All About..."All About Eve"

Director Pedro Almodóvar loves classic Hollywood movies. His style is often part homage and part campy rearticulation of the mood, the themes, and the plot devices of the classics he grew up watching.

"All About My Mother" draws its title from the 1950 film, "All About Eve" about a starstruck Broadway fan who attaches herself (as caretaker and personal assistant) to an aging theater actress (Bette Davis), and then proceeds to connive her way to the top. In Almodóvar, we see strong echoes of this in the relationship between Manuela and Huma.

At the same time, much of Almodóvar's film revolves around a performance of the Tennessee Williams play, "A Streetcar Named Desire," which director Elia Kazan filmed in 1951 with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh.

Both movies are terrific! If you'd like to have a look, we have both of them at JFK Library, available for 1-week checkout:

• "All About Eve" (VHS) PN1997 .A46 1997
• If you prefer the DVD, "Request" the title from the Summit Catalog. These items usually come within 2-3 work days.
• There's also a wonderful behind-the-scenes book called, All About "All About Eve" by Sam Staggs, which I believe includes the original screenplay. This is also available through Summit.
  

• "A Streetcar Named Desire" (DVD) PS3545 .I5365 S82 2006
  
• We also have the text of the original Tenessee Williams play at: PS3545 .I5365 S82004

Happy viewing!