It is known that most of us can change our personalities or how we act and react depending on who is in our immediate sphere or community. I have been a loud, party girl, dancing the night away, and I have portrayed the quiet, demure woman not wanting to ruffle feathers. I have played the studious scholar, the bookworm author, the race car driver, the wannabe concert violinist, the wild, crazy gal, the compassionate mom, the irrational mom, and the spontaneous adventurer. I believe all of us can change on a dime and “work the room” so to speak. It is natural and very sane. It is a facet about just being human. But what if a person could not remember these personality changes? What if these times were blank like a huge hole deep within our memory files and we had no idea how, when, why or what happened during that blackness?
I used to think about multiple personalities hiding deep within our souls. I pondered if my brain was wired that way, especially after watching a movie with my mom one night that dealt with this premise. On top of it all, it was based on a true story that rocked the psychiatric world in the early 1950s. I had many a sleepless night considering what is good mental health. It can make you question everything. I don’t believe my mom meant for me to suffer insomnia so young. She was more interested in me watching a brilliant performance by Joanne Woodward in THE THREE FACES OF EVE, a film I have never forgotten.
There are films that are character driven. THE THREE FACES OF EVE is one. Woodward controlled this piece of cinema and wove it into a story that elicited science, empathy and heart. She didn’t just portray one individual. She shared three, distinctly different personas, complete with physical and verbal nuances. She could switch from Eve White to Eve Black, and Jane by mentioning her doctor (Lee J. Cobb) asking to speak with each individually. It was like participating in a master class. A genius performance that did not go unnoticed by the Academy when they awarded her an Oscar for Best Actress. Indeed she was. Woodward was a consummate artist who could breathe life into the written word. Her stellar skills and instincts were always perfect. I often wish she could have lived forever, but in a way she did through her illustrious fifty-year career.
THE THREE FACES OF EVE was a black and white film that used a narrator (Alastair Cooke) to guide viewers along Eve’s path to becoming whole and mentally stable. He appeared in the beginning to promote the scientific aspects of Multiple Personality Disorder, and how little doctors knew about this disease. The medical field has learned that usually something traumatic must happen that is so profound, the only way a person can cope is by compartmentalizing and creating another human within the original body. It is a delicate, long battle of discovery, and hopefully eventual healing. The director and screenwriter, Nunnally Johnson, ensured the film expounded much more than scientific theory. Huzzah to the entire ensemble.
THE THREE FACES OF EVE entwined actor and audience deep within a true tale that happened to Christine Costner Sizemore, who used her three separate character signatures when signing the contract to move forward with this movie project. In truth, she had 26 personalities stored within her brain. She was a fascinating subject. Multiple Personality Disorder actually came back around in 1976 with the film SYBIL starring Sally Field. Interestingly, Joanne Woodward played her Doctor in the movie.
THE THREE FACES OF EVE is a psychological, psychiatric classic. It illuminates mental illness and what constitutes believing a person is crazy. I don’t think audiences would’ve understood this movie as well without witnessing Woodward’s performance. All I can say is “thanks, mom,” for knowing I was a normal kid who would appreciate great acting for my entire life.
THE THREE FACES OF EVE is available on AMC+.
