All About Eve

[flipp525]

Holm spoke over people's shoulders because of the filming technique. People in 40s-50s films often did that if they were in conversation with someone else that we are meant to see face-on. In other words converstaion was carried on "over the shoulder" so we could see both actors in one shot. Directors do this less and less, thank God.

It's still a staple of soap operas, thank God! :;):

Oh, it's a total soap staple, Penelope. As is the, "let's move three feet away from this other person so we can have a private conversation they won't possibly be able to hear"!

I think one of the best things about All About Eve is Baxter's subtle performance, too. You're almost rooting for her in the beginning until you figure out what her game is. And then she becomes the most vile Hollywood, ladder-stepping egotist you've ever seen. It's just delicious.

[Penelope]

Holm spoke over people's shoulders because of the filming technique. People in 40s-50s films often did that if they were in conversation with someone else that we are meant to see face-on. In other words converstaion was carried on "over the shoulder" so we could see both actors in one shot. Directors do this less and less, thank God.

It's still a staple of soap operas, thank God! :;):

[99-1100896887]

Holm spoke over people's shoulders because of the filming technique. People in 40s-50s films often did that if they were in conversation with someone else that we are meant to see face-on. In other words converstaion was carried on "over the shoulder" so we could see both actors in one shot. Directors do this less and less, thank God.
I love Celeste Holm--have since I was a teenager. Loved her in High Society! Hated her here.
Sorry, Peter. I thought it was way too talky with not a lot happening.

[Eric]

Margo: Kathleen Turner

[OscarGuy]

I was going to say that all the actresses who could pull it off are too old for the role now, but as I tried to come up with examples, all the ones I could think of wouldn't be considered beautiful enough for the role. Like Julianne Moore.

[ITALIANO]

Interestingly, I have always thought that in a (hopefully never done) remake of All About Eve, the most difficult role to cast would be Eve, not Margo - which says alot, I think, about Baxter's subtle performance. They'd go for someone like Renee Zellweger I guess, so you can imagine...

[Big Magilla]

I'm in shock. I thought All About Eve was one of those indisputable classics that everyone loved. I've seen it numerous times since it played on TV when I was a teenager and I've always had the same reaction. It played Carnegie Hall Cinema on a double bill with Sunset Boulevard in the 70s to packed houses and always elicited belly laughs from the audience in all the right places. Sure, there are occasional spots where it drags, particularly when Davis and Holm are off screen, but oh boy, when they're on, they're on. This is the first I've heard of Holm talking over anyone's shoulders. As for Sanders, what character actor today could match his acid delivery? None that I can think of. This is one film that should never be remade except as a musical, but who would be believable now in a film version of Applause?

A Baxter nomination in support would not necessarily have knocked out Ritter, it would more likely have have kept Nancy Olson from receiving her undeserved nomination for Sunset Boulevard.

[ITALIANO]

LOL! See, I'd already blocked Jennifer Hudson's win from my memory, I was thinking of Kate Hudson!

Yes, it's not the most memorable performance ever, I must admit it... even I had to go to the IMDB to remember her name.

[Penelope]

Ah, but Hudson didn't win, Marco! Of course, if you added that evil, scheming Hilary Swank to the list...there's your Eve Harrington, stealing Oscars from vastly superior actresses!

I don't mind "talky" films, but All About Eve--despite those magnificent performances--goes on and on and on. Annie Hall and Before Sunset are pretty brief by comparison. Yes, Eve is a great film, but among 1950's efforts, I much prefer Sunset Blvd, and among Mankiewicz's films, I think the dazzling A Letter to Three Wives is way, way better.

He's referring to the well liked performance (except by him) of Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. He couldn't pick any of a number of other better examples because he just wanted to try to stir the pot as usual.

LOL! See, I'd already blocked Jennifer Hudson's win from my memory, I was thinking of Kate Hudson!

[OscarGuy]

Ah, but Hudson didn't win, Marco! Of course, if you added that evil, scheming Hilary Swank to the list...there's your Eve Harrington, stealing Oscars from vastly superior actresses!

I don't mind "talky" films, but All About Eve--despite those magnificent performances--goes on and on and on. Annie Hall and Before Sunset are pretty brief by comparison. Yes, Eve is a great film, but among 1950's efforts, I much prefer Sunset Blvd, and among Mankiewicz's films, I think the dazzling A Letter to Three Wives is way, way better.

He's referring to the well liked performance (except by him) of Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls. He couldn't pick any of a number of other better examples because he just wanted to try to stir the pot as usual.



Edited By OscarGuy on 1187408519

[VanHelsing]

I think I'll prefer All About Steve coming out next year starring you know who. :p

[flipp525]

Penelope, they should do a remake of All About Eve with Hilary Swank in the Eve Harrington role and Annette Bening as the great Margo Channing!



Edited By flipp525 on 1187401805

[Penelope]

Ah, but Hudson didn't win, Marco! Of course, if you added that evil, scheming Hilary Swank to the list...there's your Eve Harrington, stealing Oscars from vastly superior actresses!

I don't mind "talky" films, but All About Eve--despite those magnificent performances--goes on and on and on. Annie Hall and Before Sunset are pretty brief by comparison. Yes, Eve is a great film, but among 1950's efforts, I much prefer Sunset Blvd, and among Mankiewicz's films, I think the dazzling A Letter to Three Wives is way, way better.

[ITALIANO]

I wish today's Oscar nominees were always as brilliant as the five from All About Eve! Actress and Supporting Actress especially are full of truly bland - if not downright offensive - nominations lately (and what's even more frustrating, the worst often wins - remember Berry, Zellweger, Hudson? Yes, of course you remember Hudson).

All the five nominees from All About Eve are in my opinion remarkable. It is true, though, that at least Thelma Ritter wouldn't be nominated today - but that's just because her "type" - ageing character actress in a small though subtle and enjoyable role - doesn't have many chances in a category in which so often young starlets (in big and even leading roles) tend to get most of the available slots. (Its male equivalent is only slightly luckier). But for example even the Celeste Holm role - if played, say, by a Patricia Clarkson - could get a nod (by the way I think Holm was absolutely brilliant in this movie - such a nuanced performance).

True, the film is talky. And let me say it - I love talky movies (when the talk is good of course). And the dialogue in All About Eve is VERY good - Mankiewicz at his best, really: clever, witty, precise, insightful. Truly great to hear. Ok, I'm not saying it's George Bernard Shaw - but still very good for an original screenplay of those years. And to be honest, I don't miss complex, distracting camera movements when I can listen to truly good lines delievered by expert actors. It's a cinema of words, I know, and I love it.

[The Original BJ]

I love All About Eve too. (And I saw it for the first time only about two years ago, so for me it wasn't a relived experience.)

I've never understood why so many people consider "talkiness" a bad thing in film. Isn't Before Sunrise talky? And Annie Hall? And most of Rohmer's work? And yet I consider all (as well as Eve) delightful.

I couldn't disagree more about the performances. Every line of Davis's is practically its own movie, Baxter is cunningly innocent, Sanders is a hoot, so is Ritter...even Marilyn Monroe is good!

One thing I've long found curious about Eve is that record for the most Oscar nominations. Oh, it's not that the film wasn't deserving. It's that, had a similar film been released in today's environment, it wouldn't have received NEARLY as many nominations. Baxter would have certainly been demoted to Supporting, knocking out at least Ritter (if not Holm as well.) Art Direction & Costume nods for a contemporary film? I don't think so. A Cinematography mention for a film without any glamorous sunsets or other pictoral beauty? Possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. And a Sound nomination, let alone a win? Give me a break. In 2007, we'd be talking 8 to 9 nominations, certainly not a category-sweeping 14.