All About Eve.

Review #750: All About Eve.

Cast
Bette Davis (Margo Channing), Anne Baxter (Eve Harrington), George Sanders (Addison DeWitt), Celeste Holm (Karen Richards), Gary Merrill (Bill Sampson), Hugh Marlowe (Lloyd Richards), Thelma Ritter (Birdie), Gregory Ratoff (Max Fabian), Marilyn Monroe (Miss Casswell), and Barbara Bates (Phoebe) Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Review
Based off "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, All About Eve is a movie that held the record for most Oscar nominations (14) until Titanic tied it over four decades later, with five actors receiving nominations, and one (Sanders) winning. In fact, Joseph L. Mankiewicz won two Oscars for the movie (Best Director and Adapted Screenplay). 65 years later, the movie is heralded as a classic. And why not? It is great. It's interesting that the big highlight in a movie all about Eve is not Eve herself, but Bette Davis and her tremendous screen presence. She is always interesting to watch and always entertaining, especially when interacting with the cast. Baxter is effective in making her character come off as innocent and helpful...for a while, anyway. Her scene with Holm in which she would will be willing to use Karen's deep friendship with Margo as leverage just to get a part shows the extent of Eve's manipulation. But while her ambition got her out of one problem along with getting her this far, it may have gotten her into another situation...but the movie ends on a different character, named Phoebe. The final scene, with her taking the award and imagining herself winning one is certainly fitting. Sanders manages to ingrain his character into the narrative. He may be snide. but his way with words is much more devastating. His scene with Baxter at the end, is especially well-done, as the movie comes full-circle. The movie begins with Eve winning an award for her performance in a play...but maybe in a way she hasn't won. She won the award, but perhaps at the cost of her heart, in a sense. One actress who also is in the movie, though brief, is Marilyn Monroe, whose character also plays a role in regards to Eve's rise. Monroe doesn't get much to do, but she is interesting to watch, especially when being guided by Sanders in his attempts to give her a career. The movie certainly looks well in both fashion and just in general, with the Costume Designers (Edith Head and Charles LeMaire) winning an Oscar for it. Bottom line, the movie is interesting to watch, especially if you love big performances and love big classical drama.

Thank you for reading this 750th Review. I hope you enjoyed it.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

For all of the appreciation over the past 750 reviews, I made a collage detailing from the first big landmark (and the number before it is, as customary)...all the way up to now. Thank you. Enjoy.

The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Review #725: The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Cast
Michael Rennie (Klaatu), Patricia Neal (Helen Benson), Billy Gray (Bobby Benson), Hugh Marlowe (Tom Stephens), Sam Jaffe (Professor Jacob Barnhardt), Frances Bavier (Mrs. Barley), Lock Martin (Gort), and Frank Conroy (Mr. Harley) Directed by Robert Wise (#515 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Review
If you haven't watched the movie but you are reading this review, there might be spoilers, so tread carefully and...watch the movie! Now then...

Simply put, this is a truthful movie. Even after 64 years, this movie manages to have a message that still resonates today. Especially with the way technology has progressed in the time since. Many people have talked about this movie in length already, but this review is meant to just be about how the movie is. And it is great. The buildup to the movie's message at the end, the performance of Rennie as Klaatu, Gort's presence, Bernard Herrmann's music, and the way that it is shot make for one of the more memorable 1950's alien visitor stories, but more importantly one of the best movies about humanity's reach and how even technology could be our own downfall, no matter what intent it may have, along with paranoia.

It shows the degrees of how humans interact to Klaatu's presence: From the hundreds of observers who flock to see him and his saucer's arrival, to the ones who are scared of him and Gort, to the ones who want to see him destroyed, to the curious scientific minds, to the one little boy who enjoys his presence, and so on. It's not a "people vs the alien" type of a movie, it plays on the paranoia of the people to Klaatu and the era in general this was made, being released just a few years after World War II ended, which is reflected a few times during the film.

Rennie is interesting as Klaatu, making him so interesting to watch because of how he interacts with the humans around him, especially regarding his quest regarding his message. The rest of the cast does a fine job, enabling the degrees of humans and their interactions with him. Let's not forget about Gort, played by Martin (reportedly to be at least 7 feet tall, though some report at least 7'7), who had to film in short intervals due to his troubles with the heavy suit. But even with that fact, his silent movements (along with how the suit was made) help keep the movie from falling off the rails by simply being effective in keeping the tense atmosphere. If the effect had been less well crafted, I wonder if the movie would've had the same effect.

The movie also benefits from the ethereal nature of Herrmann's score, which right from the very beginning sets the tone of the movie and makes the atmosphere of the movie seem to come alive. It's a great movie to watch and look at too, especially the shots of the saucer coming down to Washington, or seeing the military vehicles driving to pursue Klaatu. Klaatu's message at the end of the movie is neither heavy-handed nor dated, it's a message that still rings true today about how we have a choice about our fate, and we'll either join them or be destroyed. I can't imagine the remake being any better than this. Ultimately, would I recommend this movie (instead of the remake)? You bet.

Lastly...Klaatu barada nikto. It's a unique phrase that has become referenced in multiple movies, TV shows, and other various forms of media, along with being a really cool thing to say.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.

Review #265: Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.

Cast
Hugh Marlowe (Russell A. Marvin), Joan Taylor (Carol Marvin), Donald Curtis (Major Huglin), Morris Ankrum (John Hanley), John Zaremba (Professor Kanter), and Paul Frees (Voice of the Aliens) Directed by Fred F. Sears (#255 - The Giant Claw)

Review
This film is noted for its special effects done by Ray Harryhausen, who I have covered before in Clash of the Titans (#064) and Jason and the Argonauts (#111). And like those films, the effects here are excellent. The flying saucer design made by Harryhausen works so well because they move in a way not seen before. This film is compared to another saucer-ish film reviewed here, Independence Day (#193. Then again any movie that involves invaders with saucers coming from an alien planet to Earth could be a comparison.) But the film is different and better than the other because it uses its premise to make a better than expected film combined with excellent effects once again by Harryhausen. Truly a good "B-movie"

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.