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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

Three Faces of Eve [Blu-ray]

 

(Nunnally Johnson, 1957)

 

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Video: 20th Century Fox Home Video

 

Disc:

Region: 'A' (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 1:31:18.931

Disc Size: 30,458,243,970 bytes

Feature Size: 29,403,611,136 bytes

Video Bitrate: 37.98 Mbps

Chapters: 28

Case: Standard Blu-ray case

Release date: November 5th, 2013

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1033 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1033 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio Japanese 1083 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1083 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), Japanese, Spanish, French, none

 

Extras:

• Commentary by Aubrey Solomon

Fox Movietone news Academy Awards (2:22)

• Theatrical trailer (2:44)

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Joanne Woodward brought home a Best Actress OSCAR for her unforgettable portrayal of a woman with multiple personality disorder. Woodward plays Eve White, a troubled housewife who begins seeing a psychiatrist. Under hypnosis, Eve's two additional personalities are revealed: a vamp and an independent sophisticate - but curing her will require a probe into her disturbing past.

 

 

The Film:

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. Despite fine monochrome camerawork by Stanley Cortez, Johnson's direction remains remarkably mundane in visual terms (one need only compare it to, say, Psycho or Lilith to realise its shortcomings), so that it's left to the cast to bring the film to life. And that Woodward certainly does, responding with what can only be described as a tour de force, for which she won the Best Actress Oscar.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

Joanne Woodward entered Oscar's winners circle with only her third film, The Three Faces of Eve (1957), beating such Hollywood veterans as Deborah Kerr (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison), Lana Turner (Peyton Place) and the recently widowed Elizabeth Taylor (Raintree County). With the screen newcomer cast as a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder, the veterans didn't stand a chance. Legendary director Orson Welles, who had been approached about playing the troubled woman's psychiatrist, had even predicted the role as "likely to lead the girl to an Academy Award." The award set Woodward on the road to stardom, while her attitude towards it helped create the iconoclastic image that would delight her fans for decades.

Producer-director-screenwriter Nunnally Johnson had come across Dr. Corbett Thigpen and Dr. Hervey Cleckley's account of the case of South Carolina wife and mother Chris Costner Sizemore while it was still in galleys under the title A Case of Multiple Personality. With the recent success of Shirley Jackson's novel on split personality, The Bird's Nest, and news that Kirk Douglas was producing a film version for MGM under the title Lizzie, Johnson got 20th Century-Fox to snap up the film rights. He even met with the doctors and their publisher to discuss giving the book a more commercial title. In fact, it was Johnson who came up with The Three Faces of Eve.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Three Faces of Eve looks very impressive on Blu-ray from Fox.  The image has a touch of gloss, is exceptionally clean and contrast tightens the detail to a crystal clarity. I zoomed-in to investigate edge-enhancement but if it is there - it is quite minor.  This is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate and the 2.35:1 Cinemascope looks ravishing (a touch of 'mumps' - horizontal stretching) and the Blu-ray showcases some impressive depth. Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Andersons, The Naked Kiss, The Night of the Hunter) controlled black and white cinematography uses shadows extensively and is rich and haunting. This Blu-ray image is so pristine it exports a strong sense of the precision of the production, the blocking and many details that lend an appreciation to the visuals. This 1080P is immaculate.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

Audio is transferred via a DTS-HD Master (original) mono track at 1033 kbps. It sounds very clean and, predictably, flat. There are no demonstrative effects. The score is by Robert Emmett Dolan (My Son John) and seems appropriately 'stayed' supporting the film well. We also get two, partial, numbers by Joanne Woodward; Hold Me and I Never Knew - both sounding pretty crisp through the lossless rendering. There are optional subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.

 

Extras :

Fox include, from the 2004 DVD, the audio commentary Aubrey Solomon (author of The Films of Twentieth Century Fox). He speaks with vast knowledge and professionalism - a solid discussion. We also get a Fox newsreel showing 'The Duke' handing out the Oscar to Joanne Woodward and, lastly, a trailer.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
The Three Faces of Eve remains an exceptional film with an unforgettable performance(s) The first real Hollywood foray into examining the trauma behind multiple personality disorder - it never stops being intriguing. The Fox Blu-ray is very impressive - both video and original audio-wise as well as the educational commentary. Certainly recommended!

Gary Tooze

October 30th, 2013


 

About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.

Gary's Home Theatre:

60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD

Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD Player
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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