THE THREE FACES OF EVE [1957] [Blu-ray + DVD] [1957 / 2018] [UK Release] A Moment Ago She Was the Nicest Girl in Town . . . Now She Will Be Anybody’s Pick Up!
Based on the Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. novel of the same name, The 3 Faces of Eve follows the fascinating story of a deeply troubled young Southern housewife. Suffering from headaches, emotional upset, and forgetfulness, and inexplicable blackouts, timid housewife Eve White [Joanne Woodward] begins seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Curtis B. Luther [Lee J. Cobb] who is stunned when Eve White transforms before his eyes into the lascivious Eve Black, and diagnoses her as having “multiple personalities” disorder. It's not long before a third, calling herself Jane, also appears. Through hypnosis and continued therapy, Dr. Curtis B. Luther struggles to help “Eve” recall the trauma that caused her identity to fracture. But curing Eve White will require a deep probe into an abusive past and support from her less-than-supportive husband. With narration by the inimitable Alistair Cooke, ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ is an intriguing drama at its classic best.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1957 National Board of Review, USA: Win: NBR Award: ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ Best Actress for Joanne Woodward and was shared with ‘No Down Payment.’ 1958 Academy Awards, USA: Win: ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ Best Actress in a Leading Role for Joanne Woodward. 1958 BAFTA Awards, UK: Nominations: ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ BAFTA Film Award for Best Foreign Actress for Joanne Woodward. 1958 Golden Globes, USA: Win: Golden Globe Award: ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ Best Actress in a Drama for Joanne Woodward.
FILM FACT No.2: The book The 3 Faces of Eve by Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. was rushed into publication, and the film rights were immediately sold to director/screenwriter Nunnally Johnson in 1957, apparently to capitalize on the public interest in “multiple personalities” disorder following the publication of Shirley Jackson's 1954 novel The Bird's Nest, which was also made into a film in 1957 titled ‘Lizzie.’ Joanne Woodward won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making her the first actress to win an Oscar for portraying three personalities, Eve White, Eve Black and Jane. ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ also became the first film since 1936 — when Bette Davis won for ‘Dangerous’ [1935] — to win the Best Actress award without getting nominated in any other category. Christine Costner Sizemore has written at some length about her experiences as the real “Eve.” In Christine Costner Sizemore’s 1958 book “The Final Face of Eve,” Christine Costner Sizemore used the pseudonym Evelyn Lancaster. In Christine Costner Sizemore’s 1977 book “I'm Eve” she revealed her true identity. Chris Costner Sizemore also wrote a follow-up 1989 book “A Mind of My Own.”
Cast: Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, Lee J. Cobb, Edwin Jerome, Alena Murray, Nancy Kulp, Douglas Spencer, Terry Ann Ross, Ken Scott, Mimi Gibson, Alistair Cooke (Narrator), Vince Edwards (uncredited), Mary Field (uncredited), Richard Garrick (uncredited), Helene Hatch (uncredited), Jimmie Horan (uncredited), Catherine Howard (uncredited), Jason Johnson (uncredited), Dick Johnstone (uncredited), Frank Marlowe (uncredited), Wanda Perry (uncredited), Joe Rudan (uncredited), Gary Spencer (uncredited), Al Thompson (uncredited) and Rush Williams (uncredited)
Director: Nunnally Johnson
Producer: Nunnally Johnson
Screenplay: Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. (book), Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. (book) and Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)
Composer: Robert Emmett Dolan
Make-up and Hair Department: Ben Nye, S.M.A. (Make-up Artist), Hal Lierley (Make-up Artist) (uncredited), Helen Turpin, C.H.S. (Hair stylist) and Ruby Felker (Hair stylist) (uncredited)
Costume Design: Renié
Cinematography: Stanley Cortez, A.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Special Photographic Effects: L.B. Abbott, A.S.C.
Image Resolution: Blu-ray: 1080p (Black and White) + DVD: 1080i (Black and White)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (CinemaScope)
Audio: Blu-ray + DVD: English: 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: Blu-ray: 91 minutes + DVD: 87 minutes
Region: Blu-ray: Region B/2 + DVD: PAL
Number of discs: 2
Studio: 20th Century Fox / Signal One Entertainment
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: A truly great performance can go a long way towards elevating any film, and in the case of Joanne Woodward's Academy Award® winning turn in ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ [1957], where we actually get three performances for the price of one. A perfect example of "truth is stranger than fiction," the film takes its cue from a real life instance of multiple personality disorder, chronicling the lofty struggles that come as a result of fractured psyches and lingering childhood trauma. The filmmaking itself doesn't offer too much to get excited about, but the lead actress is mesmerizing to watch, and acclaimed Hollywood screenplay writer Nunnally Johnson does a solid job in the director's chair. It might not quite earn classic status, but all three of Joanne Woodward's distinct personalities easily stand the test of time.
Producer, director and screenwriter Nunnally Johnson had come across Dr. Corbett Thigpen M.D. and Dr. Hervey Cleckley M.D. account of the case of South Carolina wife and mother Chris Costner Sizemore while it was still in galleys under the title A Case of Multiple Personality. With the recent success of Shirley Jackson's novel on split personality, “The Bird's Nest,” and news that Kirk Douglas was producing a film version for M-G-M under the title ‘Lizzie,’ and Nunnally Johnson got 20th Century Fox to snap up the film rights and even met with the doctors and their publisher to discuss giving the book a more commercial title. In fact, it was Nunnally Johnson who came up with ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE.’
Based on an actual case study written by psychiatrists Dr. Corbett Thigpen M.D. and Dr. Hervey Cleckley M.D., the story follows a timid woman, Eve White [Joanne Woodward], who is suffering from memory loss and apparent mood swings. Through the help of Dr. Curtis B. Luther [Lee J. Cobb], “Eve” discovers that her recurring blackouts and inexplicable behaviour are actually the result of a rare case of multiple personality disorder. As her wild and flirtatious second persona, Eve Black takes control, Eve White's marriage begins to fall apart and Eve White becomes unfit to take care of her daughter. Determined to sustain some semblance of normalcy, the poor fragmented woman and her physiatrist work hard to handle her unpredictable life, but when a third personality suddenly emerges, any chance at a manageable existence is put into jeopardy.
From the moment we fade in, the filmmakers go out of their way to make sure that the audience is aware of the script's true life inspirations. A formal intro from the film's narrator Alistair Cooke goes over the general history of the case and sets the stage for the strange yet mostly factual story to follow. Alistair Cooke continues to offer voice over narration intermittently, helping to clue us in on time shifts and advances in Eve's unfortunate predicament. To this end, the majority of the runtime focuses on therapy sessions between the increasingly tragic patient and her doctor, but there are also a few traditional dramatic beats added here and there to liven things up, including a subplot dealing with Eve's dissolving marriage and the potential romantic exploits of her two other personalities.
Though the core of the narrative is certainly interesting in its own right, especially Joanne Woodward's performance or should I say performances that really make the picture. As the sweet but submissive Eve White, the actress exudes fragile desperation and dreary vulnerability. All she wants is to be able to take care of her daughter, but her constant blackouts and unpredictable behaviour make it impossible. Shy, reserved, and quiet, she's a likeable character, but it becomes clear that she sadly lacks the strength to really take control. On the other hand, Eve Black is something else entirely. A southern belle seductress, she's everything Eve White isn't. Confident, playful, and sexy, the screen lights up whenever she's around, but her frivolous, selfish, and irresponsible behaviour makes her a poor match for motherhood.
Watching Joanne Woodward segue from personality to personality, almost at the drop of a hat, is simply mesmerising. Though each persona could be interpreted as different facets of the same woman, as Eve White and Eve Black, the actress really does become two distinct roles. Everything from her body language, to her facial expressions, to her voice, to the very look in her eyes, completely changes, and the speed at which the actress is able to transform herself is incredible. Once her third personality manifests, the performance is taken to even greater heights, and once again we are introduced to a new, yet not altogether unfamiliar woman. And while it might be easy for some of these competing psyches to come across as underdeveloped, each piece of Eve's conflicting mind really feels like a whole individual, complete with desires, fears, and motivations all their own. In fact, it's the disparities between all three women's differing goals that fuel most of the film's drama.
Though director Nunnally Johnson and his cinematographer maintain a very competent visual style that takes full advantage of the films CinemaScope frame with wide masters, long takes, and thoughtful lightning designs, the film's overall aesthetic isn't terribly interesting. Likewise, the script's relative faithfulness to the source material can leave the runtime feeling a bit dry and slow during certain stretches, with very standard dramatic detours used to try and spice things up. Eve's husband, played by David Wayne, also seems a little out of place, with the character's constant confusion and anger coming across as a tad over the top. An early, rather disturbing instance of off-screen violence ultimately rings falsely as well, since in retrospect it never really seems like any of Eve's personalities would be capable of such an act. Thankfully, these issues are fairly minor, and the narrative and visuals remain solid throughout. To the director's credit, there's even a particularly striking camera movement in the third act, that's made all the more powerful thanks to its deliberate break from Nunnally Johnson's otherwise subdued style.
‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ is a genuinely a totally remarkable showcase for the actress Joanne Woodward. In a trio of roles that all happen to share the same body, the actress gives a memorable and intricately nuanced series of performances. The true life story of one woman's fascinating bout with multiple personality disorder tackles weighty themes dealing with identity, control, and trauma, and while some of the narrative's focus can be a little too clinical, the film is a well-made piece of old fashioned Hollywood melodrama.
To help prepare the audience for the unusual story, Nunnally Johnson wrote an introduction and narration to be delivered by British journalist and television host Alistair Cooke, in his film debut. Nunnally Johnson had originally planned to have Chris Costner Sizemore interviewed from behind a screen in the film's prologue, but the woman's doctors decided she was not ready for the experience. They also counselled her not to attend the premiere of ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE.’ In later years, Chris Costner Sizemore would reveal that one reason for that decision was the fact that the original book had exaggerated the success of her treatment. “Eve” continued to manifest new personalities after her supposed cure, 22 in all, until the 1970’s. The real “Eve” did not see the film until 1974, and she found it moving if highly fictionalised. Chris Costner Sizemore would write the story from her own perspective in two books; I'm Eve [1977] and A Mind of My Own [1989].
All in all, ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ is a really great genuine film, and is a movie that is definitely a must-see for any classic movie lover. Joanne Woodward definitely deserved the Oscar for this film. It is so amazing how seemingly easy Joanne Woodward could change from one character to another in 2 seconds flat and make it so believable and if you haven’t seen this one yet do so ASAP!
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Blu-ray Image Quality – 20th Century Fox and Signal One Entertainment presents us the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ in a stunning Black and White 1080p encoded image transfer and has a 2.35:1 CinemaScope aspect ratio. It is totally sharp, authentic, and nicely preserved, this is a rather gorgeous awesome video presentation. The print is essentially in pristine condition with no real signs of age or damage. But being shot in CinemaScope was a requirement for most 20th Century Fox productions at the time, and by Stanley Cortez, A.S.C. (Director of Photography) no less and only two years removed from blowing all of our minds for all eternity with the film ‘The Night of the Hunter’ [1955]. But again we get a light layer of fine grain is present throughout the film, offering a very natural and filmic appearance. For the most part, clarity is exceptional, with sharp textures and patterns readily visible in the characters’ suits and dresses. The filmmakers use a lot of wide shots that fully utilise the CinemaScope aspect ratio frame, and every layer of the image is impeccably rendered with a pleasing dimension, revealing lots of detail in background objects. With that said, there are a few shots and usually right before a dissolve or scene transition that offer a comparatively soft appearance. The greyscale is perfectly balanced with bright but natural whites and deep, inky blacks that don't crush. Beautifully detailed with gorgeous cinematic texture, this is a fantastic video transfer. Though there is some occasional softness here and there, fans of classic black and white films should be very impressed with this authentic and nearly immaculate image. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – 20th Century Fox and Signal One Entertainment brings us the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ with a 1.0 LPCM Mono Audio experience and gives a basic but respectful audio mix which is free from any major issues. Dialogue remains clear and clean throughout. Effects work within the single channel of audio that is minimal but adequately conveyed. The movie's composed film score by Robert Emmett Dolan becomes integral to the mood of the film, with key cues that are tied to Eve's different personalities, and again thankfully this is a brilliant composed music score that comes through with pleasing fidelity and a very decent range. Though there are some very faint background hissing is apparent in a few scenes, but major age related issues like pops and crackle are nowhere to be found. The 1950’s mono audio sound experience design by 20th Century Fox has offered us an authentic and very clean audio presentation that preserves the filmmakers’ original intentions.
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THE THREE FACES OF EVE MUSIC TRACK LIST
HOLD ME (uncredited) (Written by Jack Little, Dave Oppenheim and Ira Schuster) [Performed by Joanne Woodward]
I NEVER KNEW (I Could Love Anybody Like I'm Loving You) (uncredited) (Written by Tom Pitts, Ray Egan and Roy K. Marsh) (Revised by Paul Whiteman) [Performed by Joanne Woodward]
Blu-ray + DVD Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ Audio Commentary by Aubrey Solomon [Audio only] [2013] [1080p] [2.35:1] [91:08] With this featurette, we get to hear this audio commentary with Film Historian Aubrey Solomon and as the film begins, Aubrey Solomon informs us that he has written extensively on the history of 20th Century Fox in his book The Films Of 20th Century Fox. Here Aubrey Solomon’s focus is understandably on the feature film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ at hand and the author proves he knows his stuff offering up loads of background information and trivia not only on the cast but on the director and producer as well and as the film starts, Aubrey Solomon informs us that the 1957 film all started out with the case history of a multiple personality that is now called dissociative identity disorder that was written by American psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. and was based on their book The 3 Faces of Eve on several years of treating of their patient “Eve” in 1954, documenting the psychiatric sessions of treating a very rare case of a young woman in Georgia, and how they came to view it as a case of multiple personality and such a diagnosis had fallen into relative disuse in psychiatry, but Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. felt they had identified a very rare case. The book was read in galley form by Nunnally Johnson who was very interested in the case and brought it to 20th Century Fox, which bought the rights, but when 20th Century Fox closed the deal, they not only suggested to the authors that they change the title to something more saleable, more appealing to the public and eventually they came up with the title of the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ and this was before the publication of the novel which came out in 1957 and the script had already been completed and by 10th August, 1956, it was 150 pages long and time out at just under 2 hours long in length. The biggest problem that Nunnally Johnson had in adapting the screenplay, by taking something fairly dry like a case history and turning it into a dramatic structure with characters, dialogue and dramatic sequences that will obviously interest a commercial audience, and it was not the purpose of doctors, therapists or patients, it was really purely for entertainment. Nunnally Johnson was fairly gifted screenwriter and had adapted many books over the years an took to the task and was able to hone and refine the material based on the case history, using some of the dialogue from the case history and coming up with a structured and basically a compact three act screenplay. When the script was written, Alistair Cooke had not yet been signed for the film as the narrator, so Nunnally Johnson described the person who would be the narrator as quote “the man of some distinction, who is yet to be engaged.” Edward R. Murrow (American broadcaster) was first approached in Jamuary 1957, but declined, but Alistair Cooke who was a host on “Omnibus” (American Broadcasting Companies) agreed to be the narrator in the movie in March 1957, but Alistair Cooke insisted on reading the script and making sure that the story was really true before he got involved in the project because in the area of mental illness and mental distress and felt it could be a bad career move to be involved with something that was not looked upon favourably. Alistair Cooke was introduced in the movie as the “distinguished journalist and commentator” and Alistair Cooke’s speech was rewritten after shooting his scene at the start of the film, which was not the same as written in the original script and was originally inserted as a voice over, and well throughout the movie, and again it was rewritten after shooting. Nunnally Johnson felt you needed to have Alistair Cooke or someone of Alistair Cooke’s calibre, to introduce the movie because it would give it the sort of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval that viewers would understand that this was a real story and with Alistair Cooke appears standing in front of the CinemaScope screen, because that was the screen that 20th Century Fox would only be allowed to be seen at that time in the movies. The biggest problem after the script was written, was casting and Nunnally Johnson was the writer, and he would be producing and directing as well, and he wanted such stars as Lana Turner, Olivia De Havilland, Doris Day, Jean Simmons and Jenifer Jones in particular, but said she would probably be terrifies to do the part as it would have been a very demanding role and it needed a special type of casting and at one point Nunnally Johnson had worked with Marilyn Monroe on ‘How To Marry A Millionaire’ which he produced, and had suggested Marilyn Monroe for the part, but Buddy Adler who was an American film producer and production head for 20th Century Fox studios in 1954 felt the actress was busy shooting ‘Bus Stop’ and did not want to distract the actress, because Nunnally Johnson felt that as well and felt she would not of read the screenplay and give an intelligent answer to the request for her in the starring role. So Nunnally Johnson finally decided Judy Garland would be perfect for the part, especially after her dramatic role in ‘The Star is Born’ in 1954, because she had proved her acting skill, also she was obviously a light comedian and a music star as well, but Nunnally Johnson felt Judy Garland would understand the part and so he sent her the script to her hotel in Las Vegas where she was performing at that time in 1956 and she read the script, but did not quite understand it, to her it seemed more like a domestic comedy than a dramatic piece and Nunnally Johnson decided to fly to Las Vegas and visit Judy Garland and brought with him some movie footage that had been filmed by Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. of the actual “Eve” in which she is actually going in and out of the multiple personalities, once Judy Garland saw the movie footage, she said, “You’ve got to swear that I play this part, we’ve got to cut our wrists and mingle out blood” and Nunnally Johnson says, “That’s what I’m up here for wrist cutting” and was always up for a joke, in any case, Judy Garland participation in the project obviously didn’t happen and especially because Judy Garland was too busy in Las Vegas, but Nunnally Johnson got a nice note from Judy Garland saying that she could not do it. So obviously Nunnally Johnson had to cast the part somehow and someone had mentioned to him in passing, to take a look at Joanne Woodward, who had done dozen of TV shows, but had only done two major roles, one was ‘Count Three and Pray’ [1955] for Columbia Pictures and the other one was ‘A Kiss Before Dying’ [1956] with Robert Wagner. Joanne Woodward had done enough acting in television, that she had the skill to do this part in the film, and then finally Joanne Woodward met Nunnally Johnson and the actress asked if he wanted her to use a Southern accent, and he said, “Over my dead body, and there is anything I loathe is a phony Southern accent and I can detect it” and she replied “It is not phoney, I am from Thomas, Georgia” and Nunnally Johnson then replied “That will be useful then” and Joanne Woodward was also shown that actual movie footage that doctors had shot of the original “Eve” and Joanne Woodward was amazed by the speed with which “Eve” would change from one personality to another, it really was just as quick as seen in the film and that is what Nunnally Johnson had written and that is what Joanne Woodward had based it on in terms of her acting skills. Joanne Woodward was born in Thomasville, Georgia in 1930 and brought up in Greenville, South Carolina and attended the Louisiana State University (American public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge) for two years and then went to New York to become an actress and the stage debut was as an understudy to both female lead in the Broadway production of “Picnic” and Joanne Woodward also starred in that period in many TV shows which obviously led to her contract with 20th Century Fox. Joanne Woodward was actually under contract with 20th Century Fox and was also able to make two movies out to other studios, Not only was Nunnally Johnson delighted and somewhat relieved to find Joanne Woodward, after being turned down by so many other actresses, and his production was finally on track, and he recalled that Joanne Woodward was very easy to direct in the par, to quote him “She could almost direct herself, she is very very knowledgeable, you can’t teach an actor anything on stage once they get started anyway, you have to use what they’ve got and she had it, easy to work with, I might have ruined her, but I didn’t” and Nunnally Johnson was impressed by her performance and quipped “It may win her three Oscars” and obviously she did win one Oscar for her interpretation of “Eve” and went onto a successful career, starring in many films on her own and with her husband Paul Newman, and Joanne Woodward played a therapist in the TV movie “Sybil” [1976] and another multiply personality drama starring Sally Field and at that time Joanne Woodward realised how difficult it was for actor Lee J. Cobb to play a therapist, be3cause he had to sit and listen and respond to the situation, rather than really doing any hard core acting. Robert Emmett Dolan did the musical score and had also been a major composer on Broadway and then moved to Paramount Pictures and then in the 1940’s had a string of Oscar nominations from 1941 through to 1946 without any interruptions and in 1941 he was nominated for the ‘Birth of the Blues’ [1941], ‘Holiday Inn’ [1942], ‘Star Spangled Rhythm’ [1943] and ‘Lady In The Dark’ [1944] and in 1945 Robert Emmett Dolan was nominated for both dramatic and lighter scoring for films such as ‘The Bells of St. Mary's’ [1945], ‘Incendiary Blonde’ [1945], ‘Blue Skies’ [1946] ‘Road To Rio’ [1947] and in the 1950’s Robert Emmett Dolan left Paramount Pictures and his opportunity to composed film scores were minimised, but he did an incredible job on the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ and considering the purpose of composed music scoring is to underscore and his music is not overpowering in any scene in the film, but it sometime complimented the scene in the film, in fact it is used very specifically in scene where “Eve” and her personalities are changing, in the first scene where her clothes are discovered by her husband that “Eve” had bought, the music becomes sort of sultry and sexy and suggested something other than a bland drab Eve White, and in other areas where the music could have been overly dramatic, it is really kept to a minimum and again underscored the sequence, rather than over powering that particular scene. Robert Emmett Dolan was given the assignment for ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ by Nunnally Johnson, who had been a long-time friend, in fact they were very very close friends for many years and Nunnally Johnson being the producer, could hire who he wanted. Aubrey Solomon says the title music starts with Mr. and Mrs. Gordons suggested conflict, then softens and then sweetens as it progresses, in fact the title music was the source of disagreement between Buddy Adler [American film producer] and Nunnally Johnson and Buddy Adler following a sort of studio policy at the time, was trying to get a title songs written for every movie, and Jerry Wald [American screenwriter and film producer] did this for his movies and especially for ‘An Affair To Remember’ [1957] and ‘Kiss Them for Me’ [1957] and it was becoming very popular even in dramatic pictures like when Doris Day sang the title some for the film ‘Julie’ [1975] which was a psychological suspense thriller and Nunnally Johnson was totally against the idea of anything resembling a song for ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ and with good reason, and in this case he stood up to Buddy Adler and Buddy Adler backed down immediately. In the first flashback scene at the end of the day, Stanley Cortez, A.S.C. makes use of heavy shadows against the wall and in the fire place; it makes the scene more atmospheric. In the script, the first incident of Eve White’s appearance in the flashback is written differently than it actually appears and Bonnie White was actually looking for a colouring book, in the script Bonnie White sees a strange look on Eve White’s face, this scene is not in the movie, then there is a scream and the look on Ralph White face is cut, but what we hear is “Mummy I am hungry” off screen, then we hear the scream and it is all played on the actor David Wayne as Ralph White who reacts to the scream and runs into the room. Nunnally Johnson probably felt the slight change from the subsequent scenes where “Eve” would be under hypnosis with the doctor would be much better. In the script where “Eve” strangles Bonnie White is written quite differently, where Bonnie White was looking for the colouring book, and the way it plays where Bonnie White looks up and sees a very strange look comes across Eve White’s face and then Bonnie White screams “Mummy don’t” and Ralph White hears this and runs into the room, but the way that scene actually plays out was that Bonnie White says “Mummy I’m Hungry” and then we suddenly hear a scream and the scene is all played on Ralph White, so he is in the room looking at all the clothes and he runs in, sees what is happening, breaks them both apart, and that the fact Eve White was trying to strangle Bonnie White with the chord from the blind, would have been something that you actually could bot show on screen in the 1950’s, in fact you could not show any sort of harm to a child like that and at best Nunnally Johnson would have to play it from a different angle, but the fact you don’t even see Eve White face changing, you just hear the scream, means Nunnally Johnson decided to make it more mysterious for the audience as to what was going on in that room, in other words, why would someone who would seem to be normal, would want to strangle her daughter. ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ was produced at an odd time, because it was an era of Road Shows, Big budgets, Multi star epics like ‘The Ten Commandments’ [1956], ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ [1956] and ‘Giant’ [1956] and these big budget pictures were designed to combat the massive inroads by television, and the movies mentioned would run for months, sometimes more than 12 months and every studio tried to have at least one or two blockbuster every year. 20th Century Fox that year in 1957 had one blockbuster which wasn’t intended as an epic, but it turned out any case, and that was ‘Peyton Place’ [1957] which grossed about ten times as much as ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ and so that gives some prospectus as to the ranking of the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ in terms of gross. In the scene with “Eve” and Dr. Curtis B. Luther, Nunnally Johnson’s sardonic wit comes through and Dr. Curtis B. Luther tells “Eve” that hearing voices is like a personal radio receiver like a built in radar in communication with the supernatural, and that is surely 100% Nunnally Johnson and he uses Dr. Curtis B. Luther as a sort of sounding board to get out all information necessary to bring the audience up to speed in what has been happening of “Eve,” so that the background information comes out in the scene, that will introduce us to “Eve” and her problems with Ralph White and what is going on in their lives. When Eve White has her first personality change to Eve Black, the script says “She stops, suddenly on her face is an expression of intense pain, her eyes clenched as she clasps her head into her hands, she pulls her chin down on her chest, where her face is hidden” and Dr. Curtis B. Luther says “Mrs. White” and then suddenly she draws a deep audio sigh of tremendous relief and when she lifts her face to him, it wears such a smile, neither he nor we have ever seen on her, then Nunnally Johnson proceeds to have one full half page of description of the change, which outlines the posture, the tone, the inflections and everything that he had gleaned from the case history of Eve Black, all in a half page, for the screen description and in three or four lines at the most. Joanne Woodward didn’t have the benefit of any Jekyll and Hyde artifices such as tricky make-up, changes with lapse dissolves or the cut a ways that she may have had in a standard screen version of the movie, but she did have one small degree of assistance , specially designed transition dress, which lent itself physically to her changes from personality to personality, and her dress was a conservative grey silk jersey, which could look plain on Eve White, but would reveal every curve on Eve Black, and adapting her posture, the dress was specially designed for this versatility by the top film fashion stylist at the time by Renié and you can especially see the clinginess when she bends over at the book shelves. Joanne Woodward adopted different speech patterns for each sort of flat Southern accent, and Eve Black is an aggressive 0utgoing Southern accent, using words in a more casual and colloquia way, and Eve Black talks to Dr. Curtis B. Luther with much more familiarity and this is of course based on the real character or characters of “Eve,” “Eve” and the third “Eve” and again changes her posture to a looser or seductive manner when she becomes Eve Black, these are all the things Joanne Woodward incorporated, from again reading the case history. But one thing Nunnally Johnson had to put in the movie, and what we call the “threat” and we use the term loosely, and in this case, every movie needs some sort of jeopardy to keep the audience interested, in other words, in this case, it is made clear very early on, that Eve Black is the threat and she is getting stronger and Eve White is getting weaker and Eve Black is the less appealing of the two and may take over completely. In the scene when Dr. Curtis B. Luther brings Dr. Francis A. Day into the room to meet Eve Black doe the first time, there is an additional written piece, which wasn’t used in the final cut film, and probably for the better, because “Eve” goes through two or more transformation personalities and it is back and forth, back and forth, flip flopping, and Nunnally Johnson wisely cut this. With Joanne Woodward on board, principle photography began on the 5th February, 1957 and it was a relative short schedule, only 31 days and filming was completed on the 25th March, 1957 and there were only three added scenes, that were completed by the 26th April, 1957 and the Second Unit worked in Savanah, Georgia to get establishing shots of cars driving up, and cars driving away, also exterior houses etc, was done at the same time to the studio shooting. The approved budget for ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ was $1, 000,000,32,000 and the final film cost was $900,63,000 and they were $69,000 under budget which was by all accounts fairly low for a major studio, it was actually the second lowest cost for a major feature in a 20th Century Fox release schedule that year, the most expensive being Darryl Zanuck Independent Production of ‘The Sun Always Rises’ [1957] at $3.8 Million. ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ returned in domestic rentals in the USA $1.254 Million and Foreign rentals of $700,000 which was close to other rentals of $2,000,000 which might not seem like a lot now, but it really was not a lot then, but considering the cost of the movie, it finally did make a very small profit, but it was not a blockbuster and surprisingly it wasn’t as popular, as its current popularity, would leave one to believe the first directors cut of the movie was one minute over 2 hours, the final release cut was 91 minutes, which there was an entire 30 minutes cut out. Most of the extra time consisted of sequences that Nunnally Johnson had written and shot, but ultimately didn’t use. When Joanne Woodward was 9 years old (little anecdote) her mother took her to the World Premier of ‘Gone With The Wind’ [1939] in Atlanta, when she saw Lawrence Olivier she jumped into the limousine and onto his lap and told him how much she admired Lawrence Olivier and that he was her favourite actor, and she reminded Lawrence Olivier when they worked together many years later in 1976 in a TV movie entitled “Come Back Little Sheba” and surprisingly Lawrence Olivier remembered the incident. With Joanne Woodward acting experience to date, this did not cause too much trouble working her characters, plus she had the added advantage of not only seeing films shot of the actual “Eve” and having such a detailed case history of all three personalities and every sort of emotions, postures and reflections, noted by the doctors who were examining the woman to the tenth degree, so could not have had more information about a character, you could have had about “Eve.” Joanne Woodward was under contract with 20th Century Fox since 1955 and was part of the Young Actors programme, and Joanne Woodward was obviously being groomed for stardom, so they understood that Joanne Woodward had certain talents and after ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ they immediately put her into the film ‘No Down Payment’ [1957] and the actress did very well in that film and then went onto further her career with Paul Newman in the ‘The Long, Hot Summer’ [1958] and ‘From the Terrace’ [1960] and a number of other movie. On top of all that, CinemaScope added the impact of Joanne Woodward’s performance in ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE,’ because with the fewer amounts of cuts, as the camera was on the actress, and Joanne Woodward had to really make those changes work without any cutaways, because you couldn’t be on her in one character, then cut to the doctor, and see his reaction to something happening and then cut back to her, and you have to see her go through the changes on camera. Aubrey Solomon then says that the book is fascinating to read for anyone who have seen ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ because being a case history, it is really a detailed analysis and goes far beneath the surface, that that what the movie does. In the scene at the end of the movie when Dr. Curtis B. Luther hypnosis’s “Eve” for the final time, Nunnally Johnson didn’t say anything specific about the dialogue, instead he included the dialogue in the description, which was very unusual and just referred to generality that “Eve” was saying like “Blue cup, blue chip cup, no mama, no please” etc, etc, this was the only time in the script when this happened and was probably indicative of the trust he had, ultimately with Joanne Woodward, that he didn’t change the script pages when Joanne Woodward was hired, that he left it this way and allowed her to go with it. The big scene of kissing the dead grandmother, but actually Eve’s mother wanted her to touch the skin of the face, instead that set “Eve” off in real life in kissing the grandmother’s face, but in the movie Nunnally Johnson felt it would be more dramatic and more effecting for an audience, to have “Eve” kiss the grandmother, although we never see it, it is described in the script, but the way the scene was shot, it was all played on the father’s reaction on his face, not “Eve” kissing the grandmother, and we see the horror on his face in hearing “Eve” screaming, which makes it more effective and less graphic. Because of Joanne Woodward’s Oscar performance in ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ it was destined to stand out from many others at the time and certainly stand head and shoulders above other imitations or pre-imitators like the ‘Lizzie’ [1957] American film. ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ probably was a high point in Joanne Woodward’s career, because it was the time when the actress proved on her own, and not with the help of a mate or certainly the talent of Paul Newman, that the actress could act and act really well. For not only Nunnally Johnson as well, even though the movie didn’t bring him any Oscars or even Nominations, it was certainly a milestone in his career in terms of directing a semi-documentary and making it dramatic and interesting and one that would last almost 50 years. At that point this Aubrey Solomon audio commentary finally comes to an end, as I personally thought this person was a massive pompous long winded wing bag and I cheered when I heard Aubrey Solomon last word utter.
Special Feature: Visual Essay with Film Expert Mark Searby [Audio only] [2018] [1080p / 480i] [2.35:1 / 1.37:1] [7:52] With this featurette, we get to hear a wonderful and very interesting audio commentary from Mark Searby who is a highly experienced and knowledgeable film critic, broadcaster and author talking mainly about the 1957 film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ and says the film is based on a true story of Christine Costner Sizemore [American painter] from Edgefield, South Carolina, U.S.A. who in the 1950’s, was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, now known as “dissociative identity disorder” and her case was depicted in their book The Three Faces of Eve, written by her psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D., upon which the film of the same name, starring Joanne Woodward was based and the psychiatrists decided to use a pseudonym or an alternative name for Christine Costner Sizemore and opted to call her Eve White and was the first documented case of multiple “dissociative identity disorder” and was received with great acclaim in the field of psychology and this led to psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. expanding their research into Christine Costner Sizemore and eventually publishing their 1957 book entitled The 3 Faces of Eve and authors Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. had previously published a research article on their patient “Eve” in 1954, documenting the psychiatric sessions and how they came to view it as a case of “multiple personality” disorder and before the published book reached the stores, it had been optioned for a motion picture by 20th Century Fox film studio and Nunnally Johnson a successful screenwriter with the studio, had obtained the galley proof of the book, the year before the book was published, and it was actually Nunnally Johnson who actually suggested the title the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ to Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D., however the movie adaption of the 1957 film ran into a lawsuit trouble shortly before going into production, because another film company had just finished shooting the movie ‘Lizzie’ which was a 1957 American “film noir” drama that was produced by Bryna Productions and directed by Hugo Haas and the film is based on the 1954 novel “The Bird's Nest” by Shirley Jackson and starred Eleanor Parker, Richard Boone and Joan Blondell and dealt with a “multiple personality” disorder and Bryna Productions filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox and demanding they postpone their release of ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE,’ so 20th Century Fox decided to delay production until the publication of authors Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. book The Three Faces of Eve. Having written for the screen many times before, Nunnally Johnson adapted the work himself and he convinced 20th Century Fox that he should direct the film as well, and casting the role of Eve White proved a challenge for Nunnally Johnson and he passed the script round to man of Hollywood’s female actresses including Jennifer Jones, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day, Olivia De Havilland and Lana Turner, but all of them turned the part down, but Judy Garland showed an interest, but couldn’t quite get to grip with the spit second changes in the personalities, eventually Judy Garland declined the role, sighting being in Las Vegas to have the time to star in the film, the role eventually went to Joanne Woodward, but an actress already contract with 20th Century Fox, but only made a handful of films for 20th Century Fox, but Joanne Woodward was so terrified of the role, but Joanne Woodward almost didn’t take the train to Hollywood for the first script read through. Eventually Joanne Woodward saw playing each individual personality’s as a challenge and a dialect coach and a studio hair and make-up department helped to achieve the three distinct personalities and Joanne Woodward was also shown the real film footage that was filmed by Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. of the split second transition suffered by Christine Costner Sizemore. For the role of Dr. Curtis B. Luther and a condensed of Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley the script was sent to Orson Wells who was initially interested in the role of Dr. Curtis B. Luther but eventually bound out because Orson Wells was offered to direct the film ‘Touch Of Evil’ [1958] but Orson Wells did comment to Nunnally Johnson in saying that whoever played Eve White would go onto win an Oscar, also the actor in ‘12 Angry Men’ [1957] was Lee J. Cobb who eventually took the part of Dr. Curtis B. Luther and the majority of filming took over two months in the spring of 1957, and after filming had been completed, Nunnally Johnson wanted to add one last segment into the finished film, to emphasise to the audience, that what they were about to watch a very serious and a very real disorder and Nunnally Johnson decided to include an introduction and an occasional voice over narration, and Edward R. Murrow was offered the part, but turned it down, then Nunnally Johnson spoked to British journalist Alistair Cooke about providing an introduction and an occasional narration and Alistair Cooke signed on after reading the script to check that the film was not making fun of people with “multiple personality” disorder. The film premiered on the 18th September, 1957 at the Miller Theatre in Augustus, Georgia and in the same city where Corbett H. Thigpen M.D. and Hervey M. Cleckley M.D. conducted their original research and where Christine Costner Sizemore resided. Reviews were very mixed, critics took strong criticism against Nunnally Johnson decision between comedy and drama, yet all agreed on Joanne Woodward’s outstanding triple performance, so taken was Hollywood of Joanne Woodward’s performance, Joanne Woodward of course went onto win both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for best actress, beating the likes of Lana Turner, Deborah Kerr and Elizabeth Taylor, and at the end of the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ shoes the personality of Eve White and then Eve Black disappears and only Jane remained, to drive off into the sunset with her daughter and her new husband, but sadly this was not the case for the actual Christine Costner Sizemore, because more personalities manifested themselves, and each time they would arrive in three’s, there was the Strawberry Lady who was 21 and ate strawberries to the exclusion of all else, then there was the Banana Split Girl who was a temperamental child that would only eat banana split deserts, an arthritic 58 year old known as the purple lady because she only wore a white wig and a purple dress, then there was the Spoon lady who collected loads of spoons, then there was the Blend lady, the Turtle woman who had a thing for turtles, all in all, Christine Costner Sizemore would produce 22 different personalities in her lifetime, and was with her eighth doctor gave her a breakthrough she needed and over a four year period the doctor worked with her to interrogate each personality into her own, and Christine Costner Sizemore discovered the route cause that triggered the multiple personalities, that at the tender age of 2, Christine Costner Sizemore experienced three traumatic events, the first was when she saw a man’s body drowned in a ditch, the second one was when Christine Costner Sizemore witnessed a man accidently sawn in half in a farmers timber mill and the third dramatic incident Christine Costner Sizemore witnessed was seeing her mother badly injured by an exploding bottle, and Christine Costner Sizemore dreamed recalling attending a funeral alongside an imaginary friend who had red hair and bright eyes, then one night in the mid 1970’s, Christine Costner Sizemore had a dream about the personalities all joining hands and walking behind a screen and after that, the multiple personalities never returned. Christine Costner Sizemore eventually revealed herself to the world when she published in 1977 “I'm Eve” an in-depth compelling story of the internationally famous case of “multiple personality” disorder. Christine Costner Sizemore didn’t watch the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ until 1975 and commentated “Joanne Woodward did an excellent job, but all that I lived through, the movie seemed unimportant." Christine Costner Sizemore did not attend the premiere of the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE,’ however 50 years later in Augusta, Georgia and through an anniversary screening of ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE,’ and Christine Costner Sizemore was the star guest and standing on the stage in front of the CinemaScope screen and a theatre full of other multitude of other honoured guests, Christine Costner Sizemore said “When I left Augusta 59 years ago, I was a sick person, it is now so wonderful to return a well person.” At that point, this very well researched and fascinating audio commentary featurette by the very well informed Film Expert Mark Searby and I wish he had done the film audio commentary featurette and not that over blown pompous boring Aubrey Solomon who I so hated and detested 100% and should have been banned getting anywhere near a microphone, because his audio commentary was so long and monotonous, boring and totally vacuous. As an added bonus, while Mark Searby talks about all aspects about the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ we get to view scenes from the 1957 film.
Special Feature: Stills Gallery: With this featurette, we get to view 43 wonderful 1080p images of colour International Cinema Posters, brilliant black-and-white production photographs, colour and black-and-white publicity photographs and other posters.
Special Feature: Theatrical Trailer [1957] [1080i] [2.35:1] [2:41] With this featurette, we get to view a very rare black-and-white 20th Century Fox theatrical trailer featuring Nunnally Johnson narrating about the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ and also seeing the stunning Oscar performance of Joanne Woodward and they also say, “The Most Fantastic Personal Story Ever Films.”
Finally, with the film ‘THE THREE FACES OF EVE’ [1957] Joanne Woodward is totally amazing in this film as Eve White, Eve Black and Jane and plays them all to perfection. It has to be very hard to switch and do all those different characters right after one another, but Joanne Woodward did it really wonderfully. It's no surprise Joanne Woodward won the Oscar for best actress and it allowed the actress Joanne Woodward to tackle three distinct roles in one. The film was a very well-made Hollywood drama with a remarkable leading performance by Joanne Woodward. I couldn't believe the actress Joanne Woodward of her calibre could perform so many characters with great ease and what I love about this film is that it is a totally character driven film and that is why it got so many plaudits, Awards and Nominations and now it has gone pride of place in my Blu-ray Collection. Very Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
