All about All about Eve: The Complete behind-the-Scences Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made!
- Book Review,
by Sam Staggs
Amazon.com
Like the movie it celebrates, Sam Staggs's All About All About Eve is good, gossipy fun. The book is exhaustively researched, from behind-the-scenes anecdotes to a talk with the original, mysterious "Eve" who sparked the dinner party conversation that inspired the magazine story that eventually became one of the best movies ever made. The book spirals outward from the movie as well, chronicling the subsequent careers of the principals (and an ingenue newcomer named Marilyn Monroe), the life of writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and even the ill-fated romance of stars Bette Davis and Gary Merrill. It is, of course, the legendary on-set cattiness that is the focus of the book's first half (Celeste Holm claims that Bette Davis responded to her initial "Good morning" with a tart "Oh shit, good manners," and the two never spoke again; cast members dish about George Sanders's then-wife Zsa Zsa Gabor), but the overall tone of the book is one of affection and a deep fascination for even the smallest aspects of the film. A true fan, Staggs analyzes the position of All About Eve in its own time and in the camp culture of today, notes its influence on innumerable subsequent films, and even chronicles the somewhat manufactured "feud" between Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead that developed over Davis's characterization of Margo Channing. To keep it from getting too weighty, Staggs punctuates the book with sidebars, paying tribute to the career of Walter Hampden, the elderly actor who presents the Sarah Siddons award, and even working in a match-the-famous-quote-to-the-French-subtitle quiz. All About All About Eve succeeds best in its main purpose--making you want to watch the movie one more time. --Ali Davis
From Publishers Weekly
"Fans.... They're juvenile delinquents, mental defectives. They never see a play or a movie--they're never indoors long enough!" exclaims Bette Davis's Margo Channing in the camp classic All About Eve. This seems especially ungrateful language given that uber-fan Staggs (MMII) has interviewed all of the surviving members of the cast and crew and compiled every possible fact, factoid and rumor about Joseph Mankiewicz's 1950s Oscar-winning tale of backstage back-stabbing in the Broadway theater. He details the evolution of the story, the filming, the stars' lives and the story's later incarnation as a Broadway musical. His book bears up under the weight of all this trivia not only because he has uncovered so much captivating material, but also because he uses it to illuminate larger themes. Staggs's comparison of similar dialogue from Eve and Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? illustrates the complexities of cultural influence, while his investigation of whether Tallulah Bankhead was the real-life model for Margo Channing becomes a meditation on the role of the bitch-goddess-diva in popular culture. Most startling of all, he has actually tracked down the young actress who was the model for the deviously ambitious Eve Harrington and tells her alarming, lamentable story. Written in a chatty style that can be laugh-out-loud-funny (actor Hugh Marlow is described as "one of those slow-burning, carbohydrate actors who all look like versions of Gregory Peck"), Stagg's engaging study should be the last word on this enduring classic. B&w photos not seen by PW. (Mar.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The 1950 Oscar-winning film All About Eve, a movie about ambition and backbiting in the theater world, has become a critical and a cult classic. In this account of the movie, journalist and "filmlorist" Staggs (MM II) colors his treatment of the origins, influences, and spin-offs of the Bette Davis vehicle with fact, rumor, and all shades in between. The result is a truly comprehensive filmography (as in "biography")--with limited readership appeal. Most readers will lap up the off-screen anecdotes about the movie's stars and makers, but only diehard fans will appreciate Staggs's analysis of the film's homoerotic overtones, his itemization of production-related expenses, and his unconvincing comparisons to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Most compelling is Staggs's quest to track down the "real" Eve, the scheming ingenue who flatters, ingratiates, and eventually connives her way to the top. Superbly referenced, this is recommended for collections that emphasize popular culture.-Jayne Plymale, Aiken, SC Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Staggs leaves no nugget of trivia unmined in his examination of the 1950 movie starring Bette Davis as an aging Broadway star threatened professionally and romantically by a young rival. The film won six Oscars and became a classic, thanks to witty dialogue and nimble, knowing performances. Staggs traces the movie's development from the short story that inspired it through a virtual production diary that he fleshes out with interviews of many surviving contributors to the film. His approach strives to balance the scholarly and the fannish but eventually tips toward the latter, bogging down in tedious examinations of the film's cultural influence and homosexual subtexts and in a lengthy account of the story's Broadway musical adaptation, Applause. Many will want to read the book for the dish and won't be disappointed by its bitchy backstage stories, mostly about the torrid on-set romance between Davis and costar Gary Merrill. Probably this is more than all but the most ardent Eve cultist will consume, but the book's ambition, like the character Eve's, elicits reluctant admiration. Gordon Flagg
Review
"This is the best movie book I've ever read. I devoured it in one sitting. Staggs may not have invented the genre, but he's certainly perfected it." --Florence King, author of Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady
"Stagg's gossipy goulash celebrates all of Eve's incarnations, from the original tale...to the Broadway musical Applause...[He] provides thoughtful film analysis and a thrilling final coup: an interview with the real Eve." --People
Review
"This is the best movie book I've ever read. I devoured it in one sitting. Staggs may not have invented the genre, but he's certainly perfected it." --Florence King, author of Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady
"Stagg's gossipy goulash celebrates all of Eve's incarnations, from the original tale...to the Broadway musical Applause...[He] provides thoughtful film analysis and a thrilling final coup: an interview with the real Eve." --People
Review
"This is the best movie book I've ever read. I devoured it in one sitting. Staggs may not have invented the genre, but he's certainly perfected it." --Florence King, author of Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady
"Stagg's gossipy goulash celebrates all of Eve's incarnations, from the original tale...to the Broadway musical Applause...[He] provides thoughtful film analysis and a thrilling final coup: an interview with the real Eve." --People
Book Description
To millions of fans, All About Eve represents all that's witty and wonderful in classic Hollywood movies. Its old-fashioned, larger-than-life stars--including Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, and Celeste Holm--found their best roles in Eve and its sophisticated dialogue has entered the lexicon.
But there's much more to know about All About Eve. Sam Staggs has written the definitive account of the making of this fascinating movie and its enormous incluence on both film and popular culture. Staggs reveals everything about the movie--from the famous European actress Margo Channing was based on to the hot-blooded romance on-set between Bette Davis and costar Gary Merrill, from the jump-start the movie gave Marilyn Monroe's career to the capstone it put on director Joseph L. Mankeiwicz's.
All About "All About Eve" is not only full of rich detail about the movie, the director, and the stars, but also about the audience who loved it when it came out and adore it to this day.
About the Author
Sam Stagg's first book was MMII: The Return of Marilyn Monroe. He has also written for a number of magazines, including Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, and Art News. He lives in Dallas, Texas.
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