Review of All About Eve (1950) by Adam Z — 18 Apr 2009

Oh, what a wonderful film. I don't think there was ever a better American screenwriter than Joseph L. Mankiewicz in the entire history of the cinema. Midway through this film, you think you know where it's headed- and then it turns out that you're dead wrong.

Mankiewicz is no visualist, but he makes up for it with the snappiest dialogue around town, which is why some have even dared to call this the best Hollywood screenplay ever written. Great performances by Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, and Celeste Holm.

And you gotta love George Sanders as Addison DeWitt: "I am a theatre critic. I am essential to the theatre." It's perfect.