The Three Faces of Eve

"The strangest true experience a young girl ever had."

1957 1h 31m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 156

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A doctor treats a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder.

“The strangest true experience a young girl ever had.”

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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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Nunnally Johnson
Writers: Nunnally Johnson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

69 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Nunnally Johnson, shot by Stanley Cortez. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Marjorie Fowler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Joanne Woodward and David Wayne and Lee J. Cobb carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The strangest true experience a young girl ever had.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0051077 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Nunnally Johnson directs. Stanley Cortez behind the camera. Marjorie Fowler cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
269 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Nunnally Johnson, shot by Stanley Cortez. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Marjorie Fowler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Joanne Woodward and David Wayne and Lee J. Cobb carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The strangest true experience a young girl ever had.".
7IMDB entry: tt0051077 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Stanley Cortez
Editing: Marjorie Fowler
Costume design: Renié
Makeup / hair: Helen Turpin
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $965,000
Box office: $1,400,000
Return: 145% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Nunnally Johnson

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-25
★ 8/10
It's not you marrying me. It's me marrying anybody. I'm sick. I am mentally sick, and I can't marry anybody, ever. The Three Faces of Eve is directed by Nunally Johnson who also adapts the screenplay from a book written by Corbett Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley. It stars Joanne Woodward, Lee J. Cobb, David Wayne and Edwin Jerome. A CinemaScope production, music is by Robert Emmett Dolan and cinematography by Stanley Cortez. Doctor Curtis Luther (Cobb) treats Eve White (Woodward) for Multiple Personality Disorder... Christine, Strawberry Girl. It has become one of those films that is stuck in some sort of Hollywood purgatory. Its impact back on release in 1957, where Hollywood was still struggling to come to terms with putting mental illness on celluloid, should not be understated, and it's that time frame where one might have to transport yourself to get the benefits of the production. Looking at it today, it is rife with simplistic ideals, where it often feels like Hollywood believes there is this magical cure for mental illness, a world where some amiable doctor can chat the chat, snap his fingers and bang! What joy, it's all good really, and sorry we played some of the film for laughs... The reason why it is in Hollywood no man's land is because in spite of the near crassness of the piece, it still stands up as a film of importance, a picture that brought out the topic at hand into the mainstream. As an interim movie in the trajectory of big screen forays into matters of the mind, it advanced awareness and built a bridge that the likes of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Girl Interrupted" would later traverse with some distinction. It also boasts a brilliant Oscar winning performance from Woodward, a real tour de force that engages the viewer emotionally to the point where sadness, anger, hope and understanding merge into one blurry cinematic achievement. Though away from "Eve's" interactions with Doctor Luther (Cobb perfectly restrained for a change), the rest of the film kind of feels like filler, Johnson not quite comfortable enough as a director to expand the dramatic thematics out of the Doc's office. Based on the real life case of Chris Costner Sizemore, the story only scratches the surface of what the poor lady went through. The psychiatric resolution here on film is very disappointing, this even if there's undoubtedly some exhilaration to be had as cinema Eve comes through the dark tunnel to find daylight. So in that respect, it's another blot on Nunally Johnson's landscape. But again, it put the case in the public conscious, where even today it should at least make people consider reading up on the real "Eve's" story. Uneven for sure, where rewards and annoyances await, but Woodward and the film's mark in subject matter history lift it way above average. 7.5/10
Jack2020-05-29
★ 9/10
I was not expecting this film to be this good! Didn’t know anything about the film before I started watching it and what a pleasant surprise it was! The film, which tells the true story of a young woman with multiple personality disorder, is way ahead of its time in my opinion. Coupled with good acting and a storyline that never bores you, it’s one of the best films I watched that is from the 1950s. Would I watch it again? Absolutely. Would I make my friends watch it? Definitely.
CinemaSerf2023-01-08
★ 7/10
Joanne Woodward is superb in this complex and intricate drama of "Mrs. White". Now here is a woman married to "Ralph" (David Wayne) who reaches the end of his tether when she goes on a spending spree. She denies it, she attacks their child then she ends up in a psychiatric hospital remembering nothing, where "Dr. Luther" (Lee J. Cobb) starts to think that she is ill. Further conversations, and some assistance from his colleague "Dr. Day" (Edwin Jerome) soon leads them both to believe that this lady has a split personality. One, a benign and gentle creature, the other a more assertive one. They share the body on a symbiotic basis that is seeing a gradually changing dynamic between the occupants. Things complicate further when a third persona appears - and that leaves the doctors scratching their heads, but still determined to try to help this woman before she succumbs to the pressures of her toxically confusing and upsetting character. Is it something buried deep in her past; a trauma or tragedy? Woodward moves from one iteration to the other with consummate skill; her scenes with both Wayne and an on form, considered, Cobb really do enthral. This exposé of the elementary science of psychiatric medicine is well delivered by Nunally Johnson using Robert Dolan's score cleverly to assist us as the eponymous faces of "Eve" come and go. It's a difficult topic to reflect well, but this really does offer us strong, solid, efforts and some food for thought, too.