Although he received screen credit, actor Eddie Fisher's scene was cut before the film's release.
As a special surprise, when Bette Davis was awarded the Sarah Siddons Award, the organizers secretly asked Anne Baxter to attend her presentation. Davis was not at all thrilled about having to share her spotlight with another actress.
Co-star Celeste Holm spoke about her experience with Bette Davis on the first day of shooting: "I walked onto the set . . . on the first day and said, 'Good morning,' and do you know her reply? She said, 'Oh shit, good manners.' I never spoke to her again - ever."
Contrary to popular belief, Margo Channing is not based on Tallulah Bankhead. The film was adapted from an original story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr (uncredited in this film), based on a real-life incident involving Austrian actress Elisabeth Bergner during her run in the hit stage thriller "The Two Mrs. Carrolls" in 1943-44. The story about it being based on Bankhead persisted, however, and when Bankhead heard it, she reportedly told a live radio audience that the next time she saw Bette Davis, she would "tear every hair out of her mustache".
For the film's Hollywood premiere at the Grauman's Chinese Theater, the neighboring Hotel Roosevelt blanked out most of its neon letters to simply spell out EVE.
Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck's casting notes revealed he had wanted John Garfield for Bill Sampson and Barbara Stanwyck for Margo Channing. Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe and Thelma Ritter were the first choices for their roles.
Holds the record for the film with the greatest number of female acting Oscar nominations.
In 1970 the story was adapted into a Broadway musical called "Applause" and in 1973 a made-for-TV movie (Applause). Lauren Bacall played Margo Channing. When Bacall left the show, the actress who took over the role was Anne Baxter, who had played the role of Eve in the film.
In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #28 Greatest Movie of All Time.
In an introduction to the film on Turner Classic Movies in November 2008, Robert Osborne said that everyone assumed that Bette Davis had based her characterization on Tallulah Bankhead, even Tallulah herself. In 1952, Tallulah Bankhead starred in a radio adaptation of "All About Eve" which featured in the supporting cast Mary Orr, author of the original story "The Wisdom of Eve". According to Robert Osborne, during a rehearsal Tallulah asked Mary Orr: "I was the prototype for Margo Channing, wasn't I?" and Orr set the record straight and said "no". Tallulah reportedly never spoke to Mary Orr again.
In real life, Bette Davis had just turned 42 as she undertook the role of Margo Channing, and Anne Baxter, still an up-and-comer, not only wowed audiences with her performance, but successfully pressured the powers that be to get her nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actress category rather than Best Supporting Actress. This is thought to have split the vote between herself and Davis. The winner for the 1950 Best Actress was Judy Holliday for her noticeable turn in Born Yesterday, so Baxter's actions in effect blocked Davis' chances for the win.
In the Italian post-synchronized version, the actors are dubbed by: Lidia Simoneschi (Bette Davis); Dhia Cristiani (Anne Baxter); Emilio Cigoli (George Sanders); Rosetta Calavetta (Celeste Holm); Gualtiero De Angelis (Gary Merrill); Adolfo Geri (Hugh Marlowe); Maria Saccenti (Thelma Ritter); Zoe Incrocci (Marilyn Monroe); Mario Besesti (Gregory Ratoff); Miranda Bonansea (Barbara Bates) and Amilcare Pettinelli (Walter Hampden).
In the theatre scene, Bette Davis mentions playwright Arthur Miller. Marilyn Monroe, who had one of her first roles in this film, later married Miller.
It was Darryl F. Zanuck who decided to change the working title "Best Performance" to "All About Eve" after reading one of Addison DeWitt's lines in the opening narration of the script.
Karen is the only character in the film who doesn't smoke.
Margo Channing's famous cocktail dress was an Edith Head creation. To Head's horror, just as they were about to go film the cocktail party, she found that the dress didn't quite fit Bette Davis in the shoulders. There was no time to fix the dress but fortunately Davis hit on the bright idea of simply slipping the dress off her shoulders.
One of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's descriptions that gave Bette Davis a huge handle on her character was that Margo treated "a mink coat like it was a poncho".
Ranks first in the Most Academy Award Nominated Films with 14 nominations, set a record which has been tied only by the No.2 Titanic.
The "Sarah Siddons Award" which Eve receives was invented by writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. In 1952 a small group of eminent Chicago theater-goers, including Mrs. Loyal Davis, mother of future First Lady Nancy Davis, began to give an award of that name which is also physically modeled on the one in the film. The 1967-1968 Actor of the Year award recipient was Celeste Holm. In 1973, during the Sarah Siddons Society Anniversary Gala, an honorary Sarah Siddons award was presented to Bette Davis, even though she never appeared in a play in Chicago. Around 1960 Davis did appear in the Tennessee Williams play "The Night of the Iguana" at the Blackstone in Chicago.
The character played by Marilyn Monroe is called Miss Casswell; Caswell was the middle name of Mary Orr, the uncredited author of the short story the movie was based on.