The Three Faces of Eve is a 1957 book and film, loosely based on the true story of a woman (Chris Costner-Sizemore) who had dissociative identity disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder).

The film stars Joanne Woodward, David Wayne, Lee J Cobb, Nancy Kulp, and Alistair Cooke. It was filmed at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia.

Eve White is a quiet, self-effacing wife and mother who has headaches and occasional blackouts.

Eventually she is sent to see psychiatrist Dr. Luther, and while under hypnosis her “alter personality”, wild, fun-loving Eve Black, discloses herself.

With Eve Black on the loose, Eve White’s husband leaves her and abandons their daughter. Under continued therapy, a third personality appears, the relatively stable Jane.

The rest of the film depicts Luther’s attempts to reconcile the three faces of Eve, including uncovering a tragic event which occurred in Eve’s childhood. Her beloved grandmother had died, and according to family custom relatives were supposed to kiss the dead person at the viewing. Eve’s grief and terror led to her “splitting off” a second personality to accomplish things she herself did not want to do.

After discovering the cause of her disorder, Jane is able to remember eveything that has ever happened to all three personalities. Dr. Luther asks to speak with Eve White, but when Jane tries to bring her out, she discovers that Eve White and Eve Black no longer exist.

All three personalities are once again whole. She marries a man named Earl whom she met when she was Jane and reunites with Bonnie her daughter.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Actress (Joanne Woodward), at that time a relative unknown, who later went on to play Dr. Cornelia Wilbur in the film Sybil.

The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Mar 23, ’08 This has also been one of my favorites

deletereply tulipsinspring wrote on Mar 23, ’08 This is a great movie, and she is brilliant in it. Wasn’t this based on a true story? A disturbing but fascinating story, and a wonderful film. Great review!

deletereply starfishred wrote on Mar 24, ’08, edited on Mar 24, ’08 I remember seing this and thinking no way no such thing is possible-there is still much controversy about this so called phenomena-but the movie was good and very controversial.

deletereply nicholasjv wrote on Mar 24, ’08 I remember seeing this quite a few years ago. A great performance by Joanne Woodward, as I seem to remember! Perhaps it’s time to go searching for it in the video shop, for re-viewing! Thanks for participating in Movie Monday!

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Mar 24, ’08 Yes, tulips, this was a true story. The woman’s name was Chris Sizemore.

deletereply vickiecollins wrote on Mar 24, ’08 I remember seeing this movie one time…the story was very fascinating, and I think, revealed a lot about what the human mind will do in order to protect us from unbearable stress at times.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Mar 25, ’08 vickie, yes, that is one way of seeing it, the mind is just protecting itself from psychological trauma.