All About "All About Eve"

The Complete Behind-the-Scenes Story of the Bitchiest Film Ever Made

By: Sam Staggs

Narrated by: Donald Corren

Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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 this movie, 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 influence on both film and popular culture. Staggs reveals everything about the movie - from whom 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. Mankiewicz’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.

©2000, 2001 Sam Staggs (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

A good story

I loved the movie and this book is great, narration is perfect perfect for a glimpse behind the glamour and hard work of movies and theater.

Entertaining but problematic

A fun read. However, the author points out sexist quotes said by people in the twentieth century, yet says a number of sexist remarks himself, seemingly without notice. Also, the author says quite a few fatphotic things. These were not quotations. So, if you’re a careful consumer, you’ll have an enjoyable read but with a few bumps.

It's every thing I wanted!!!!!

As a total "All about Eve" enthusiast, this book contains such an unique variety of the juiciest stories I always wanted.

Loved this Dishy exploration

I have loved All About Eve since the late movie runs of my adolescence. What a pleasure to glean more insight into the story.

really enjoyable, especially post movie culture

there is so much detail in this book that it all started to wash over me, but in a pleasant way, like listening to your grandma gossip with her friends. the narrator was excellent and did a great job having district voices for all of the people quoted. I'm going to listen to the Sunset Boulevard one next because i enjoyed this one so much.

All About Indeed!

Excellent narration! Loved that the reader affected different voices for different persons! Great insights and gossip! Fun read.

All About Eve or All About Everyone?

I assumed this book was on the main characters of the film. I even rented the movie. I must say that I liked the movie more than the dribble of this book.

if you are not an old movie buff, don't read this book! The author spends so much time talking about multiple actors, movies, plays, critics...and everyone else that drags the story. I spent more time going back and forth looking up movie references and actors and directors.

The last chapter is to reference the people, statements, and other significant factors.

overtly confusing. This is what happens when the subtitles catch your attention. You end up with a dud.

Fascinating and Fun

Donald Cotten gives the best performance of any literary narrator I've heard (and that's a LOT of narrators). He's a brilliant voice impressionist and incorporates this to the listeners delight. A wonderfully informed and entertaining insiders account into the making of what is arguably one of American cinema's greatest films.

Best for True Fans

This book contains almost too much about “All About Eve.” There are many interesting anecdotes and trivia points. I appreciated how it put the film into historical and cultural context both at the time of its original release and as it entered later phases of fandom. Yet by the end, I had heard more than enough, especially about the woman who claims to be the original Eve. This is of course a matter of personal taste.

The narration is, in general, engaging, and the narrator does a passable imitation of Bette Davis. I did wish that he had found time to look up how to pronounce “skullduggery,” since the word is used several times in the text. But that was a minor irritant.

Genuinely good story/performance

Two things I found problematic:

1 - it needs editing. Many of the same points (almost verbatim) are made three or four times in different chapters.

2 - I had to go look up what year this book was released because some of the language - particularly beginning chapter 24 - is highly dated, stereotype and offensive…particularly about the gay community. The chapter premise - delving into affinity for the movie - is interesting. But there is zero value added by using a slur for lesbians.

It genuinely made me almost skip the rest of the book.