I suppose the one thing Eve White could never be accused of, in the 1957 movie "The Three Faces of Eve," is not having enough of a personality! In fact--to the consternation of her dullard Georgian husband, and the amazement of shrink Lee J. Cobb--she's got three distinct personalities that tend to emerge quite unexpectedly. The first is Eve White herself, a mousy dishrag of a housewife; then there's "Eve Black," an extroverted, hard-drinking party girl; and finally "Jane," a nice, well-spoken young woman. As portrayed by Joanne Woodward in her Oscar-winning role, this mixed-up gal becomes a very believable and sympathetic figure. Woodward is actually pretty amazing here, and it is quite remarkable how she is able to switch on a dime from one personality to another, using all the actor's tricks of mannerisms, voice inflections, accents and so on. Cobb is also excellent, as usual, as the soft-spoken, patient doctor who tries for years to help her, and David Wayne is also fine as Eve's husband, who, in one fascinating scene, seems to cheat on his wife WITH HIS OWN WIFE! The psychological explanation of why Eve has become what she is may strike some as too pat, but we shouldn't forget that this is all based on a real-life case history. However, as Danny Peary reminds us in his fun book "Alternate Oscars," the real-life Eve had not been cured at the time this film was made, but rather required 17 years' worth of additional therapy, during which time a full 22 personalities came forth! But I guess that would have made for a very depressing 10-hour movie! And I wholeheartedly agree with Peary that Woodward deserved an Oscar for her work here. Heck, under the circumstances, they should've given her three!
