December 29, 2009

All About Eve



Data
Title: All About Eve
Year: 1950
Length: 138 minutes
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Writer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe
Music: Alfred Newman
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Sanders), Best Costume Design (black-and-white) and Best Sound; Oscar nominations for Best Actress (Davis), Best Actress (Baxter), Best Supporting Actress (Holm), Best Supporting Actress (Thelma Ritter), Best Cinematography (black-and-white), Best Score, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (black-and-white) and Best Editing; currently #90 on IMDb's Top 250

My reaction
Synopsis: a fan attaches herself to an aging actress
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Concept: Good.
Story: Great.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great. Some of the best of all time.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Great. Baxter's not so good, but Davis more than makes up for her. There are probably only four or five actresses in the history of movies that could have taken Davis' character and made her sympathetic; Davis makes her downright lovable.
Music: Good.
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great). Every now and then a movie like this, that I otherwise might never have seen, reminds me why I'm doing my Top 250 project.
Objective Rating: 3.7/4 (Great).

No comments:

Post a Comment