antiquesfairs A weekly Facebook-based film club for fans of all things antique and vintage, we chose to start our year's movie schedule with this 1950 release, All About Eve, starring Bette Davis as actress Margo Channing, alongside George Sanders and more. The film also features Marilyn Monroe in one of her earlier roles.Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, All About Eve remains the only film to have received 4 female acting nominations, among them Anne Baxter for her portrayal of the titular character Eve, and of course, Bette Davis herself. In the end, it won 6 Oscars, including that of Best Costume Design for a Black and White film.

JohnHowardReid Brilliantly acted and cleverly characterized, with sparkling dialogue that mercilessly parries the gloss from the New York theater world's highly sophisticated veneer, "All About Eve" is a scintillating comedy of manners that compels rapt attention for the whole of its 2¼ hours. We like George Sanders, pointing out Gregory Ratoff to his escort, Marilyn Monroe (whom the script describes as "a member of the Copacabana school of acting"), with the words: "There's a real live producer, honey! Go and do yourself some good!" And the final scene, in which Sanders asks Barbara Bates, "Do you want some day to have an award like that of your own?" — "More than anything else in the world!" she answers. "Then you must ask Miss Harrington how to get one", he replies. "Miss Harrington knows all about it!"It is often complained of Mankiewicz's work that it is too stagey and too talkative, that there is not sufficient movement. There is some justice in this charge in the consideration of such films as Five Fingers, The Quiet American, House of Strangers, and Dragonwyck; certainly Mankiewicz's two spectacles, Guys and Dolls and Cleopatra, are much improved by sharp editing. But in his best films, The Late George Apley, A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, People Will Talk (which I regard as his masterpiece — it was too off-beat, unfortunately, for contemporary audiences or critics to appreciate), and The Barefoot Contessa, any trace of over- talkativeness is more than offset by the range and variety, the unusualness of the characters. Moreover, it is the characters themselves that determine the plot — not the fate or some external force.Thus, in All About Eve, Margo Channing is the victim of her egocentricity, Sampson the victim of his own cynicism and Richards, the victim of his own ingenuousness. Eve Harrington is cunning and ruthless enough to exploit these traits in her climb to stardom. Besides Mankiewicz's two awards, All About Eve also won statuettes for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (George Sanders), Best Costumes and Best Sound Recording. Also, producer Darryl Zanuck won the Thalberg Memorial Award for consistent high-quality production over the previous three years.The film also won the New York Film Critics' Citation for Best Picture, Best Direction and Best Actress (Bette Davis). Actually, I thought that Miss Davis' performance, fine as it was, was overshadowed by Anne Baxter's interpretation of the scheming Eve. To cover with a winning veneer of innocence a character that would not stop at blackmail or adultery to win stardom, cannot have been an easy assignment for a young actress; yet Miss Baxter brought it off flawlessly.OTHER VIEWS: I'd had the general idea for All About Eve in mind for a long time. But I never had a middle, a second act. Then our New York office submitted a short story by Mary Orr called "The Wisdom of Eve" — later a radio script — and I had my second act. Incidentally, Zanuck deserves some credit for what happened. He was the only studio head in town with the courage and intelligence to try new things. I don't think I could have made this picture on any other lot but 20th Century- Fox. -- J.L.M.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . but Fox's "Best Picture" feature ALL ABOUT EVE proves that this is not the case. BEFORE President Obama was a foreign-born Muslim, BEFORE Global Warming was a Hoax, EVEN BEFORE Evolution was a Discredited Crackpot Theory, Fox's unique skill at fashioning self-fulfilling prophecies out of Thin Air is abundantly on display here in ALL ABOUT EVE. Even without the Gofundme Campaign that would be necessary for me to Encyclopedically document the dozens of Fake News Scoops in EVE (or the thousands riddling the entire Body of the Fox Film Corpus), consider these two Norma Jean moments from EVE calling out "Marilyn Monroe's" most famous co-star and spouse BY THEIR REAL LIFE NAMES!! About 56 minutes into EVE, Marilyn's character "Claudia" says that she'll sacrifice "anything" for Clark Gable, an eerie foreshadowing of the co-star she'd leave with a fatal heart attack after plaguing him through the filming of his final flick, THE MISFITS a decade AFTER this comment is made in EVE. Twelve minutes later, Fox insures that its Fake News about a false-fronted bimbo seducing and ruining America's top playwright (EVE's "Lloyd" character) is cemented into American Culture's REAL LIFE Future as Arthur Miller is mentioned BY NAME in front of Artie's Looming Femme Fatale, nee Norma Jean Mortenson. Of course, it goes without saying that EVE--nee "Gertrude Slojinski"--and her back-story dalliance with a Royal Family of American Booze is sly Fox's way of including Jack and Bobby Kennedy among Ms. Mortenson's long list of Real Life victims.

Michael_Elliott All About Eve (1950) **** (out of 4) Broadway star Margo Channing (Bette Davis) invites a woman named Eve (Anne Baxter) into her life because she's an adoring fan but before long the much older Margo begins to fear that the younger woman wants more than friendship. Soon Eve's plans of becoming a star herself come out and she's not going to let anything get into her way.ALL ABOUT EVE was, at the time, the film that captured the most Oscar-nominations with fourteen and it eventually won six including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for George Sanders. If you're a fan of movie stars, directors, producers or anyone in that profession then ALL ABOUT EVE is certainly a must see. Sure, perhaps it does run on a bit too long but there's no question that it contains one of the greatest ensemble acting classes that you'll ever see as well as some perfect direction by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and his screenplay is bitterly sharp and funny.So much has been said about this film over the years that I couldn't possibly add anything new. What I really respect about the film is the fact that it really could have gone over-dramatic but instead it plays out like a black comedy where we're dealing with some at times ugly people who get out done by a couple snakes in the grass. The way the mystery of this Eve character plays out is so flawlessly done that it's impossible to hate her because you see her game and her goal. You then start to see that she probably didn't do anything that others wouldn't have done also.Davis gets the majority of the credit in the acting department and there's no doubt that she's perfect and this helped rebuild the second stage of her career. As great as she is I think she sometimes overcrowds what others in the film do. Both Gary Merill and Hugh Marlow are terrific in the role of the supporting men. You've got Marilyn Monroe in an early bit and she's really funny here. Thelma Ritter is always fun to watch. Then you've got the three best performances in the film. Celeste Holm is simply divine on so many levels here as the woman who opens the gate for the snake to come in. Baxter is simply wonderful at playing so many different sides of this character. There are so many adjectives used about her character and the actress really delivers everything you could hope for. Then there's Sanders who is perfectly delightful as the rather crooked writer with his own game to play.ALL ABOUT EVE contains a really terrific script for these great actors to sink their teeth in. The film is brutally honest and funny about stardom and what one will do to capture their glory. The way the film plays out is wonderfully done and there's no doubt that the film deserves its reputation.