The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1937

1937

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Luise Rainer in The Good Earth

This is a decent performance and I can really understand those who love it but I also understand the arguments against it. Still, Luise Rainer gives a very loveable and truly great performance as O-Lan which may not be for the ages but it is certainly very memorable and its emotional nature is truly impressive. Well done work with some incredible moments by a great actress.

4. Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born

I can say that Janet Gaynor is very good as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester but I can't say that she really is great. She's very charming, she's very loveable but the limits of her role prevented her from being truly outstanding in this part. As I said, she's really enjoyable but I couldn't help wanting a little bit more. It's lacking work but a good one, at least.

3. Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas

This might be the weakest one of Barbara's nominated performances but I still enjoyed her work as Stella Dallas. Although the character is quite unlikely and even a little bit confusing, Barbara makes her so entertaining in a very weird way. I can't explain why I liked her this much but I was really blown away by some of the scenes.

2. Greta Garbo in Camille

I have to say that Garbo really succeeded in creating a very complex and likeable character and a great performance despite the fact that she obviously has her flaws. Still, Garbo's luminous presence and wonderful personality might make up for the weaker sequences. Overall, it's a great performance that I really liked, I am still feeling a bit strange about her.

1. Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth

When I almost gave up on 1937, along came Irene Dunne to charm me with this incredible performance as Lucy Warriner. Not only does she give, what I consider one of the funniest performances ever, but she also breaks your heart a little bit as you really start to care about Lucy and her life. It's really incredible work and it's 100% right what Cary Grant said about Irene.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Irene Dunne

in

The Awful Truth

Ready for your speech?

Final thoughts: A good year but not a great one. Irene was an easy winner and the ranking of the nominees was incredibly easy. Only Irene was truly fantastic but Barbara was really-really close to that. Garbo might have even inspired Maria Callas with this role but she left me a little bit colder. Luise was very nice but not enough and the same goes for Janet Gaynor. Overall, I liked this year but it wasn't outstanding in any way. Plus, I had to say goodbye to Barbara Stanwyck as I've written about all of her nominated performances and that makes me really sad. :(

About the next year: Wow, I looked for a special year to celebrate the first anniversary of the reviews and I found it. But before that, I'm doing a less special but interesting year. It's gonna be incredibly obvious after the clue :):

• I want to win! :@ GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH...
• I feel like a ..t on a .o. ..n ..o.!

What do you think?

Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas

Barbara Stanwyck received her very first Best Actress nomination for playing the title role of Stella Dallas. Brilliant Barbara Stanwyck. She's widely considered to be the greatest actress never winning an Oscar and rightfully so. Yes, she got that Honorary award much later but I don't think that her loss for Double Indemnity, one of the all-time best performances, is forgivable. I wonder with the words of Norma Desmond about the Academy. "Don't they know what a star looks like?". Stanwyck herself thought that she should have won the coveted award for this role as Stella Dallas. I think she didn't have very much chance over Garbo, Dunne and, of course, Luise Rainer. It's interesting that 1937 was "the time" for three of the nominees and yet none of them won. That makes me sad and I guess that fact makes people dislike Rainer's win so much.

Stella Dallas is such an unlikely and yet interesting movie. It's a typical 30s melodrama with all its drawbacks but I think some of it works quite well. Although it's not a stylish soap opera like many of the later melodramas. It's definitely not King Vidor's best work but I still liked it and I don't think it's as bad and trashy as many people say. The performances are (except for Barbara) quite horrible, especially the one by John Boles who plays Stella's husband. Anne Shirley is not much better, either. Sometimes I felt as if she played the lesbian lover of Stella Dallas, not her daughter. And when she was really "girlish", she was annoying as hell.

Thanks to my reviews on this blog, out of nowhere, Barbara Stanwyck became my favorite movie actress along with Jane Fonda (Deciding between them would be so tough. Interesting enough, I once asked Jane Fonda about Barbara Stanwyck and she said she really liked her but I'll tell about that later, if you're interested.). She has a presence and a voice like nobody and she's probably the most versatile actress of her era. Even the big shots like Bette Davis or Katharine Hepburn were quite repetitive sometimes but I never felt that with brilliant Barbara. Her range covers the femme fatale, the soap opera matriarch (not a trashy diva like Joan Collins and such), the insufferable bitch, the foul-mouthed dancer and the self-sacrificing mother.

Walter Matthau once said about Barbara that when she was good, she was great but when she was bad, she was terrific. Nothing could sum up Barbara's performance in Stella Dallas better. Stella is definitely a soap opera character (and a very unlikely one) and yet Barbara somehow made me feel sorry for Stella and care about her. Barbara didn't suffer from the movie as much as she could have and even more, she achieved real greatness in some of the scenes.

Many people are bashing her earlier scenes because it's overacted by Barbara. I have to both agree and strongly disagree. Yes, she was a bit hammy in some of the scenes but I always felt that it came mostly from the bit trashy character and it wasn't completely Barbara's fault. At first, Stella is a dreamer who wants to be a rich, sophisticated lady. She becomes rich, but not sophisticated. I guess Barbara brilliantly showed all the changes in this woman and how she gradually gave up herself. And only because of one thing: motherhood. Somehow, motherhood turns Stella into something very unlike her. She remains the same person but she also becomes very caring, loving and protective.

The previously mentioned hamminess works well, however, in the scene at the train where she's laughing in a very rude way and everybody's looking at her (that's where I saw the parallel between Stella and myself :D). Many would say it's a very embarassing moment but for me, it all worked.

Still, the real greatness in this performance comes after Stella's sacrifice. Interesting enough, her sacrifice is not as sentimental and melodramatic as I expected, it's much more quiet than I thought. After her over-the-top behaviour, Stella listens to a conversations where two girls are laughing at her. Barbara's face is so expressive and brilliant there. I was totally astonished by that sequence. Same goes for the one, where she's lying to her daughter about why they cannot be together. I don't want to give away much but it's really heart-breaking to see her. If I'm talking about heart-breaking moments I cannot forget the very last minutes of the movie when Stella is watching her daughter's wedding from the street. There was a small nuance that I observed that was totally amazing. Barbara bit her handkerchief. I don't know why but I think it was a moment when Barbara's genious came to surface.

Yes, this is the weakest one of Barbara's nominated performances but I still really liked her performance as Stella Dallas. Although the character is quite unlikely and even a little bit confusing, Barbara makes her so entertaining in a very weird way. I can't explain why I liked her this much but I was really blown away by some of the scenes. The really brilliant Barbara showed her greatness that had yet to bloom after this movie. Really great early work.

This was my last review of a nominated Barbara Stanwyck performance. I'm incredibly sad. Incredibly sad. :( :( Who's gonna make me feel good? :( :D

What do you think?

The Next Year

1937

So the nominees were:

• Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth
• Greta Garbo in Camille
• Janet Gaynor in A Star is Born
• Luise Rainer in The Good Earth
• Barbara Stanwyck in Stella Dallas

A fantastic looking year. All five of them are interesting in their ways and I can't wait to take a closer look at them. Unfortunately, this will be the last reviewed performance of the brilliant Barbara Stanwyck, so I'll write her review last. I'm curious about how I will react to Rainer, Dunne and especially Garbo for the second time and if I'll like Gaynor more than Garland. We'll see.

Could Barbara gain another win from me or will it be someone else? What's your ranking? What's going to be my ranking? The predicting contest is naturally on.

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1944

1944

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Bette Davis in Mr. Skeffington

Many might disagree with me but I think that Bette Davis was excellent in Mr. Skeffington. Her over-the-top acting, her insane and brave choices all worked well with me. Even after I finished watching the movie, I was under the effect of Bette's great performance. Although it's not her best work, it's camp done very well.

4. Greer Garson in Mrs. Parkington

I can say that I was so pleasantly surprised and impressed by this performance of the wonderful Greer Garson. Although she did not blow me away totally, I was utterly mesmerized by her unique presence and talent. Garson illuminates the screen with her radiant self and charisma and she creates a wonderful performance as Susie Parkington.

3. Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight

Ingrid Bergman gives an extremely memorable performance as Paula a terrified woman on the edge of a total nervous breakdown. Although this is not the type of Bergman's performance that I love obsessedly, I would feel ashamed if I didn't praise her for this work of hers as much as I can. Ingrid's portrayal of this woman is brilliant and really haunting.

2. Claudette Colbert in Since You Went Away

Although Claudette didn't have the screentime and the screenplay on her side, she still managed to deliver a very emotional and loveable performance as Mrs. Anne Hilton. Claudette's acting is not too sentimental and she's quite heartwrenching occasionally. Had she been given more, she would have been even more fantastic (and won the Oscar).

1. Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity

But I had to chose Stanwyck's diabolique performance as Phyllis Dietrichson. Stanwyck's performance as the manipulative, irresistable Phyllis Dietrichson is just pitch-perfect. From what I've seen this is absolutely the best work of this silver screen goddess who always blows me away with her wonderful presence and radiant talent. Breathtaking achievement

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Barbara Stanwyck

in

Double Indemnity

Barbara hid a gun in case I picked someone else

Final thoughts: I so needed this year, especially after the awful 1957. All these five women gave fantastic performances and they all would have made worthy winner (except for maybe Bette). I said in my review about Ingrid Bergman that my #1 pick will be a difficult choice. It wasn't to tell the truth. After a while, it was very clear that I would give it to Barbara that scene behind the door is the most significant reason. I mean how could a scene be more brilliant. Ingrid is a great second. I loved Colbert more than it seemed from my review, I think. Garson, poor Garson is fourth once again even though I so loved her. Bette was the obvious fifth, she was the weakest one of this line up (as if I can ever use the word weak in a sentence with this year). Still, the best year so far, I really loved it. And it was great that I was able to cover it first. I usually don't care about it but now I wanted to be the first quite badly. :)

About the next year: I got requests, but I'm doing the next year because I'm really interested in it. It seems to be a great year and all the movies are available, right now. So I give clues:

• Comedy, THE box-office hit, period pieces

What do you think?

Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity

Barbara Stanwyck received her third unsuccessful nomination for playing Phyllis Diethrichson, a manipulative femme fatale in Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity. Poor, poor Barbara. I'm really sorry that despite being a great star and an icon, she never won a comptetitive Oscar. She got closest to winning the award with this role of hers. I think she would have won it, hadn't Ingrid lost the previous year to Jennifer Jones (if Ingrid had been nominated for Casablanca as she should have been). Barbara had to make do with an Honorary Oscar and a couple of Emmys instead. Still, she's one of the greatest that has ever been.

Double Indemnity is just a terrific movie like almost everything that Billy Wilder did. That guy was such a genious. He always used to say that the most important thing of a good movie is a great screenplay. And he was so right. Although I prefer Wilder's comedies, his 40s works are also really terrific. Fred MacMurray gives an excellent performance in the lead and I really think that he should have been nominated for Best Actor. Edward G. Robinson is also terrific in his supporting role and he's a real scene stealer in this one (too).

Barbara Stanwyck is really becoming one of my absolute favorite actresses. She had such a unique presence, a brilliant voice and a shining talent. Although she's nowadays mostly remembered by the general public for playing matriarchs in 80s soaps, her movies are also quite legendary. And probably the two most famous roles she ever played were in The Lady Eve and Double Indemnity. These were the landmarks in her rich career and one just cannot say anything bad about these ones. It always feels awkward to criticise iconic performances as you feel really bad about why you dislike something that some go crazy for.

However, such a thing doesn't come to my mind when I think about Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson as not only is her performance, in my humble opinion, fantastic but it's also one of the best works of this excellent lady. If you ask me, Barbara Stanwyck is a bit unlikely femme fatale. She's not as distant (or as mindblowingly beautiful) as Lauren Bacall or Gene Tierney. Barbara is much more easy-going and yet she has the very mysterious and very seductive nature that the above mentioned ladies have/had. Phyllis is a very manipulative but irresistable woman who can control and manipulate men extremely easily and even the audience. When we first see her as Phyllis she wears only a towel and she's presumably naked under it. This makes her so desirable in the very first scene of hers that it really manipulates the audience. Phyllis is an immoral, greedy woman who's as she puts "rotten to the heart". She basically wants to kill her husband to get insurance money and she manipulates a man who eventually makes a plan and commits the murder.

This is one of those performances when the performer benefits from the excellently written character who has great lines and scenes. That's what won Supporting Actor Oscars to three men who played villains in the very recent years. However, Barbara is so different as her performance doesn't rely only on delivering the great lines well (or simply the character) but she also adds real depth to this woman. Or to put it more accurately, she adds no depth to this character but intead she shows us that this woman has no depth, only emptiness and greed. Stanwyck plays so many tricks with the audience, which really could have been too forced and they could have made the performance too perplexing but she knew exactly when to stop. This is clearly visible in the very(intentionally) melodramatic scenes where Phyllis is complaining about her distant, aggressive husband. Her stories are really unlikely and they probably lack any real basis but we can't help believing them.

Stanwyck has some really intense and unforgettable scenes where she really shows all her talent. I think the most brilliant scene of her performance (and the movie) is where she's hiding behind the door when Fred MacMurray is talking to the suspicious Edward G. Robinson. Stanwyck brilliantly matched scared with cool-headed. She's both firm and desperate. It's a terrificly acted (and directed moment), full of suspense and it really blew me away. Her very last scene with her teary-eyed confession (probably also a lie) is also just unbelievably great. SPOILER! First, she cold-bloodedly shoots her lover and then she drops the gun and falls in love (!) with her. She is seemingly terrfied and she somehow knows that she's going to die but she hysterically hugs the man she loves. SPOILER OFF! It's an unlikely, yet terrific moment that really blows you away.

From her entry through her scenes at the shop with her sunglasses on until the unlikely, teary ending, Barbara Stanwyck's performance as the manipulative, irresistable Phyllis Dietrichson is just pitch-perfect. I'm not saying anything for sure but from what I've seen this is absolutely the best work of this silver screen goddess who always blows me away with her wonderful presence and radiant talent. Breathtaking achievement that naturally gets

What do you think?

The Next Year

1944

So the nominees were:

• Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight
• Claudette Colbert in Since You Went Away
• Bette Davis in Mr. Skeffington
• Greer Garson in Mrs. Parkington
• Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity

I can't wait to see all of the performances. It's going to be a tough battle between Bergman and Stanwyck and I haven't even seen the others who might just outdo both of them. Oh, so exciting! :)

What do you think? The predicting contest is on.

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1941

1941

The much anticipated ranking:

5. Joan Fontaine in Suspicion

This is a good performance by a great actress, who's unfortunately rarely talked about nowadays. Although Joan's achievement as Lina is quite uneven and a bit unimpressive, there's something interesting and enjoyable about her that makes you keep watching.

4. Greer Garson in Blossoms in the Dust

After all, I can say that this is a beautiful performance, which might a bit weak and rushed at times, but it's often very moving. Although it's quite forgotten nowadays, I think it shouldn't be, since it is one of the most lovely performances of a great talent. Although it may not be flawless, I still liked it a lot.

3. Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn

Although sometimes Olivia's performance in this movie is a bit slow-paced, she's still able to be very impressive and loveable. I'm not saying that I was blown away, but I was quite impressed by her this time around. Well done.

2. Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire

I can say that Barbara Stanwyck is just great as Sugarpuss O'Shea in Ball of Fire, and despite the fact that I did not expect that much from this performance and that the screentime was working against her, I was certainly really impressed by Barbara and wanted to see more of her.

1. Bette Davis in The Little Foxes

I can say after all, that Bette Davis gives one of her strongest and most memorable performances as Regina Giddens, the greedy Southern woman. She put all her experience and knowledge into it, worked hard, made it all look easy and created one of the greatest and most complex characters of the 1940s. An excellent, chilling work of a great actress. Bravo.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Bette Davis

in

The Little Foxes

You could at least stand up Bette! :)

Omissions:

• Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve *My Pick*

Final thoughts: A very strong year. Ranking was quite easy this time, everything went smoothly, I'm quite sure about myself this time. And I like that. This was pretty much unpredictable, since I did not know myself what I would think about this year. Bette was the clear winner (predictably), but the others were very good too. Olivia was the pleasant surprise for me as I usually don't like her, but this time she really impressed me. She grew on me, really. Greer and Barbara (love her) were very-very good and Joan was simply good. After all, I was happy to do this year finally (and I wanted to do it for a while).

About the next year: It's going to be a very-very exciting and strong year, which I'm really looking forward to reviewing. I'm just saying the clues that are quotes from the movies.

• I just want to be perfect!
• Marriage is hard.
• I'm not feeling bad enough for you!

Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire

Barbara Stanwyck received her second Best Actress nomination for playing Shugarpuss O'Shea in the comedy Ball of Fire. Nowadays, some consider Barbara to be the best actress who never won an Oscar, though I would argue with that statement. Although she was definitely extremely talented, I feel that Irene Dunne owns that title. I don't know how much chance Barbara had of winning, but I know that Olivia de Havilland voted for her. Ball of Fire must have been pretty loved back then, which gained some votes for Barbara.

I am a huge fan of Billy Wilder. I admire his quick wit so much and many of his movies are among my favorites. Although he did not direct this movie, he wrote its screenplay and it's obvious after the opening titles. Ball of fire is very entertaining, though I thought that it would feel very dated now. It's dated in a way, but it's still highly entertaining and extremely lovely. It's full of great lines and funny scenes. Gary Cooper is not among my favorite actors. Although I respect him, he never left me speechless. The same goes for his performance here: it's very proper, but nothing special.

As I just said, Barbara Stanwyck was really talented. Contrary to Greer Garson, Stanwyck was indeed very versatile. Although she was quite typecast on TV in the 70s and 80s, it wasn't the case in the 40s. She played a femme fatale in Double Indemnity, a possible murder victim in Sorry, Wrong Number and the self-sacrificing mother in Stella Dallas, just to mention only her Oscar-nominated works. In Ball of Fire, it's again a whole different character, the comic heroine. Even the name of Sugarpuss is extraordinary and really funny. Sugarpuss herself is truly a ball of fire, full of energy and lust, which makes Barbara the perfect choice for this part. Her easily recognisable voice, her strong presence really justifies this casting choice.

I love when great comedy performances are recognised by the Academy. In my opinion, comedy is really hard to do well, because if the lines are not delivered well enough, the whole work is ruined. If there's a false note in a drama performance, the rest of it might make up for it. However, in a comedy, you have nothing, but your lines and situations, which should be handled perfectly. And Barbara Stanwyck really nailed the comedy part of this performance. Although Sugarpuss doesn't get the best material (since it belongs to the other scientists), she's able to be very funny and memorable.

I consider Sugarpuss to be a character just like Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act. She's a thunderball, turning the life of a very quiet and peaceful community upside down, while annoying a conservative woman, who naturally doesn't approve her behavior. Barabara Stanwyck's comedy is, however much less hysterical than the one of Whoopi Goldberg. Under the circumstances of Babara's era, Sugarpuss wasn't what she could have been: a foul-mouthed, utterly adorable bad girl. And yet, Stanwyck was so memorable and delightful here.

I always keep marvelling at how well Stanwyk develops her characters, and how invisibly she goes from point A to B, therefore creating a very real character. Sugarpuss is very wild and cheeky in the beginning, and she's simply using these ultra-innocent man to basically run away. First she's only amused by their naive nature, but very soon, she becomes very fond of them, and doesn't want to let them down. Sugarpuss is an immoral woman, but Barbara showed well, that in a way she is an honest person. Yes, she uses these guys, but she doesn't make excuses when she could. She's always able to see the consequences of her action, and she's not afraid of talking back to anyone. She has this "I'm just like this, otherwise damn you" attitude, which could seem very distracting if you read about it, but it was very attractive for me on-screen. To tell the truth, I was seduced by her from the very beginning. Her scenes, her lines are also perfectly handled by Barbara, and I loved that she used these comic elements to underline certain attributes of this woman. For Barbara, comedy is only a tool to make Sugarpuss even more attracitve, and with me she succeeded.

Although the screentime is working against her, every times, when we see her, there's something great going on there. Even in her first shot when we only see her fingernails, we know that "yeah, this is gonna be great". I felt that, though I'm quite sure that Stanwyck's acting style is not for everyone. It's very divisive, since some may find her a bit artificial, but for me, her performances always work.

So, I can say that Barbara Stanwyck is just great as Sugarpuss O'Shea in Ball of Fire, and despite the fact that I did not expect that much from this performance and that the screentime was working against her, I was certainly really impressed by Barbara and wanted to see more of her. A great comedy performance.

I try not to get too carried away and I give her 4,5 Meryls, though I might change it to a 5 if she grows one me.

Any thoughts? Who should be the next one? (I will only read the comments on Saturday.

The Next Year

1941

So the nominees were:

• Bette Davis in The Little Foxes
• Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn
• Joan Fontaine in Suspicion
• Greer Garson in Blossoms in the Dust
• Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire

Oh, I always wanted to do this year! It's going to be so exciting. I've seen only two of the ladies yet (and I don't really remember them), so I'm very curious, even though I'm not a fan of any of these ladies. And for the very first time I only have actresses I have previously reviewed.

What do you think? What are your predictions for the contest?

BTW, I am going to France on Friday for some skiing and I'm coming back next Saturday, so I may only start reviewing then. I might post the first profile tomorrow, but it's quite uncertain.

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1948

About the field: Well, this year turned out to be way better than I expected. However I must say that my ranking looks much different than I thought it would be. I'm most shocked at my #5 as I expected her to become my pick. Nevertheless I can say that I saw two mindblowing, one great and two very good performances, so I can conclude that this was a rich and versatile year, which I really enjoyed. My ranking wasn't that easy, because there was some competition for #1, but in the end my pick was obvious. So now it's time to see the ranking

5. Irene Dunne in I Remember Mama

Irene Dunne gave a heartwarming, lovable performance which definitely had it's flaws but it did not bother me for her strong presence attracted my attention all the way. Great work, which had amazing moments in it.

4. Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc
Another unpopular and not talked about performance that I was impressed by. Her last huge scene left a huge impact on me and I simply loved her You can hate Ingrid in this, you can hate me for this, but it doesn't change anything.

3. Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit
She's courageous, charming and yet far from amazing or very memorable. I think that this performance might grow on me, but now I'm disappointed. Had I not heard that much about her, I would have been satisfied, but this way I'm feeling a bit awkward.

2. Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda
I saw a great performance, which aged well and was much better for the second time. My admiration has dropped a bit in time but I still have to admit how great she is in this movie. Very good and memorable work.

1. Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number

I can honestly say that I was very-very impressed and that I saw one of Stanwyck's finest works, which completely grabbed my attention from start to finish mainly caused by Stanwyck's dexterity with emotions. A really intriguing character study.

So my winner for this year is...
Barbara Stanwyck in

Sorry, Wrong Number
Barbara has just found out. :D

So now I've finished this very exciting year. So now it's time to move on. Unfortunately I can only start it in a week (precisely on Monday, 16th August). But naturally, I give you clues as usual, which will be TOO easy this time.

• Adultery, a guilty pleasure
• Being an artist is never easy
• Did you like The Green Mile?

So what do you think?

Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number

The so-called "best actress never to win an Oscar", Barbara Stanwyck received her fourth and final Best Actress nomination for playing Leona Stevenson, a terrified, bossy and bedridden woman who overhears the plans of her own destruction accidentally in the chilling thriller, Sorry, Wrong Number. I read somewhere that Irene Dunne was expected to win an overdue Oscar and with the heavily awarded performances of Jane Wyman and Olivia de Havilland, Barbara Stanwyck did not have much chance to win. I guess she was the fourth or maybe third, because she might have received some votes as she was Oscarless.

Sorry, Wrong Number is an excellently directed and brilliantly acted thriller, which is full of suspense, thoughts and great dialogue. In my opinion this Anatole Litvak movie deserved the Best Picture and Director nomination way more than The Snake Pit, but I guess it was considered brave at the time. No matter what, Sorry, Wrong Number is still a very enjoyable and a bit light entertainment with a very surprising ending (at least I did not expect it). Burt Lancaster gives a very good performance (he tends to either annoy the hell out of me or make me speechless, now it's neither) and the other members of the cast too, but again this is a typical example of a movie focusing on a superstar. Or is it?

No actually, it isn't. This movie definitely doesn't focus on Barbara Stanwyck, it's more of an ensemble piece (Stanwyck does not have much screentime at all), where she stands out as she's the one holding the story together. We feel that the movie focuses on her because she has such a heavy and substantial presence that everyone plaes in comparision with her. In fact, I was always wanting more Barbara when she was off-screen for she was a treat to watch throughout the entire film.

In the very first scene we see a typical rich and big-faced bitch, lying on the bed, sweating and being annoyed that she's not able to call her husband. She overhears the plans of killing a woman (who happens to be her) and after that she insists on saving that poor person. Stanwyck brilliantly shows how stubborn and demanding Leona (that's her name) is. She does not care about the life of that other person that much, but when she decided to do something, she doesn't put up with the refusal. We see that she always got what she wanted from her rich daddy and she got herself a poor, but charismatic young man.

Leona as I said is a total bitch, which can be very enjoyable for a lot of people in movies (personally I'm not a huge fan of it) and here Stanwyck certainly is. This character is very different from her femme fatale character from Double Indemnity. She does not want everything, she HAS everything. Actually she doesn't know the term want for exactly when she looks at something, she gets it.

Stanwyck gets to show lots of emotions throughout her film: anger, anxiety, excitment, desperation, love, hate and most of all fear. Sometimes she's almost unbearable to watch as you want to help her despite the fact that she's an awful person. Stanwyck's biggest achievement was that she was able to make me care about Leona's life without liking her a bit. No, in fact she even made me hate her and yet feel sorry for her. Stanwyck's playing with these ambivalent emotions is almost breathtaking and very dangerous for her. She's always on the edge of losing all the effect, but she marvellously kept the balance. Another potential trap of the movie was the psychological storyline, which she handled flawlessly, though she mostly concentrated on the suspense part.

Not to mention the unbearable the tension and suspense of the last 8-10 minutes of the movie when her killer approaches her. Her acting there is so real and so suspenseful that it made me speechless. Stanwyck marvellously went from point A to B with her character, whose development is excellent AND believable plus her extremely strong presence constantly amazed me. She always left me wanting more of her (I mean this a very positive way) and the movie really lived when she was on-screen.

So, to sum up, I can say how pleasantly surprised I was as this was the performance I did not really expect that much from. I can honestly say that I was very-very impressed and that I saw one of Stanwyck's finest works, which completely grabbed my attention from start to finish mainly caused by Stanwyck's dexterity with emotions. A fascinating character study.

So comments, predictions anyone? To watch Sorry, Wrong Number click here.

The next year...

Hi everyone, I'm back from my vacation so now it's time to go on with our next year, which is (as you all guessed well) 1948. I don't know either how my ranking will look like as I only saw the winner, but I can give links to ALL of the movies. On forums this year is mostly talked about because of the performances of de Havilland and Wyman, however I can pick anyone, so let's just start it. I think I'll see at least two excellent performances and naturally I'm waiting for your preditions.



So the nominees were:

• Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc
• Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit
• Irene Dunne in I Remember Mama
  
• Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry, Wrong Number
  
• Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda
  

So what do you think my ranking will look like?