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This is by far the best performance (among so many) ever given by Betty Davis as Margo Channing, an actress who fears she is aging and nearing the end of her tenure as a theatre icon, in a film that is also filled with wonderful performances by Anne Bancroft as the scheming Eve Harrington who worms her way into Margo's good graces and then tries to take over Margo's life, both professionally and personally, the latter by trying to seduce Margo's fiancé, played nicely by Gary Merrill. Additional fine performances are given by Celeste Holm, as Margo's best friend and the wife of the director (Hugh Marlowe) who directs just about all of Margo's plays, and George Sanders who plays Addison DeWitt an acerbic theatre critic who's onto Eve's machinations but supports her nonetheless. A small part, her first, was performed by Marilyn Monroe as Miss Caswell, a young actress trying to break into show business with the help of Addison DeWitt. The film has everything: great acting, humor, a wonderful story line and certain lines that have become quoted over and over again, like "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night." All About Eve was given more nominations that any film in the history of motion pictures (13), until Titanic, which I believe garnered 14. It's a powerful film with fabulous dialog and acting.

The first time I went to see Young Frankenstein I wasn't expecting much. Maybe that was part of the reason I was so pleasantly surprised. The cast of characters was fantastic. Who could beat Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, etc. as an ensemble. Hardly a moment went by when I didn't laugh out loud, or should I say scream with laughter. The scenes got funnier and funnier as the movie progressed. Gene Wilder's expressions were worth the price of admission alone and his interaction with Madeline Kahn was priceless. The scenes which were comedically based on the original ones from the Frankenstein series of movies were the best, my favorite being the one with the monster going to visit the blind man in the woods (cameo by Gene Hackman) and the other with the wonderful Madeline Kahn singing "Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life." The entire audience was rolling.

Of course, Kenneth Mars and Terri Garr also did great jobs, adding to the film immensely. I had to go back the next week and see it again with another friend who I knew shared my crazy sense of humor. She sat there laughing so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks and she kept saying "I can't believe this" over and over. To this day, my friends and I quote lines from this film which has become a cult classic. I know every line in the film and when a group of friends and I get together every so often to view it, we all start laughing before the funny parts even happen because we know what's coming.

In my estimation there never was nor will there ever be a film anywhere near as funny as Young Frankenstein. It's in a class by itself, even compared to other Mel Brooks films. If you haven't seen it, you have to rent it today.

The film was dark, dirty, violent and, except for the performances of Daniel Day-Lewis and John C. Reilly, everyone else bored me to death. I didn't care about any of the characters in the movie. The film went on interminably showing one extreme brutality after another throughout the film. There was very little of anything else. I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was miscast and looked like a child in a man's clothing in the role of Amsterdam Vallon, a leader of a New York Irish gang in the 1800s, and Cameron Diaz was also miscast. I hated the brutality and the whole appearance of this film and found no redeeming qualities in it whatsoever. Next to American Beauty and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (tied for the worst film ever made) this stands next in line for the crown.