Eve And Everybody’s Film Review

Dates

1921 - 1933

Category

Cinemagazine - Entertainment

History

Eve and Everybody’s Film Review was launched in June 1921 as Pathe’s cinemagazine aimed at the female audience, a compliment to their already successful, Pathe Pictorial. The series began with a title competition, asking members of the public to suggest a better name for the magazine. However, it seems as though none was forthcoming, as the title remained, often shortened to Eve’s Film Review, throughout the cinemagazine’s twelve year run. Eve’s Film Review was produced by Pathe’s Periodicals Department, under the direction of Fred Watts, who described the series in a promotional essay, "Just ‘Pic and Eve" in 1928, as ‘a most comprehensive and attractive "light" periodical.' It was mostly put together from library footage, the occasional specially shot story (using manpower from the Pathe Gazette camera team), and bought in series, for example, Living Masterpieces (March 1922 - March 1924) and Sportlights (April 1925 - May 1926).

Eve’s Film Review’s main content, in keeping with its ‘fashion, fun and fancy’ slogan was film of women doing interesting and novel jobs and hobbies, fashion displays and novelty items ranging from excerpts of musicals and plays to slow-motion camera studies of nature. The mixture was lively and varied, reflecting art, home, fashion, stage, recreation and cartoons. Cartoons featured prominently in the series. Eve’s Film Review was the first context in which British audiences saw Felix the Cat, whose cartoons were shown in Eve from June 1922 until January 1926 (when Ideal began to distribute ‘whole’ Felix cartoons as a separate entity), and became extremely popular. Many promotional Felix the Cat souvenir items remain from this association, from wool winders to china figurines, all bearing the legend ‘Pathe’s Eve’s Film Review.' After Felix, Eve’s Film Review continued to finish each reel with a cartoon, running Krazy Kat (January 1926 - May 1927), and Sammy and Sausage (May 1928 - April 1929). Combined with the other content of the reel, Eve’s Film Review provided everything a 1920s woman could desire for cinematic entertainment.

Indeed, the longevity of this cinemagazine does suggest that it was a popular exhibition choice. The Bioscope celebrated Eve’s Film Review’s tenth year in 1931, saying that the series ‘has been one of the most appreciated of all the screen topicals, and during the ten years it has thrived, it has been noteworthy for the bright and interesting nature of its contents’ (20 May 1931, p.32). Evidence from the surviving correspondence between Pathe and the public suggests that alongside the critics and the women for whom the series was intended, Eve’s Film Review also had an appreciative male audience, perhaps because of the frequent shots of women wearing very little, but also because of the variety of subjects covered, and the amusing, often ironic, intertitles composed by Watts.

Eve’s Film Review was one of the longest running cinemagazines of the 1920s, ending in December 1933. Its demise can be attributed mainly to Pathe’s business strategy rather than any failure of the series itself. Eve did not make the transition to sound and the content was incorporated into Pathe Pictorial.

Full history

http://media.bufvc.ac.uk/newsonscreen2/newsreel/histories/Eve_history.doc

Provenance

This database is an attempt to reconstruct the output of Eve’s Film Review from details published in contemporary trade journals, particularly the Kinematograph Weekly and The Bioscope. Several issue records were also compiled from surviving Pathe paperwork, held at the BUFVC, and viewing notes.

Other Information

Note: Pathe took its name from the company’s French founder, Charles Pathé. The acute accent was used occasionally in the various newsreels and cinemagazines that the company issued in Britain, but it was most commonly not used at all, and for consistency’s sake the accent has not been used on News on Screen.
Further information about Eve’s Film Review can be found in the talk given by Emily Fuller at the British Silent Cinema Festival, Nottingham (2005) entitled ‘La Belle France Steps In: International Co-operation and European Presence in Pathe Cinemagazines’, which can be found on the Talks page.

Films in this series can be obtained from:

Film Archive

Name

British Film Institute (BFI)

Email

For BFI National Archive enquiries: nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk For commercial/footage reuse enquiries: footage.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7580 7503

Address

21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN

Notes

The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).

Series held

View all series held by British Film Institute (BFI)

Name

British Pathe Ltd

Email

info@britishpathe.com

Web

https://www.britishpathe.com/

Phone

0207 665 8340

Address

3.29 Canterbury Court
1-3 Brixton Road
London
SW9 6DE

Notes

Pathe now also handles the Reuters Historical Collection, which includes the British Paramount, Empire British, Gaumont Graphic and Gaumont British newsreels.

Series held

View all series held by British Pathe Ltd