Pick Your Poison & Your Pleasure: the Evolution of ‘Eve’ in Classic Cinema

I admit it: I’m not much for the biblical story of Adam and Eve. You know, the one used to trace all the world’s woes back to the first woman, who talked her man into eating the forbidden apple, thus getting them both kicked out of paradise. I mean, did she stuff it down his throat and force him to chew and swallow? No, he ate it because it looked good, and it was.

I mean, what did God expect? Putting that ripe, beauteous fruit in front of their eyes and saying they could have anything EXCEPT that? Even a rookie parent knows kids will go after whatever you tell them NOT to touch. God should have been more savvy. He’s God, after all, right?

And what was so interesting about paradise anyway? Running around naked and naming things? That would get old fast. Doesn’t everyone know that imperfection is what makes life interesting? I think that apple was MEANT to be eaten. Eve’s mistake was to share it with a numbnuts like Adam.

But hey, that’s how the legend of the evil woman leading the poor, innocent man astray was born. Some men continue to spread that rumor because they’re strapped for conversation and can’t face up to their own failings.

Not that there aren’t evil women in the world today. But there’s also a boatload of men who leave a lot to be desired. My point is that Eve is multidimensional from the get-go. She’s more than what’s on the surface–a paradox, as are all people, and these three movies explore the paradox of being human.

You could say, Vive le paradoxe!, whether you’re French or not and sink your teeth into a juicy, ripe pomme for l’accentuation.

In All About Eve, the title character is a true spoiler in classic “Adam and Eve” fashion but makes her namesake look like a nitwit fruit peddler. The woman in The Three Faces of Eve isn’t evil at all but severely traumatized. The viewer gets a ringside seat on the impact of repressed trauma and the restoration of her personality.

The Lady Eve, the only comedy in the bunch, is listed first here because it was made first. But I suggest watching it last because, as good as the other two are, you’ll be ready for some laughs after watching them. As a screwball romantic comedy, it puts that whole other biblical potboiler in perspective.

The Lady Eve

RELEASE DATE: 1941 DIRECTOR: Preston Sturges STUDIO: Paramount HEADLINERS: Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, William Demarest RUN TIME: 1 hour, 34 minutes FILMED IN: Black & White IMDb RANK: 7.7

SYNOPSIS: Classy card sharks target a socially awkward brewery heir, until one of them falls in love with him.

NOTES: Based on the story “Two Bad Hats” by Monckton Hoffe. Sturges wrote the screenplay with Stanwyck in mind, though Paramount initially proposed Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland, as well as others, before Stanwyck and Fonda were cast. It was the first comedy hit for both. Friends of Sturges who read the script tried to convince him to cut the number of pratfalls taken by Fonda, arguing that they were too much of a good thing. Sturges didn’t agree, and the slapstick bits later proved to be among the film’s highlights, literalizing the idea of “the fall of man” implied by the title. Fonda’s daughter Jane had her fourth birthday party on the set. Sturges also invited many others to watch him work. In fact, there were so many people on the set that Sturges dressed eccentrically so he could be easily recognized by crew. He usually wore either a brightly coloured beret or a hat with a feather in it and a loud shirt, all of which led to his being dubbed the worst-dressed man in Hollywood. Revealing his character as a card shark on several occasions, Coburn uses a trick deck of cards stitched together with elastic thread (I always wondered how that expanded shuffle was done). The $32,000 bilked from Fonda’s character equates to about $700,000 now.

LINKS: Trailer | Full film | Rent/buy

All About Eve

RELEASE DATE: 1950 DIRECTOR: Joseph L. Mankiewicz STUDIO: 20th Century Fox HEADLINERS: Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Celeste Holm RUN TIME: 2 hour, 18 minutes FILMED IN: Black & White IMDb RANK: 8.2

SYNOPSIS: A seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.

NOTES: This film is perhaps known best for the line “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night,” which the American Film Institute voted as the ninth best movie quote of all time. Davis filmed all her scenes in just 16 days. Mankiewicz’s direction that gave Davis a huge handle on her character, Margo, was that she treated “a mink coat like it was a poncho.” Her famous cocktail dress was an Edith Head creation that didn’t fit Davis correctly in the shoulders. With no time to fix the dress before filming, Davis hit on the idea of simply slipping it off her shoulders. Davis’ marriage to William Grant Sherry was in the throes of breaking up while she was making the film. Her raspy film voice was because she burst a blood vessel in her throat screaming at her soon-to-be ex during one of their many rows. Mankiewicz liked the croaky quality so didn’t have Davis try to work around it. Davis and co-star Merrill fell in love during the shooting of this movie and were married a few weeks after filming wrapped up. They adopted a baby girl, whom they named Margot. During the scene in the out-of-gas car, Davis’ character Margo tells her friend Karen she loves Merrill’s character, but “Bill’s in love with Margo Channing. He’s fought with her, worked with her, loved her… but 10 years from now Margo Channing will have ceased to exist. And what’s left will be, what?” Davis and Merrill did, indeed, divorce almost exactly 10 years to the day after marrying. Davis said they’d married their movie characters, rather than the actual people. Davis did have a lot in common with Margo, as co-star Celeste Holm noted. On the first day of shooting she walked onto the set and said, “Good morning.” Davis replied, “Oh shit, good manners.” Holm never spoke to Davis again, ever. Years later, Davis said in an interview, “Filming All About Eve was a very happy experience…The only bitch in the cast was Celeste Holm.” See if you spot Marilyn Monroe in one of her early roles. Zsa Zsa Gabor kept showing up on the set because she was jealous of then-husband, George Sanders, playing alongside the blonde bombshell. Both Davis and Baxter were nominated for the best actress Oscar in this movie, but neither won, though the film took best picture, best director and best screenplay.

LINKS: Trailer | Full film | Rent/buy

The Three Faces of Eve

RELEASE DATE: 1957 DIRECTOR: Nunnally Johnson STUDIO: 20th Century Fox HEADLINERS: Joanne Woodward, Lee J. Cobb, David Wayne RUN TIME: 1 hour, 31 minutes FILMED IN: Black & White IMDb RANK: 7.2

SYNOPSIS: Eve White is a timid, self-effacing wife and mother who has severe and blinding headaches and occasional blackouts. She eventually goes to see a psychiatrist, and while having a conversation, a “new personality,” the wild, fun-loving Eve Black, emerges. Eve Black knows everything about Eve White, but Eve White is unaware of Eve Black. The story follows her treatment for dissociative identity disorder.

NOTES: Based on the true story of Cris Costner Sizemore and the book written about her by psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. Cleckley, who also helped write the screenplay. The studio had Sizemore sign three separate contracts allowing the movie, under each of her personalities, actually having her go into the personalities. The signature on each contract was different. Sizemore’s identity wasn’t revealed until 1977, when she pubished her own story, revealing 26 multiple personalities, not just three. The reason given in the film for her disorder didn’t tell the full story. According to a 1989 People magazine article, “As a two-year-old, Eve had witnessed three unnerving scenarios within three months: a drowned man being pulled from a ditch, a sawmill worker sliced into three pieces and her own mother cutting herself severely on a piece of broken glass.” Woodward won the best actress Oscar for her performance, making her the first to win the award for playing three different personalities. Judy Garland, June Allyson and Eva Marie Saint were all offered the role of Eve and passed, as did Orson Welles for the role of Dr. Luther. Watch for Nancy Kulp–Miss Jane from the TV show “The Beverly Hillbillies”–in the role of Eve’s mother.

LINKS: Trailer | Full film | Rent/buy