All About Eve a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has been selected by the American Film Institute for many of their 100 Years lists. When AFI named Bette Davis #2 on its list of the greatest female American screen legends, "All About Eve" was the film selected to highlight Davis' legendary career. The Writers Guild of America has ranked the film's screenplay as the fifth greatest ever written. The film opens with the image of a fictitious award trophy, described by DeWitt as the "highest honor our theater knows: the Sarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement." The statuette is modelled after
All About Eve award presentation. The film earned $2.9 million in box office receipts in the United States during its release. "All About Eve" received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics upon its release on October 13, 1950 at a New York City premiere. The film's competitor, "Sunset Boulevard," released the same year, drew similar praise, and the two were often favorably compared. Film critic Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" loved the film, stating that "a fine Darryl Zanuck production, excellent music and an air of ultra-class complete this superior satire." "Variety" called it "a literate, adult film" with "exceedingly well-cast performances,"