All About Eve is a 1950 Americandrama film written and directed byJoseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced byDarryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story (and subsequent 1949 radio drama) "The Wisdom of Eve" byMary Orr, although Orr does not receive a screen credit.
All About Eve held its world premiere in New York City on October 13, 1950.[1] Highly praised by critics at the time of its release, it received a record 14 nominations[a] at the23rd Academy Awards, becoming the only film inOscar history to receive four female acting nominations (Davis and Baxter asBest Actress, Holm and Ritter asBest Supporting Actress). It went on to win six awards, includingBest Picture, as well asBest Director andBest Adapted Screenplay, Mankiewicz's second consecutive wins in both categories.
At the Sarah Siddons Award ceremony honoring rising actress Eve Harrington, narration from acerbic theatre critic Addison DeWitt introduces the attendees and hints that there is more to Eve's story.
The narration switches to Karen Richards, wife of playwright Lloyd Richards. She recalls the previous October, when she introduced Eve to agingBroadway star Margo Channing, who was starring in a play written by Lloyd. Eve tells Karen, Lloyd, and Margo's maid Birdie that she followed Margo's last theatrical tour toNew York City after seeing her perform inSan Francisco. She tells of her impoverished childhood and losing her husband in theSouth Pacific duringWorld War II, and, moved by Eve's story, Margo takes her into her home as her assistant. Eve quickly manipulates her way into Margo's life as both secretary and adoring fan.
Margo is also concerned about her romantic relationship with Bill Sampson, eight years her junior, who is directing a film in California. Without telling Margo, Eve arranges a midnight long-distance phone call from Margo to Bill on his birthday. Eve hopes the unexpected late call will show Bill that Margo forgot his birthday and also sends her own greeting. Margo realizes that Eve set her up and asks producer Max Fabian to hire Eve at his office to get her away from Bill; instead, Eve has Karen convince Fabian to make Eve Margo'sunderstudy without Margo's knowledge.
The film's trailer
As Margo's irritation grows, Karen sympathizes with Eve, believing that Margo is overdramatizing her resentment towards her. Hoping to humble Margo, Karen conspires for her to miss a performance so Eve can perform in her place. Eve secretly invites the city's theater critics, including Addison, to attend the performance. Eve's performance is a triumph. Later that night, Eve attempts to seduce Bill, but he rejects her.
Addison interviews Eve for a column, which harshly criticizes Margo for resisting younger talent. Eve apologizes to Lloyd for the things said in the article, and subtly convinces him to consider her instead of Margo for the lead role, Cora, in his next play.
Margo and Bill announce their engagement while dining out with Lloyd and Karen. Eve, who had been dining at the same restaurant with Addison, summons Karen to the ladies' room. After first appearing regretful, she delivers an ultimatum: Karen must recommend her to Lloyd to play Cora or she will have Addison expose Karen's part in Margo's missed performance in his newspaper column. When Karen returns to the table—to her relief—Margo surprisingly announces that she does not wish to play Cora. Margo admits that she is too old for theingénue role, and her impending marriage means that the theater no longer has to be her entire life.
Eve is cast as Cora, despite the objections of Bill, who is directing the play. Just before theout-of-town opening, Eve tells Addison that she had seduced and plans to marry Lloyd so that he can write plays for her to star in.
Angered by Eve's audacity, Addison reveals he knows her backstory is false; her real name is Gertrude Slescynski, she never went to San Francisco, she was never married, and she was paid to leave town over an affair with her married boss. He blackmails Eve, forbidding her from trying to marry Lloyd and saying she now "belongs" to him.
The story catches up to the opening scene; months later, Eve is a Broadway star headed for Hollywood. While accepting the Sarah Siddons Award, Eve thanks Margo, Bill, Lloyd, and Karen, who react with indifference. Eve skips the after-party and returns home, where she encounters Phoebe, who claims to be a teenage fan who slipped into her apartment and fell asleep. Eve is angry but softens after Phoebe professes her adoration and ingratiates herself. Eve is considering inviting her to stay over rather than take the long subway ride back home when the doorbell buzzes. Phoebe offers to answer the door and recognizes Addison, who has brought Eve's award back from the taxi cab where she left it. Addison quickly realizes that Phoebe isn't her real name and that she, like Eve, has her sights on stardom. Phoebe lies to Eve that a taxi driver had dropped off the award. When she is alone, Phoebe puts on Eve's elegant cloak and poses in front of a floor-length mirror, holding the award and bowing.
All About Eve originated from the short story "The Wisdom of Eve" written byMary Orr, published inCosmopolitan magazine in May 1946. The story was a highly fictionalized account based on an anecdote, as related by Austrian actressElisabeth Bergner.[10] She and her husbandPaul Czinner had invited Orr and her husbandReginald Denham, who had directed Bergner in the playThe Two Mrs. Carrolls during the 1943–44 Broadway season, for dinner inWoodstock, Vermont. There, Bergner told Orr about a young woman who stood outside at theBooth Theatre for several days. She invited the woman to her dressing room for a visit, where the woman claimed she was English and had fled to the United States duringWorld War II. She gave her a job as her secretary to her husband, whereby the young woman later became Bergner's understudy. From there, the woman tried to "take over" Bergner's life.[11]
In Orr's story, the young woman is named Eve Harrington, who wins the sympathy of Margola Cranston, a happily married Broadway actress. Eve becomes Margola's understudy, whereby she succeeds in taking the lead role in a new play written by Lloyd Richards, Margola's favorite playwright. Though Eve fails to win over Margola's husband, she eventually steals Lloyd away from his wife, Karen, another actress and Margola's best friend.[10] Bergner later confirmed the basis of the story in her autobiographyBewundert viel und viel gescholten (translated asGreatly Admired and Greatly Scolded), devoting five pages to her anecdote.[12]
On January 24, 1949, "The Wisdom of Eve" was adapted into a radio episode broadcast onNBC'sRadio City Playhouse. Orr wrote the radio play, whereby she renamed the character Margola into "Margo".Claudia Morgan was cast as Margo whileMarilyn Erskine played Eve and Mary Orr as Karen Richards.[13] A few days later, Twentieth Century-Fox optioned the film rights to Orr's story for $5,000 (equivalent to $66,077 in 2024).[14] The story caught the attention of James Fisher, then the head of Twentieth Century-Fox's story department. He mimeographed the story to several contracted producers, writers, and directors.[15] On April 29,Joseph L. Mankiewicz sent a memo toDarryl F. Zanuck, the president of Twentieth Century-Fox, suggesting they exercise their option on Orr's story. He stated the story "fits in with an original idea [of mine] and can be combined. Superb starring role forSusan Hayward."[16]
As he was filmingNo Way Out (1950), Mankiewicz wrote a 82-pagedfilm treatment titledBest Performance during the summer and early fall of 1949.[17][18][19] By December 1949, he spent several nights over the course of six weeks alone at theSan Ysidro Ranch, nearSanta Barbara, California, expanding his treatment into a first draft.[18] Mankiewicz changed Margo's surname from Cranston to Channing, but Mankiewicz retained several of Orr's characters—Eve Harrington and Lloyd and Karen Richards. He also removed Margo's husband found in the original story and replaced him with a new love interest, Bill Sampson.[20] Mankiewicz also created the characters: Addison DeWitt, Birdie Coonan, Max Fabian and Phoebe.[21]
By January 1950, Zanuck received Mankiewicz's draft, in which he provided numerous suggestions for improving the screenplay. As he made suggestive notes, Zanuck underlined a phrase in Addison DeWitt's voice-over narration: "Eve...but more of Eve, later. All about Eve, in fact."[22] Elsewhere, he suggested removing a potential foreshadowing by diluting Birdie Coonan's mistrust of Eve so the audience would not recognize Eve as a villainess until much later in the story. After inserting several of Zanuck's suggestions, Mankiewicz delivered another revised draft—dubbed the "temporary draft"—on March 1.[22]
On March 7, Zanuck wrote in a memo to Mankiewicz: "Without any question of a doubt you have done a remarkable job. The holes that were present in certain sections of the original treatment have disappeared."[23] Nevertheless, Zanuck sent nine pages of notes, detailing recommended cuts or revisions: "I have tried to sincerely point out the spots that appeared dull or overdrawn. I have not let the length of the script influence me. I have tried to cut it as I am sure I would cut if I were in the projection room."[24] Mankiewicz's draft, which had run 223 pages, was then truncated to 180.[25] According to Fox's records, Mankiewicz's writing services on the project were terminated on March 24 and by April, he started his official assignment as director.[21]
All About Eve was the first film to have its screenplay published in hardcover format.[26] Published byRandom House in 1951, Mankiewicz wrote the following dedication inside the publication: "ToRosa—the critic on my hearth" (a pun of "cricket on the hearth".)[27]
Several actresses were considered for the role of Margo Channing. Mankiewicz's original choice wasSusan Hayward, but at 32 years old, she was deemed too young.[28] As the script was being written, Zanuck was favorable to castingClaudette Colbert orBarbara Stanwyck.[29] By February 1950, the role went to Claudette Colbert but while filmingThree Came Home (1950), she was hospitalized indefinitely for an injured back and had to withdraw.[30] To replace her, Mankiewicz suggestedGertrude Lawrence. However, Lawrence's attorneyFanny Holtzmann insisted the screenplay be changed so that Lawrence did not smoke or drink in the film, and would sing atorch song (instead of "Liebesträume" byFranz Liszt) about Bill in the party scene. Mankiewicz declined her alterations.[31][32]
Mankiewicz and Zanuck briefly consideredMarlene Dietrich, but Mankiewicz felt her German dialect would be incompatible with the dialogue. In 1972, Mankiewicz stated: "I was, and am, a great admirer of Marlene. But from what I knew of her work and equipment as an actress, I simply could not visualize—or hear—her as a possible Margo."[33] Zanuck contactedIngrid Bergman to replace Colbert, but Bergman refused to leaveItaly for the production.[32]
Meanwhile,Bette Davis, who had ended her decades-long association withWarner Bros., was filmingPayment on Demand (1951) at the time. She had received a phone call from Zanuck, but was convinced it was a prank. The two had not been on speaking terms since Davis resigned from theAcademy. Zanuck sent over the script, suggesting she read it and should she like the role of Margo Channing, she was to be ready to film within ten days. In her 1962 autobiographyThe Lonely Life, Davis recalled: "When I finished readingAll About Eve, I was on cloud nine.Any inconvenience was worth it."[34]
Jeanne Crain was Zanuck's first choice for Eve Harrington.[35] Mankiewicz had worked with Crain onA Letter to Three Wives (1949) but felt her performance was unsatisfactory. He promptly told Zanuck he felt Crain lacked the "bitch virtuosity" required by the part.[36] Mankiewicz suggestedAnne Baxter, who was also under contract to Fox, as an alternative, to which Zanuck approved.[37] By then, Crain had become pregnant, which took her out of consideration.[38]
At least a dozen actress, includingSheree North, had tested for the role of Miss Casswell.Marilyn Monroe had been Mankiewicz's first choice for the part after her agentJohnny Hyde had brought her in to audition. Decades later, Mankiewicz reflected there "was a breathlessness and sort-of glued on innocence about her that I found appealing."[39] During filming, Monroe appeared in only two scenes. On her first day of shooting for the party scene, with most of the cast present, Monroe arrived an hour late. According to her co-starGary Merrill, there were 25 takes for the scene with Miss Caldwell and Addison DeWitt in the theater lobby.[40]
Mankiewicz wrote the character of Birdie Coonan forThelma Ritter, having working with her onA Letter to Three Wives.[41]José Ferrer was Zanuck's first choice for Addison DeWitt, but he was replaced byGeorge Sanders.[36]Barbara Bates won the part of the minor character Phoebe.[42]
By January 1951,All About Eve earned $3.1 million in box office rentals in the United States and Canada during its release,[43][44] more than double its original budget of $1.4 million.[3][4] The film had a cumulative gross of $8.4 million.[5]
All About Eve received widespread critical acclaim upon its release on October 13, 1950, at a New York City premiere. The film's competitor,Sunset Boulevard, released the same year, drew similar praise, and the two were often favorably compared.Bosley Crowther ofThe New York Times loved the picture, stating that "a fine Darryl Zanuck production, excellent music and an air of ultra-class complete this superior satire."[45]Abel Green ofVariety called it "a literate, adult film" with "exceedingly well-cast performances wherein Miss Davis does not spare herself, makeup wise, in the aging star assignment. Miss Baxter gives the proper shading to her cool and calculating approach in the process of ingratiation and ultimate opportunities; and the other principals mouth dialog which is real and convincing."[46]
Richard L. Coe ofThe Washington Post calledAll About Eve "the wittiest comedy of the year" and stated Davis gives "the finest role of her honorable career."[47]Harrison's Reports called it "a fascinating, continually absorbing story about Broadway theatrical people, given a mature treatment and penetrated with realistic dialogue and flashes of slick, sardonic humor."[48]John McCarten ofThe New Yorker called it "a thoroughly entertaining movie."[49]
In a 2000 review,Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun Times praised the film, saying of Bette Davis that "veteran actress Margo Channing inAll About Eve was her greatest role."[50]
All About Eve holds an approval rating of 99% based on 110 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Smart, sophisticated, and devastatingly funny,All About Eve is a Hollywood classic that only improves with age."[51]Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 98 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[52]
Critics and academics have delineated various themes in the film. Rebecca Flint Marx, in herAllmovie review, notes the antagonism that existed between Broadway and Hollywood at the time, stating that the "script summoned into existence a whole array of painfully recognizable theatre types, from the aging, egomaniacal grand dame to the outwardly docile, inwardly scheming ingenue to the powerful critic who reeks of malignant charm."[53] Abel Green, writing inVariety said, "The snide references to picture people, the plug for San Francisco ("an oasis of civilization in the California desert") and the like are purposeful and manifest an intelligent reflex from a group of hyper-talented people towards the picture business."[46]
Roger Ebert, in his review inThe Great Movies, says Eve Harrington is "a universal type", and focuses on the aging actress plot line, comparing the film toSunset Boulevard.[54] Similarly, Marc Lee's 2006 review of the film forThe Daily Telegraph describes a subtext "into the darker corners of show business, exposing its inherent ageism, especially when it comes to female stars."[55]Kathleen Woodward's 1999 book,Figuring Age: Women, Bodies, Generations (Theories of Contemporary Culture), also discusses themes that appeared in many of the "aging actress" films of the 1950s and 1960s, includingAll About Eve. She reasons that Margo has three options: "To continue to work, she can perform the role of a young woman, one she no longer seems that interested in. She can take up the position of the angry bitch, the drama queen who holds court (the deliberatecamp thatSusan Sontag finds in this film). Or she can accept her culture's gendered discourse of aging which figures her as in her moment of fading. Margo ultimately chooses the latter option, accepting her position as one of loss."[56]
All About Eve has long been a favored film among gay audiences, likely due to itscampy overtones (in part due to the casting of Davis) and its general sophistication. Davis, who long had a strong gay fan base, expressed support for gay men in her 1972 interview withThe Advocate.[57][58][59]
The film opens with the image of a fictitious award trophy, described by DeWitt as the "highest honor our theater knows: theSarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement." The statuette is modeled after the famouspainting of Siddons costumed as the tragic Muse by Joshua Reynolds, a copy of which hangs in the entrance of Margo's apartment and often visible during the party scene. In 1952, a small group of distinguished Chicago theater-goers began to givean award with that name, which was sculpted to look like the one used in the film. It has been given annually, with past honorees including Bette Davis and Celeste Holm.
All About Eve was released onVHS in 1979,LaserDisc in 1996 andDVD in 1999.[72] A restored Fox Studio Classics edition was released on DVD in 2003 and onBlu-ray on February 1, 2011, with an up-mixed5.1DTS-HD Master Audio track.[73][74] It was reissued on Blu-ray byThe Criterion Collection on November 25, 2019, which uses film's original mono audio.[75]
The first radio adaptation was a one-hour broadcast onLux Radio Theatre onCBS Radio on October 1, 1951, with Bette Davis, Gary Merrill and Anne Baxter reprising their original roles.[76]Lux Radio Theatre did a follow-up adaptation on November 23, 1954, this time onNBC radio withAnn Blyth andClaire Trevor playing the lead roles, with Trevor replacingIda Lupino when she became ill and was unable to attend the broadcast.[77]
A radio version ofAll About Eve starringTallulah Bankhead as Margo Channing was presented onNBC'sThe Big Show by theTheatre Guild of the Air on November 16, 1952. Bankhead and many contemporary critics felt that the characterization of Margo Channing was patterned on her, a long-rumored charge denied by both Mankiewicz and Davis,[78] but attested by costume designerEdith Head.[79] Additionally, Bankhead's rivalry with her understudy (Lizabeth Scott) during the production ofThe Skin of Our Teeth[80] is cited as an alternative hypothesis for the origin ofMary Orr'sThe Wisdom of Eve, the original short story that formed the basis for the film.[81][82] Bette Davis played three roles on film that Tallulah Bankhead had originated – Dark Victory,Jezebel andThe Little Foxes, much to Bankhead's chagrin. Bankhead and Davis were considered to be somewhat similar in style.[83] Several decades later Davis called Channing "the essence of a Tallulah Bankhead kind of actress" in an interview withBarbara Walters.[84] The production is notable in that Mary Orr, ofThe Wisdom of Eve, played the role of Karen Richards. The cast also featured Alan Hewitt as Addison DeWitt (who narrated),Beatrice Pearson as Eve Harrington, Don Briggs as Lloyd Richards,Kevin McCarthy as Bill Sampson, Florence Robinson as Birdie Coonan, and Stefan Schnabel as Max Fabian.[83]
The plot of the film has been recycled numerous times, frequently as an outright homage to the film, with one notable example being a 1974 episode ofThe Mary Tyler Moore Show titled "A New Sue Ann". In the episode,Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), hostess of a popular local cooking show, hires a young, pretty, and very eager fan (Linda Kelsey) as her apprentice and assistant, but the neophyte quickly begins to sabotage her mentor in an attempt to replace her as host of the show. Sue Ann, unlike Margo Channing, prevails in the end and counters the young woman's attempts to steal her success before sending her on her way.[86]
Brazilian telenovelaCelebridade was loosely based on the plot; it featuresMalu Mader as the successful businesswoman and former model Maria Clara Diniz, who hires Laura Prudente da Costa (Cláudia Abreu) for a job in her company after she saves her life and claims to be her greatest fan — but she is, in fact, an imposter who wants not only to take everything from the other woman, but to become a new Maria Clara.[87]
The English rock bandAll About Eve took their name from the film.[88]
Steven Soderbergh's 2012 filmMagic Mike is a loose re-working of theAll About Eve plot and includes subtle references in homage to the original. The lead actorChanning Tatum name checksBette Davis's character Margo Channing, and instead of Eve, the ambitious young upstart is named Adam, played byAlex Pettyfer. Like Eve, Adam gets his stage debut filling in for an absent star, and his subsequent ruthless rise to glory at the expense of others mirrors that of Eve.[89]
In the fifth season ofThe L Word, a fan becomesJenny Schecter's assistant while she is directing a movie; later the fan blackmails the movie studio into letting her direct and she proceeds to take over Jenny's life.
In the third season ofGilligan's Island, the episode "All About Eva" concerns the character of Eva Grubb coming on the island and taking overGinger's persona, with both roles played by actressTina Louise.
Theseason 20 episode ofFamily Guy titled "All About Alana" is a homage to the film and seesLois Griffin allowing one of her piano students Alana Fitzgerald to move in with the family, who begins slowly taking over Lois' life.
All About Eve influencedLucile Hadžihalilović's 2025 fantasy drama filmThe Ice Tower. Hadžihalilović said: "While not a conscious inspiration, the parallels withThe Ice Tower are undeniable—the accomplished actress, the adoring young admirer. I've watched it a few times and loved it. Maybe it crept in subconsciously, shaping things without me even realizing."[92]
^Passafiume, Andrea (January 3, 2008)."The Big Idea – All About Eve".Turner Classic Movies.Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. RetrievedAugust 20, 2025.
^Crowther, Bosley (October 14, 1950)."The Screen in Review".The New York Times. p. 13.Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. RetrievedAugust 20, 2025.
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