With her revelatory performance as Sybil Dorsett, a woman with 16 personalities, 30-year-old “TV” actress Sally Field bade a definitive goodbye to her days as Gidget and The Flying Nun, and set herself on a course for big-screen stardom. Made for television in 1976, Sybil is based on Flora Rheta Schreiber's celebrated book about a withdrawn substitute teacher whose periodic blackouts compel her to seek professional help. Joanne Woodward (who won an Academy Award for portraying a woman with multiple personalities in The Three Faces of Eve) costars as the compassionate Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, who helps Sybil come to terms with repressed memories of childhood horrors inflicted by an exceedingly cruel and abusive mother. Sybil is a benchmark work, presented on home video for the first time in its original broadcast length. Director Daniel Petrie (A Raisin in the Sun) and screenwriter Stewart Stern (Rebel Without a Cause) took great care in elevating Sybil's story from exploitive disease-of-the-week fare into a redemptive story of healing. And Field, indelibly portraying a staggering emotional range, from infantile and painfully shy to poised and sophisticated, is a marvel to watch—as is Natasha Ryan, who portrays Sybil as a child. DVD extras include “The Paintings of Sybil” featurette with the artwork of real-life “Sybil” Shirley Ardell Mason and interviews with her friends, and “Examining Sybil,” an excellent “making-of” documentary that recalls how Field was such an unlikely and risky casting choice (Woodward remembers asking, “The Flying Nun is coming in to read for this?”). After Sybil, however, Field's Oscar-winning triumphs in Norma Rae and Places in the Heart came as little shock. What's not to like, really like? Highly recommended. (D. Liebenson)
Sybil: 30th Anniversary Special Edition
Warner, 2 discs, 187 min., not rated, DVD: $24.98 Volume 21, Issue 5
Sybil: 30th Anniversary Special Edition
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: