{"id":1957,"date":"2006-12-12T12:53:50","date_gmt":"2006-12-12T19:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1957"},"modified":"2024-04-21T23:53:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T06:53:01","slug":"lizzie-1957","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1957","title":{"rendered":"Lizzie (1957)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Sometimes at night I can&#8217;t sleep. I get up and I go to the mirror, and I stare at myself. Something strange seems to happen &#8212; it&#8217;s as though somebody else is staring back at me.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA museum employee (Eleanor Parker) suffering from recurring headaches is hypnotized by a psychologist (Richard Boone), who discovers that she has three distinct personalities: meek Elizabeth, tawdry Lizzie, and contented Beth.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eleanor Parker Films<\/li>\n<li>Hugo Haas Films<\/li>\n<li>Joan Blondell Films<\/li>\n<li>Joanne Woodward Films<\/li>\n<li>Multiple Personalities<\/li>\n<li>Psychological Horror<\/li>\n<li>Richard Boone Films<\/li>\n<li>Thrillers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nReleased the same year as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=33784\"><em>The Three Faces of Eve<\/em><\/a> (starring Oscar-winner Joanne Woodward), Hugo Haas&#8217;s <em>Lizzie<\/em> tells nearly the same story on a B-level budget, yet remains a surprisingly effective &#8212; and all-too-little seen &#8212; psychological thriller. Reviews at the time of its release, however, were tepid at best. Bosley Crowther of <em>The New York Times<\/em>, for instance, called <em>Lizzie<\/em> &#8220;a foolish and generally tedious film&#8221;; then again, he also referred to <em>&#8230;Eve<\/em> as &#8220;simply a melodramatic exercise &#8212; an exhibition of psychiatric hocus-pocus&#8211; [which, like <em>Lizzie<\/em>] leaves one feeling gypped and gulled at the end.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>These days, especially after the airing of <em>Sybil<\/em> (1976) on television, Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is much more widely known by the general public, and no longer quite so mysterious. Indeed, its name has changed &#8212; it&#8217;s currently referred to as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) &#8212; and there is ongoing controversy over the veracity of its diagnosis. Nonetheless, MPD\/DID remains ripe material for cinematic exploitation, given that there&#8217;s something undeniably fascinating &#8212; indeed, horrifying &#8212; about witnessing someone who is literally possessed by a &#8220;foreign&#8221; entity. While <em>Lizzie<\/em> isn&#8217;t a perfect film &#8212; things are wrapped up far too neatly in the end &#8212; it remains a compelling and scary little drama, well-worth watching at least once.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Shirley Jackson &#8212; author of &#8220;The Lottery&#8221; and <em>The Haunting of Hill House<\/em> &#8212; wrote the novel upon which <em>Lizzie<\/em> is based, originally entitled <em>The Bird&#8217;s Nest<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Eleanor Parker&#8217;s impressive performance as the psychologically fragmented young woman<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1956\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Joan Blondell and Hugo Haas&#8217;s neighborly banter, which adds some much-needed levity to the proceedings<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Couple.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Couple.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-65279\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Couple.jpg 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Couple-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Couple-128x96.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/Lizzie-Couple-360x270.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Nifty low-budget use of double-exposure to show both flashbacks and Elizabeth&#8217;s shattered state of mind<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/DoubleExposure.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/12\/DoubleExposure.JPG\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1954\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. This precursor to <em>The Three Faces of Eve<\/em> proves that a B-level budget doesn&#8217;t prevent a film from being an effective, well-acted thriller.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0050650\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1957\/04\/05\/archives\/the-screen-lizzie-one-womans-story-is-new-mayfair-film.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Sometimes at night I can&#8217;t sleep. I get up and I go to the mirror, and I stare at myself. Something strange seems to happen &#8212; it&#8217;s as though somebody else is staring back at me.&#8221; Synopsis: A museum employee (Eleanor Parker) suffering from recurring headaches is hypnotized by a psychologist (Richard Boone), who discovers that she has three distinct personalities: meek Elizabeth, tawdry Lizzie, and contented Beth. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Eleanor Parker Films Hugo Haas Films Joan&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1957\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1957"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95966,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions\/95966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}