All about Eve: A Screenplay

by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Screenplay

Genres: Fiction, Drama, Plays, Theatre, Film

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1951

Reviews

[Sarah Far · Rating 4 out of 5]

«مادامی که ستاره ها بر صحنه می درخشند، ستاره نماها نیز مشتاقانه سوسو می زنند و برخی از آنان، برای رسیدن به شهرت، از هیچ کاری ابا ندارند.»

نمایشنامه صوتی این فیلم رو گوش دادم و مشتاق شدم که فیلمش هم ببینم!

این فیلم برنده ۶ جایزه از بهترین بازیگر نقش مکمل مرد برای جورج ساندرس،بهترین طراحی لباس،بهترین کارگردان برای جوزف مانکیویچ، بهترین فیلم، بهترین صدابرداری، بهترین فیلمنامه برای جوزف مانکیویچ شد.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this does not really count as a book, but the dialogue in both the theatrical adaptation and this movie is SO GOOD. Maybe my favorite movie of all time?

The writing is just so snappy and entertaining!! I also love how humanized Margo Channing is when she would usually take the place of the more antagonist diva character. It's somehow terrifying at times even though it depicts a not improbable trajectory for a rising celebrity. Nothing violent happens, but somehow Eve (and Addison) are still very creepy characters.

[Romany Arrowsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

National Theater Live subscription 16: Reviewing this in lieu of the 2019 adaptation, which doesn't have a Goodreads listing, and anyway the play seems to follow the movie closely in terms of story beats.

The difference between male doppelganger stories and female ones is interesting. The male double tends to show up "fully formed", representing all that the male prime wishes to be but hasn't achieved, yet which the copy seems to have achieved at the same age without too much striving. The male double then wins over all the male prime's social and professional connections with his superior character attributes. The female double tends to be a young ingenue who represents the female prime in her youth, since her best years are behind her. The ingenue predates on the experience of the female prime until she replaces the female prime's position because of youth and beauty.

For the male prime, the best years of his life have not yet come and threaten to never now arrive; if he "wins", it is by exposing the double's false front to his social and professional circle. For the female prime, the best years of her life are behind her, and cannot be regained (she can only come to terms with her new over-the-hill stage); if she "wins", it is by this acceptance.

All About Eve has Margo "winning" over Eve in this way. Margo accepts her new life stage as an older actress, gives up the coveted role, marries her long-term partner, and basically goes away into post-midlife existence "as a woman, instead of an actress" (paraphrasing the play). Eve is punished by becoming the puppet of an older man cut from the same predating cloth as she is, and gains no satisfaction after having replaced Margo.

The story's moralizing ending has aged past expiration at this point, so I count this as an unnecessary adaptation. They didn't change enough of the 1950s plot to make this make sense in the 21st century. Margo has to be reformed from a ball-busting diva into a gentle, forgiving soul who is finally ready to settle down and grow up (i.e. surrender her career). Eve is what I'll call the Genius Idiot fille fatale men love to write about - she's brilliant enough to enact this master plan to get a foot in the door as an actress, but too stupid to (1) cover her tracks (2) do some basic introspection about how the chick she's trying to replace is miserable and (3) escape from the grip of the man who threatens to expose her. She's smart and devious, but not smart enough to ever outsmart the devious MAN, always outplayed at her own game, she's merely in the WNBA to Addison's Lebron James. Also, she's young, gorgeous and naturally talented, so she must be destroyed, especially to serve the egos of the DEFINITELY aging population of insecure theater-goers. Both Margo and Eve are criticized heavily for caring so much about their work at all. An underlying message is that all actors, especially or only female ones, are narcissists, and the only moral path is not to do it at all, cf. Berger "“You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her, put a mirror in her hand and you called the painting “Vanity”..." etc.

Love, love, love stories about doppelgangers, even when one like this ultimately fails as a relevant story for the woman of today. It strikes me that Chicago did something more novel than I ever gave it credit for, making the ingenue double and the female prime become business partners in the end, instead of one having to triumph over the other.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding story, and it's one that fascinates me.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read this in light of what I knew about the actors playing the roles in the movie.

[Summer Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this screenplay in my Novel Cinema class and then watched the movie. As days go on, the more fond I grow of this story. The plot, the characters, the darkness and envy is so well written. I can go on for days ranting about the meaning behind this story and the connection between the characters. It's soooo good. I relate to Margo Channing so much to a point where I almost cried for her. This story shows the true side of Theatre, questioning who is really in control of the theatre business. It's the media, puppeting the actors and directors. I also loved the never ending cycle between the stars, how the younger ones would do anything for the spotlight. Also, who knew this would make me obsessed with Marilyn Monroe?? There were definitely parts where it was boring and too much dialogue but all together it was good. Overall, this was amazing and I recommend it to movie lovers<3