What raises this film above what would now be relegated to a “disease of the week” film on Lifetime is the Oscar-winning performance of Joanne Woodward (RACHEL, RACHEL). Eve White (Woodward) is having blackouts. After one where she finds boxes of dresses she doesn’t remember buying, her and her husband Ralph (David Wayne, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN) go to see psychiatrist Dr. Luther (Lee J. Cobb, ON THE WATERFRONT). What the doctor discovers is that Eve is suffering from multiple personality disorder.
When she blacks out, the meek Eve is being suppressed by the flamboyant playgirl Eve Black. As Dr. Luther treats Eve, her relationship with her husband becomes more and more strained. Dr. Luther tries to find out the core to why Eve’s personality split and until her third personality comes out he doesn’t know what to do, because both Eves are ill equipped to be the prime personality.
Woodward is able to create three distinct characters for the three faces of Eve. Remarkably she is able to switch between them in uncut scenes with perfect skill. The start of the film suffers from a clinical voice over from a “real” doctor, but takes on more power as we learn more about Eve and witness the struggles of finding a cure. Cobb and Wayne are good, but the film is really just a showcase for Woodward. In a side note, Kirsten Dunst has an uncanny resemblance to Woodward in this film. In the end, the film stands as a compelling look at mental illness from a 1950s point of view. The solid story is carried into another level by its star. In lesser hands, the film would have probably been forgotten by now.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
