All About Eve

The 1950 film All About Eve stars Bette Davis as aging Broadway star Margo Channing and Anne Baxter as her eager young protege, Eve. The darkly-comic drama garnered a record 14 Oscar nominations and won 6, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Fast Facts:

1. Released: October 13, 1950
2. Director/Writer: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
3. Starring: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Marilyn Monroe
4. Run Time: 138 min
5. Based on the story The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr
6. Oscar wins: Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor, Costume Design, Sound
7. AFI 100: #16 on Original List; 28th on 2007 Anniversary List

Background

Writer Mary Orr based her short story, The Wisdom of Eve, on an anecdote about an actual behind-the-scenes rivalry between actress Elisabeth Bergner and a young fan.

The role of Channing, which had been written for Claudette Colbert, revived Bette Davis' career after an extended slump throughout the late '40s, and provided the actress with a number of her most famous moments and lines of dialogue. (Even today, most people know the line "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.")

Baxter as well had not been the producer's first choice; Jeanne Crain was going to play the role until she became pregnant just before filming was to begin.

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