The drama The Three Faces of Eve is directed by Nunnally Johnson and stars Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, and Lee J. Cobb. The film is a true story and takes place between 1951 and 1953 in a small town not too far from New York City.
Eve White (Woodward) is a woman who suffers from severe headaches and spells of amnesia. She thinks it is only spells that she goes through so goes to a doctor, Dr. Curtis Luther (Cobb), to see if he can do anything to help her overcome her illness. After some time Dr. Luther comes to the conclusion that Eve has multiple personality disorder when he met with Eve's other personality, Eve Black. While Eve White is a very quiet, somewhat depressed woman Eve Black is the exact opposite, a woman who is very loose and does anything for a thrill. Eve's husband (Wayne) does not believe that Eve has an illness and blames her for everything that Eve Black has done. He's really mad at her before he even knows that there is a third face of Eve.
The screenplay by Nunnally Johnson is very entertaining, and for the time very daring and unconventional. Sadly by today's standards it is nothing new and somewhat a cliché since multiple personality is an overly used illness. I really enjoyed this film the whole way through thinking as if I saw this for the first time in theatres and not seeing all the multiple personality films and television programs of today. It was very intense and I had no idea how it was going to end at all. The three characters that Joanne Woodward played were all interesting and kept me wondering. Unfortunately, the end of the film did not satisfy because it did not match the rest of the film in its mood. Johnson had a very successful career as a writer and this film is definitely one that will be remembered that she wrote.
Nunnally Johnson's direction for this film was also good, except the ending still bothers me and brought the film down a point. He had some very powerful shots during this film, the first one that comes to mind was when Eve's husband pulled Eve off their child as she was trying to strangle the child. When I saw that I was thought I didn't know they could do that in the 1950s. There were many great shots throughout the film many of them were for when Eve changed into a different personality. Of course Johnson has to be complimented for his great job getting wonderful performances from his actors.
Joanne Woodward delivered one of the greatest performances of all time in this film. For all of those people who play a person with multiple personality I suggest you take a lesson from Woodward on how to do it. She won the Oscar for Best Actress and she deserved it more than most of the women who won it. The way she transformed into each of the separate personalities was amazing. She had a different voice, different facial expressions, different body movements, it was like she was actually different people. It was like watching a person switch characters without stopping the shot, well actually it was that. Magnificent. Now David Wayne played her husband and he did a fine job, I thought it would have been better if he acted more tough instead of like a coward pretending to be tough. I though Lee J. Cobb did a very good job as the doctor, he could have done nothing really to improve on his well done performance.
The score for this film was very well done. It added suspense when it was proper and kept me on the edge of my seat. When it was sad the music was appropriate and got me more engaged in the film and especially Woodward's performance. Like a good score should it adds another layer to the film that allows the viewer to get more entwined with the plot.
Overall I give this film a 7/10 due to the outstanding performance by Joanne Woodward and also the edginess for the film at the time. It would have been an 8/10 if it had a more satisfying conclusion. If you watch this film today thinking it was made today you will be disappointed by the writing though because of how overused multiple personality disorder is. See this film to see the wonderful performance and also if you like dramas that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Eve White (Woodward) is a woman who suffers from severe headaches and spells of amnesia. She thinks it is only spells that she goes through so goes to a doctor, Dr. Curtis Luther (Cobb), to see if he can do anything to help her overcome her illness. After some time Dr. Luther comes to the conclusion that Eve has multiple personality disorder when he met with Eve's other personality, Eve Black. While Eve White is a very quiet, somewhat depressed woman Eve Black is the exact opposite, a woman who is very loose and does anything for a thrill. Eve's husband (Wayne) does not believe that Eve has an illness and blames her for everything that Eve Black has done. He's really mad at her before he even knows that there is a third face of Eve.
The screenplay by Nunnally Johnson is very entertaining, and for the time very daring and unconventional. Sadly by today's standards it is nothing new and somewhat a cliché since multiple personality is an overly used illness. I really enjoyed this film the whole way through thinking as if I saw this for the first time in theatres and not seeing all the multiple personality films and television programs of today. It was very intense and I had no idea how it was going to end at all. The three characters that Joanne Woodward played were all interesting and kept me wondering. Unfortunately, the end of the film did not satisfy because it did not match the rest of the film in its mood. Johnson had a very successful career as a writer and this film is definitely one that will be remembered that she wrote.
Nunnally Johnson's direction for this film was also good, except the ending still bothers me and brought the film down a point. He had some very powerful shots during this film, the first one that comes to mind was when Eve's husband pulled Eve off their child as she was trying to strangle the child. When I saw that I was thought I didn't know they could do that in the 1950s. There were many great shots throughout the film many of them were for when Eve changed into a different personality. Of course Johnson has to be complimented for his great job getting wonderful performances from his actors.
Joanne Woodward delivered one of the greatest performances of all time in this film. For all of those people who play a person with multiple personality I suggest you take a lesson from Woodward on how to do it. She won the Oscar for Best Actress and she deserved it more than most of the women who won it. The way she transformed into each of the separate personalities was amazing. She had a different voice, different facial expressions, different body movements, it was like she was actually different people. It was like watching a person switch characters without stopping the shot, well actually it was that. Magnificent. Now David Wayne played her husband and he did a fine job, I thought it would have been better if he acted more tough instead of like a coward pretending to be tough. I though Lee J. Cobb did a very good job as the doctor, he could have done nothing really to improve on his well done performance.
The score for this film was very well done. It added suspense when it was proper and kept me on the edge of my seat. When it was sad the music was appropriate and got me more engaged in the film and especially Woodward's performance. Like a good score should it adds another layer to the film that allows the viewer to get more entwined with the plot.
Overall I give this film a 7/10 due to the outstanding performance by Joanne Woodward and also the edginess for the film at the time. It would have been an 8/10 if it had a more satisfying conclusion. If you watch this film today thinking it was made today you will be disappointed by the writing though because of how overused multiple personality disorder is. See this film to see the wonderful performance and also if you like dramas that will keep you on the edge of your seat.