
The BD is all regions and the movie is in original black & white - as it should be.
Last night, I watched the bluray, containing the movie in full 1080p HD, with 16/9, 1.33:1 image format.
It's available in English with 5.1 DTS-MA Audio, or French with 5.1 DTS Digital Surround, and the subtitles in French or English are optional which is really a good decision - as some publishers chose to force them on the viewer.
Bonuses :
There are 2 audio commentary tracks, and close to 2 hours of documentaries as follows.
Directed by Joseph L. Makiewicz (26 minutes) & Joseph L. Makiewicz : a personal journey (26 minutes) are documentaries garding the screenplay/ director's professional and private lives.
The real Eve (18 minutes), a docu about the real actress who inspired the screenplay
The secret of Sarah Siddons (7 minutes)
Featurettes & promo archives (40 minutes total)
There is also an isolated score track, but one has to know that music isn't the core of this film, and that there are many silent moments.
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