The Three Faces of Eve

Twentieth Century Fox | Release Date: September 18, 1957

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

58	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

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100

Sue Adolphson

Impossibly thin, porcelain-skinned Joanne Woodward exuded the perfect blend of vulnerability and confusion -- and sassiness and sex appeal -- in her demanding lead role (make that roles) in Nunnally Johnson's The Three Faces of Eve. [24 Oct 2004]

Crosby Day

The film's fascination is primarily a result of Woodward's crafty, painstaking depiction of the three personalities stemming from the same woman. [09 Nov 2003, p.9]

Bosley Crowther

It is written, produced and directed by Mr. Johnson with a clean documentary clarity, and played with superlative flexibility and emotional power by Joanne Woodward in the main role. Read full review

The IndependentPeter Conchie

This 1950s Hollywood examination of mental illness won an Oscar for Joanne Woodward, who plays a frumpy housewife, a sultry seductress and an urban sophisticate, giving a virtuoso performance which manages to compensate for Nunnally Johnson's flat direction. [25 Jun 1999, p.21]

Pauline Kael

Shallow, but the gimmick is appealing, and Woodward's showmanship is very likable.

Steve Simels

What seemed steamy in 1957 — a reasonably frank look at mental disorder and repressed sexuality — is today the stuff of Oprah. Read full review

Geoff Andrew

Based on a true case history of a schizophrenic - here a woman with three personalities: a slatternly housewife, a seductive flirt, and a smart, articulate woman - this is worthy but somewhat turgid and facile, a typically Hollywoodian account of mental illness. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

It is frequently an intriguing, provocative motion picture, but director Nunnally Johnson's treatment of the subject matter makes the film neither fish nor foul. Johnson shifts back and forth - striving for comedy at one point and presenting a documentary case history at another. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

The film is basically a two-character piece featuring Woodward and Cobb and probably would have made a very good play. Cinematically, it's lacking on several levels. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Joanne Woodward won an Oscar for her title performance in The Three Faces of Eve, but what she’s doing here feels like an exercise you’d see at theater camp. Read full review