- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (Jun 23 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312273150
- ISBN-13: 978-0312273156
- Product Dimensions: 21.1 x 14.3 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #350,342 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From 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
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
A terse headline in Variety on September 27, 1951, told the news: MANKIEWICZ, 20TH SEVER CONTRACT. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
A terse headline in Variety on September 27, 1951, told the news: MANKIEWICZ, 20TH SEVER CONTRACT. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
FOR THE FANS....,
By
This review is from: All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made! (Paperback)
Fans of "All About Eve" will enjoy this exploration of the making of a classic. It's hard to put down and consistently entertaining. A perfect companion piece for the film as the backstage story of a backstage story of life in the theater from a life in Hollywood viewpoint. Celeste Holm's remarks are particularly revealing. You could say this is a bitchy look at a bitchy movie and it's well worth the read. Don't miss this one.
5.0 out of 5 stars
THIS LADY EVE DESERVES APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE!,
By
This review is from: All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made! (Paperback)
Buckle your seat belts ... it's gonna be a bumpy night ahead! Bumpy because author Sam Staggs has written a warts-and-all, behind-the-scenes look at one of the Hollywood's greatest and wittiest films. The film won six Oscars, and was nominated for a titanic total 14 of the golden naked men, a record broken only recently by "Titanic." All the bitchery, butchery and backstage babble is here: From the performance that revived the flailing career of star Bette Davis to the introduction of a starlet by the name of Marilyn Monroe. Applause! Applause!
3.0 out of 5 stars
The bitchiest book about the bitchiest movie ever made,
By
This review is from: All About All About Eve: The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made! (Paperback)
This book is filled with anecdotes, gossip and sometimes downright nasty little tidbits of information regarding the movie stars, director, production people and writer of the original story that All About Eve was based on. While full of fascinating stories about the production itself the style of the author left a great deal to be desired. We follow the production of movie from beginning to end including facts about the author of a story originally printed in Cosmopolitan Magazine, "The Wisdom of Eve" that the movied was based on. In chronological order, following the movie itself (which is actually told in flashback/retrospect) we travel with the cast and crew as the plot of the movie unfolds and the stories behind the movie unfold. The only remaining cast member, Celeste Holm, declined to be interviewed for the book and I would love to read what she has to say in detail about the production. Gary Merrill and Bete Davis have both written interesting (and recommended by me) autobiographies, in Ms. Davis' case several, which include references to the making "Eve" and their affair during which ended with their subsequent marriage. It's a good read for the story of the movie and some good Hollywood gossip but if I had a chance to edit this book I would have removed a fair amount of extraneous wording.
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