All About Eve

US (1950): Drama

Showered with Oscars, this wonderfully bitchy (and witty) comedy written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz concerns an aging theater star (Bette Davis) whose life is being supplanted by a wolf-in-sheep's-clothing ingenue (Anne Baxter) whom she helped. This is a film for a viewer to take in like a box of chocolates, packed with scene-for-scene delights that make the entire story even better than it really is. The film also gives deviously talented actors such as George Sanders and Thelma Ritter a chance to speak dazzling lines; Davis bites into her role and never lets go. Cast also includes Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Gregory Ratoff, Barbara Bates, Marilyn Monroe and Thelma Ritter. A classic from Mankiewicz for 20th Century-Fox. (Amazon.com)

Producer Zanuck envisioned Marlene Dietrich as Margo Channing, Jeanne Crain as Eve Harrington, and José Ferrer as Addison DeWitt. Mankiewicz's early choices for the role were Gertrude Lawrence, then Claudette Colbert, who had to withdraw herself from consideration when she suffered a ruptured disc. The film is the basis for the Broadway musical "Applause." The original story "The Wisdom of Eve" appeared in Cosmopolitan in 1946, and was produced as a radio drama for NBC - but every studio rejected it as a film project. Eventually, Fox bought the rights for $3500 with no credit stipulations. Mankiewicz combined "The Wisdom of Eve" with a story he had been developing about an actress who recalls her life when receiving an award.

· Best Picture 1950: Darryl F. Zanuck, producer (20th Century-Fox)
· Best Supporting Actor 1950: George Sanders
· Best Directing 1950: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
· Writing (Best Screenplay) 1950: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
· Best Costume Design (Black and White) 1950: Edith Head, Charles LeMaire
· Best Sound Recording 1950: (20th Century-Fox Sound Department)

· Actress 1950: Bette Davis
· Actress 1950: Anne Baxter
· Supporting Actress 1950: Thelma Ritter
· Supporting Actress 1950: Celeste Holm
· Art Direction/Set Decoration (Black and White) 1950: Lyle Wheeler & George W. Davis - Art Direction, Thomas Little & Walter M. Scott - Set Decoration
· Cinematography (Black and White) 1950: Milton Krasner
· Film Editing 1950: Barbara McLean
· Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture) 1950: Alfred Newman

14 nominations, 6 Awards
Set new record for number of nominations, which was not tied until TITANIC (1997).