The Three Faces of Eve

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Steve Y @Cubby65 Oct 8, 2026 Joanne Woodward delives one of the greatest performances by an actress that I ve ever seen, with her portrayal(s) of three discrete characters - played with superb nuances, when a lesser actress might have overplayed the personalities lapsing into melodrama. See more Dec 2, 2020 Interesting true story and Joanne Woodward definitely carries this movie that otherwise wouldn't have made it. See more steve d @RT35616104 Jul 20, 2020 Woodward gives a masterclass. See more Oct 6, 2019 I think that acting in three personalities is extremely challenging and Joanne Woodward does an excellent job of playing Eve White, Eve Black, and Jayne. It's no surprise that she won a best actress award for this movie. See more Jul 17, 2019 Films purporting to be serious dramas informing the public about rare medical diseases that were essentially exploitation thrillers were commonplace in the 1950s and this movie falls prey to some of the worst conventions of the genre. The film is best known for winning the Best Actress Academy Award for Joanne Woodward and while I think that her performance is the best thing about the film I would say that Lana Turner gives a better performance in Peyton Place (1957) and would have been more deserving of the award. I wouldn't recommend that anyone see this film because it has aged terribly and isn't even entertaining in a cheesy way by today's standards. Demure housewife Eve White, Joanne Woodward, begins experience psychological breaks after having headaches impairing her ability to take care of her husband and children. Her cruel husband Ralph, David Wayne, takes her to a psychiatrist, Dr. Curtis Luther, Lee J. Cobb, who diagnoses her with multiple personality disorder as she is both Eve White, the wild and promiscuous Eve Black and the mentally well adjusted Jane. Jane develops after Eve White and Ralph break up but all three personalities fight for dominance over one another. We eventually find out about the tragic circumstances that led to this situation but by this point we are aware that Eve will be OK as Jane takes control and moves on with her life. None of the characters in the film seemed remotely believable from our zany main character to her thinly written semi-abusive husband and this was a major hindrance to my investing in the film. I wanted to feel sympathy for Eve White as she is crowded out by the stronger personalities both internal and external that surround her all day. I couldn't muster up any real emotion however because Eve White was such a false character, the perfect 1950s housewife, that you couldn't see the situation she was in as tragic but as an almost comical one. The sexy and alluring Eve Black feels like a male fantasy with just a touch of Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction (1987) while we spend so little time with the angelic Jane that we have no sense of who she really is at the end of the film. At least in Primal Fear (1996) you get a sense of what both sides of the villain's character are and you can appreciate how they change between them. Woodward is clearly trying to bring some oomph to this film as she uses all of the twitches and quick shifts in facial expressions that she can in order to make the character entertaining while pretending that she is Margot Kidder in Sisters (1972). When she is on screen she does bring some presence to the goings on and when she becomes Eve Black she gives an impressive physical performance as we see relatively subtle shifts in how she interacts with the men around her and see an almost feral facial expression cross her face. I appreciate the fact that she was nominated for Best Actress and her later work in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973) and Rachel, Rachel (1968) is brilliant but here I think she is overshadowed by a better performance. I would not call Turner a great actress but I think she gives very enjoyable performance in Peyton Place (1957) that really lifts up the film and stands out as a great melodramatic role. In terms of films about people with mental illnesses I would say that I was far more impressed with Sophie's Choice (1982), Lilith (1964) and David and Lisa (1962). Kevin Kline, Jean Seberg and Janet Margolin all give more nuanced performances than Woodward does in this film all the while being served by screenplays that feature fleshed out characters and fascinating stories. Obviously a film made in 1957 that focuses on a subject this touchy is probably not going to age well but I at least wanted some campy entertainment value if the film was going to be ridiculous. This film's Academy Award wins are not a reason to go see it because it's a very dull affair without telling you anything of substance and it does not earn the acclaim it received. See more Dec 2, 2018 A rather exaggerated and non-serious attempt to portray a unique mental disorder, which however maintains the interest of the viewer throughout the whole film. As entertaining as it may be, especially for a '50s audience, The Three Faces of Eve offers nothing more than a linear plot whith a not so realistic turn of events. Nevertheles, it remains a classic and a particularly pleasant watch. See more Read all reviews

The Three Faces of Eve

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