This purports to be the real case of Eve. In 1951, timid housewife Eve White (Joanne Woodward) and her abusive husband walk into the office of psychiatrist Dr. Luther (Lee J. Cobb). She is suffering from missing time and Luther determines that she has multiple personalities.Back in the day, this was probably new with some shock value. Joanne Woodward is a good early adapter. Honestly, they almost had to give her the Oscar for this new performance(s). The plot does need a destination. An earlier foreshadowing of the childhood trauma could have satisfied that need. Luther needs to be a bigger protagonist although he is the narrator. It's much later when he gets the co-starring role. The psychiatric work is not really a visual thrill. The final reveal is sadly unshocking. This is an early attempt at the subject matter which does give it first dibs. It's a solid effort.

Joanne Woodward came practically out of nowhere and sailed right into an Oscar win for her smashing breakthrough performance in this study of a woman with multiple personality disorder. In fact, really the only good thing this movie has to offer is Woodward: the plot was somewhat moldy even in 1957 and is hopelessly dated now, but the sensational work of the leading lady holds up.Woodward plays Eve White, a drab and mousy housewife with a husband whose attitude is indifference bordering on abuse, a daughter she adores, and suffers from headaches and "blackouts" during which her husband tells her she does things she would never do (in one scene one of her alternates has nearly harmed the child; Mrs White is of course completely ignorant of this and as a result bewildered).Eve finally consults psychiatrist Dr Curtis Luther (Lee J Cobb, excellent as always). In treatment, two more personalities emerge. The first is Eve Black, a wild party-girl who is the exact opposite of Eve White in nearly every respect. Eve Black is the one causing all the trouble; after stirring things up, she retreats and Eve White has to live with the consequences, which culminate in the collapse of her marriage when her insensitive brute of a husband (David Wayne is incredibly hateful in a major departure from his usual roles), convinced she's doing all this on purpose, leaves.After some back-and-forth between Eve Black and Eve White, a third personality emerges: rather ironically named "Jane," this third alternate is so completely free of neurosis that she is scarcely human.The plot is really much ado about nothing, but it gave Joanne Woodward the opportunity to show off her acting chops by delivering three fully fleshed out performances wrapped up in one. In fact the whole movie hinges on the quality of Woodward's work because the science was creaky even back then and has dated badly since; I won't even bother to reveal what caused her to become a multiple because it is so ridiculous that it's a miracle that Woodward actually carries it off.That same year, Billy Wilder directed Marlene Dietrich in the greatest performance of her career in Agatha Christie's WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION; unfortunately the studio did not promote Dietrich at Oscar time for fear of revealing too much about the plot, and she did not even get a nomination. I love Woodward's performance, but I wonder what would have happened if Dietrich had been in the race; Wilder's film is far superior to EVE and while I won't say Dietrich would have won, she would definitely have given Woodward a run for her money.Fun fact: Woodward would later go on to play the psychiatrist Cornelia Wilbur in the 1976 television drama "Sybil," in which Sally Field played the patient and delivered her own breakthrough performance leaving everyone who thought all she could do was "Gidget" and "The Flying Nun" totally breathless.

So I watched 1957's "the three faces of Eve" starring Joanne Woodward. So is this movie a classic, well I say yes but not emphatically. Ms. Woodward did win an academy award for her performance as three slightly different personalities inhabiting one body, also known as multiple personality disorder. So why not emphatic in my description of this film being classic, well that has to do with what the definition of classic is. To me something that is classic never goes out of style like coca-cola or a Porsche 911. They withstand the test of time and don't lose much if anything with age. Well this movie suffers from what a lot of older movies suffer from, in my opinion, that is that they are tame by today's standards. I found this to be the case with this movie. I can't help but to think if this movie was made today it would have some cursing, nudity, sex, and maybe some real dramatic moments instead of sort of muted safe ones. I also had a problem with the opening of this movie where they go out of the way to say this isn't loosely based on a real story but is in fact taken from actual events, and even transcripts. However, I read about the woman Eve is based on, and apparently this movie left out a lot and maybe changed some relevant things pertinent to her case. I think Joanne Woodward's portrayal of Eve in all her forms was o.k. I personally think Eddie Murphy did a much better job of portraying multiple characters in "the nutty professor", but where is his academy award. Huh I wan to know, it's all politics with the academy. So it's good, it's still watchable but it is not awesome, but being watchable 50 some odd years later does qualify a movie as a classic to some degree. I recommend watching it, but I've seen better old flicks. if you like concise reviews of interesting films please read my other reviews at http://raouldukeatthemovies.blogspot.com/

First of all, the acting here is excellent by everyone-especially Joanne Woodward. There is no denying her talent as she shifts from one personality to another. The nuance of each personality evident in just a gaze or mannerism.However, the film is very dated. The shrink smokes in his office while treating his patient. The women depicted here are like Stepford Wives, the way that the male characters speak to the women-all very dated and hard to watch.Also, the character of Eve herself is a real drag to have to be with.Again, fantastic acting by everyone, especially Woodward but very dated. I doubt anyone will want to sit through this twice.