The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

A doctor treats a woman suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.

Director:

Nunnally Johnson

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay), Corbett Thigpen (book) (as Corbett H. Thigpen M.D.)

Stars:

Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, Lee J. Cobb

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joanne Woodward	...	Eve White / Eve Black / Jane
David Wayne	...	Ralph White
Lee J. Cobb	...	Doctor Curtis Luther
Edwin Jerome	...	Doctor Francis Day
Alena Murray	...	Secretary
Nancy Kulp	...	Mrs. Black
Douglas Spencer	...	Mr. Black
Terry Ann Ross	...	Bonnie White
Ken Scott	...	Earl
Mimi Gibson	...	Eve - Age 8
Alistair Cooke	...	Narrator

Storyline

Eve White is a quiet, mousy, unassuming wife and mother who keeps suffering from headaches and occasional black outs. Eventually she is sent to see psychiatrist Dr. Luther, and, while under hypnosis, a whole new personality emerges: the racy, wild, fun-loving Eve Black. Under continued therapy, yet a third personality appears, the relatively stable Jane. This film, based on the true-life case of a multiple personality, chronicles Dr. Luther's attempts to reconcile the three faces of Eve. multiple personalities.

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Plot Keywords:

multiple personality | psychiatrist | multiple personality disorder | dissociative identity disorder | younger version of character | 

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Taglines:

Every Adult Must See It!

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a TV interview, June Allyson said that she was offered the role of Eve but her husband, Dick Powell, talked her out of it saying she would be miscast.

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Goofs

(at around 33 mins) When Eve Black is in the hospital sitting on the bed talking with the Dr. and he mentions introducing E. Black to E. White, E. Black is holding a cigarette in her left hand. She "wakes up" as E. White and covers herself, but has lost the cigarette.

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Quotes

Eve Black: She know all about what I do?
Dr. Luther: mm-hmm
[nods]
Eve Black: She tell you?
Dr. Luther: When I ask her.
Eve Black: Like about that sergeant?
Dr. Luther: Yes, she told me about that.
Eve Black: There! You see, that's what I mean having somebody runnin' all the time tellin' on you.
Dr. Luther: You tell me about Mrs. White, don't you?
Eve Black: Yeah, but she don't do anything.

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Crazy Credits

introducing Alistair Cooke distinguished journalist and commentator

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Connections

Referenced in Last Man Standing: Voting (2012)

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Soundtracks

Hold Me
(uncredited)
Written by Jack Little (as Little Jack Little), Dave Oppenheim and Ira Schuster
Performed by Joanne Woodward

User Reviews

Three People Inside Your Skin

For dramatic effect movies about mental illness always have the psychiatrist coming up with a miracle cure of the patient. You saw that in Spellbound with Gregory Peck and in The Snake Pit with Olivia DeHavilland. It's not that easy, but it does make for good cinema. To give credit where it is do, The Three Faces of Eve is about a real case of multiple personality disorder and Alistair Cooke's narration does give it a proper time frame, the cure is a matter of years here.

In only her third feature film Joanne Woodward became the Best Actress for 1957, ironically beating out Elizabeth Taylor who was descending into madness in Raintree County instead of being cured. I read somewhere that the Southern born Ms. Woodward remarked ironically that it took years of training for her to lose her southern accent and then she has to find it all over again to win her Oscar. I guess the Academy voters that year were as impressed as I was how she was able to flip into three different characters in many scenes. She's drab homemaker Eve White, a Tennessee Williams sexpot as Eve Black, and as Jane who's trying to leave both behind.

As good as Woodward is, my favorite scene in The Three Faces of Eve is when psychiatrist Lee J. Cobb tries to explain to Woodward's working class husband David Wayne about multiple personality disorder. The patient looks on Cobb's face and the blank expression on Wayne's face say more than ten pages of dialog. Another performance to look for is that of future TV physician Ben Casey, Vincent Edwards as a soldier trying to pick up Woodward in her sex kitten self.

Nunnally Johnson gets some real good performances out of his cast and a once in a lifetime role for Joanne Woodward.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 September 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Three Faces of Eve

Filming Locations:

Stage 8, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$965,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1