Sybil (1976) (TV)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Daniel Petrie

Writers:

Flora Rheta Schreiber (book)
Stewart Stern (teleplay)

Release Date:

14 November 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The true story of a young woman named Sybil, whose childhood was so harrowing to her that she developed at least 13 different personalities. |

Plot Keywords:

Multiple Personality | One Word Title | Psychiatrist | Mental Illness | Mental Illness Explored

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Joanne Woodward	...	Dr. Cornelia Wilbur
Sally Field	...	Sybil Dorsett
Brad Davis	...	Richard J. Loomis
Martine Bartlett	...	Hattie
Jane Hoffman	...	Frieda Dorsett
Charles Lane	...	Dr. Quinoness
Jessamine Milner	...	Grandma Dorsett
William Prince	...	Willard Dorsett
Penelope Allen	...	Miss Penny
Camila Ashland	...	Cam
Tommy Crebbs	...	Matthew Loomis
Gina Petrushka	...	Dr. Lazarus
Harold Pruett	...	Danny
Natasha Ryan	...	Child Sybil
Paul Tulley	...	Dr. Castle

Runtime:

USA:198 min (original television version) | Finland:133 min (theatrical version) | USA:187 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:18 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Lorimar Productions

Trivia:

Joanne Woodward, who plays the Doctor, starred in another famous film about multiple personalities, The Three Faces of Eve (1957) where she starred as the titular Eve. However, unlike Sybil, she had only a trio of personalities.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene where Sybil first goes to see Dr. Wilbur and explains what happened in the water, we hear her say "... and I was in the water." But her mouth says something different.

Quotes:

Dr. Cornelia Wilbur: [Hugging Sybil] Once a long time ago when I was a little girl in Montana, I was laying in the grass looking at the ants. And the sun was warm on my back and the grass was deep and soft and the insects were buzzing... everything was drowsy. Then all of a sudden, I saw this one ant who was struggling to pick up this grain of sand that was far too heavy to carry alone...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Phantom Brother (1988)

Split personality as a metaphor for what we must all do to survive intense pain

This movie isn't actually about the actual case or even the best selling novel. It is a metaphor for childhood and the plight of children (and other human beings). Stunning performance by Sally Fields, quite likely her best (though certainly not her only stunning performance. She is a vastly underrated actress.) Some very fine writing and many memorable lines. I saw this movie over twenty years ago and I will never get it out of my mind, "what that monster did to her in the green kitchen." Joanne Woodward is as fine as silk, as she always is. I could watch her just breathe in and out for the foreseeable future, and she does it wonderfully here, and makes great acting look just that easy. Like the Godfather, this movie completely transcends all the source material it is based on, a serious kind of "mockumentary" revealing rather than mocking the human condition.