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.
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.