The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1962

1962

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Lee Remick in Days of Wine and Roses

Although Lee Remick is overshadowed in many ways, she's just excellent as Kirsten, a pathetic woman, a real victim. Her story is very heartbreaking and you don't get any fun out of it but Remick's realism in this part is really impressive. A great performance that should be much more frequently talked about.

4. Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth

I would kill to see this performance on the stage but instead I have to make do with a great motion picture performance that's nothing short of excellent. Geraldine Page makes Alexandra a very fascinating character and she single-handedly makes the movie worthy of watching. This work is a real treat. Truly-truly memorable effort by a great actress.

3. Katharine Hepburn in Long Day's Journey Into Night

I must say that I was thouroughly impressed by the performance of Katharine Hepburn. Although there's something in me that prevented me from totally embrace it, I still find her truly amazing in her part. As Mary Tyrone, she's just chilling and really disturbing but she never overplays Mary's broken personality. Fantastic work.

2.Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker

I was totally amazed by Anne Bancroft's star-making turn as Annie Sullivan, the determined and tough teacher. Anne Bancroft created a multi-layered fascinating character that is a real joy to watch. Her beauty shines through the screen and it's effect is just astonishing. I was taken by this work and I can only praise her for this. It's kind of cheesy to say it's a miracle but for me, it is.

1. Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

This is an iconic performance and rightfully so. It's both delicious and shocking, funny and disgusting. Bette's brilliance is at (another) peak here and she's really unforgettable. No matter what she does on the screen, it's going to be something that you'll never ever forget. She nails each and every nuance of Baby Jane and the result is a fantastic, dazzling and intense work by a brilliant actress.

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Bette Davis

in

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Who gets the last laugh?

Final thoughts: A really great year (the highest grades overall) but somehow I wasn't that blown away. All of these ladies were great but somehow I didn't enjoy this year as much as I expected to. Still, a wonderful year with great performances. The ranking was very difficult for me but I hopw to have made the right decision. I wasn't very sure but eventually, this seemed like the best alternative.

Omissions: Jeanne Moreau in Jules et Jim; Anna Magnani in Mamma Roma; Shelley Winters in Lolita

About the next year: It's no secret that it will be 1943. :)

What do you think?

Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth

Geraldine Page received her third Oscar nomination for playing Alexandra Del Largo, a depressed, movie star in the movie Sweet Bird of Youth. Geraldine Page won the Golden Globe for this performance of hers so I suspect she received many votes from the members of the Academy, too. I think she was third behind Anne Bancroft and Bette Davis. The fact that she had lost the previous year for Summer and Smoke must have helped her a lot, too. Poor Geraldine, I think she was always either second or third or at least fourth and that's why she had to wait so much for the win.

Although Sweet Bird of Youth is not a masterpiece, it's quite a decent movie. It doesn't have the tension of Richard Brooks' earlier Tennessee Williams adaptation, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. One can easily observe that in Paul Newman's performance. His work here was just uninspired and bored (unlike in Cat... where the character's inner pain almost burned the screen) though never really bad. He just didn't stand out. Ed Begley's nomination and eventual Oscar win is a mystery unsolved. I guess... no I don't. He just won. Same goes for Shirley Knight's nomination.

The only reason why people still remember this movie is Geraldine Page's performance as Alexandra, the mentally unstable actress. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't watch a movie like this twice. She's the only reason to watch this movie and it's so strong. Geraldine Page was born to play Tennessee Williams' heroines. Her neurotic persona and the unique, radiant presence of hers makes her the ideal choice for such roles. All of my greatest memories of Geraldine Page are in connection with her famous nervous ticks. When I think about Geraldine Page, I see the hysterical Eve in Interiors crying theatrically next to the window or the hopeful old lady from A Trip to Bountiful who's desperate to go home once. In short, I love this woman and I would be stupid not to love her most delicious performance as Alexandra.

Alexandra (as I said) a typical Tennesse Williams heroine: she's broken down, mentally unstable and yet she's hoping for a better future. She has a lover that she never takes really seriously. Somehow, things work out for her in the end. She's a diva in the best sense of the word. Despite all this (or because of this), I felt so sorry for her. Geraldine was not afraid of making Alexandra (or as she likes to be called "Princess") a miserable creature. Her breakdown at the cinema, the tragic falshbacks all add to the dramatic effects of this performance and Page uses the opportunities that she's given. From the first minute to the last, you just cannot take your eyes off her and she has a very magnetic presence.

However, something is working against Geraldine: her movie. In all fairness, she's not given enough time to shine and therefore she's less brilliant than she could have been. I mean, the story of Chance and the Finleys take away so much time from her and as a result, she never becomes the leading character that she deserves to be. This is not Geraldine's fault but it's a setback for her, unfortunately. If I'm really honest, I just don't see why she was needed in this movie. Just for the sake of a great female character? I really don't want to criticise Geraldine with this, I'm just angry about this thing.

Still, denying Geraldine's greatness here is totally useless as she stil owns her movie. She offers many unforgettable scenes. For example, her big exit where she frankly tells Chance what to do :D and when things work out for Alexandra. Geraldine plays masterfully with Alexandra's emotions and she leaves a really strong impression. You know, I'm a sucker for great theatrical acting. I imagine I would have orgasmed over Geraldine's last scene had I seen it on the stage. This way it's just a brilliant experience.

I would kill to see this performance on the stage but instead I have to make do with a great motion picture performance that's nothing short of excellent. Geraldine Page makes Alexandra a very fascinating character and she single-handedly makes the movie worthy of watching. This work is a real treat. Truly-truly memorable effort by a great actress.

What do you think?

I sleep to the ranking. Conclusions: tomorrow!

The Next Year

1962

So the nominees were:

• Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker
• Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
• Katharine Hepburn in Long Day's Journey Into Night
• Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth
• Lee Remick in Days of Wine and Roses

A legendary year that looks WOW! Which one of these brilliant actresses will get my vote?

What do you think? What's your ranking? What's your prediction for my ranking?

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1961

1961

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke

I don't think that this performance of Geraldine Page is all that special. I mean, she's plays the part properly and she has lots of great moments but altogether, she's far from brilliant. Apart from the beginning, she played Alma just like she had to and she put on very decent work that could be expected from an actress of her calibre. However, she's not as amazing as some say.

4. Piper Laurie in The Hustler

This is not a performance for the ages but Piper Laurie is very good as Sarah in The Hustler. Although sometimes she's too overshadowed by Paul Newman, her work never loses its strength and occasionally, we see truly brilliant, unforgettable scenes. Her achievement is very evenly great and therefore she deserves some praise.

3. Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass

Natalie Wood took on a very difficult role and despite some early mistake, she put on a wonderful performance as Deanie Loomis. She portrayed all the fears and the tension so realistically and exceptionally that she became a truly luminous presence on the screen. She develops the character excellently, avoiding all the traps and obviousness that could have ruined her work.

2. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

It really must be my sentimental side that came to surface while I was watching this movie but I couldn't care less. I understand why some could criticise it but for me, Audrey Hepburn's work as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's is deservedly one of the most iconic performances of all time. Not only has Audrey Hepburn created an unforgettable character, but also some marvellous acting.

1. Sophia Loren in Two Women

I know I should sum up his performance somehow but I feel that my whole review was the shortened version of how I feel about her. Nothing can come close to this wonderful emotionality, the radiant, brilliant personality of Sophia Loren (none of the Hollywood stars of her time can come close to her). This watch of the movie and my review was the ultimate test of my love for this performance and it passed. With distinction. :)

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Sophia Loren

in

Two Women

Easy win.

Congratulations to Fritz and Louis on the correct predictions! :) You got a prize but since you got it right only after 4 reviews you can both pick only from these 10 possibilities: 1943, 1953, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1999.

Final thoughts: BRILLIANT year! I so loved this year. All of them interesting, strong performances. Two very good ones, one really great and two legendary ones. I'm happy that I had to opportunity to do this wonderful year. I feel bad about not picking Audrey (so far, she's my best one not to win, I refuse to say loser) as that performance was worthy of an Oscar. However, no tie was possible. This award belonged to Sophia alone and the Academy somehow (what a miracle) realised that. So I've agreed with the Academy 3 years in a row. :)

Omissions: Jeanne Moreau in La Notte

About the next year: It's no secret that it will be 1992. :)

What do you think?

Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke

Geraldine Page received her second Oscar nomination for playing Alma Winemiller, the shy, sexually frustrated daughter of a minister in Summer and Smoke. Although Page won the Golden Globe for Best Actress (drama), I don't think that she had much of a chance of winning the Oscar that year. Too many stars were competing in that category and they all starred in very succesful movies that are now considered classic. Still, I feel that Page was ahead of Piper Laurie.

Summer and Smoke is a very entertaining movie. I mean Tennessee Williams was such an excellent writer and he created some of the best stories ever. This is not one of his best, though but that doesn't say much as even his weakest is among the best and this is not his weakest effort. Summer and Smoke (apart from the great story) is very well directed, acted, in short it's a really quality piece. Laurence Harvey is not an actor who's admired by many (my beloved Jane Fonda was not one of his fans, either as it seemed) but I think he was able to be really great and this performance of his is the best I've seen from him (besides Room at the Top). I really believe that he should have been nominated. Una Merkel did receive a nomination but she was quite unworthy of it, I think.

Geraldine Page seems to be dividing people much more than I used to think. Some are crazy about her skills and her immense talent (F. Murray Abraham is one of her biggest fans) and some are criticising her for being too over-the-top and self-aware. Personally, I admire her very much. Yes, she can be a little bit theatrical but I so love stage actresses in movies because of the energy that they give to the motion picture roles. Interesting enough, what I saw in Summer and Smoke justified both the love and the hate for Ms. Page.

She plays the neurotic preacher's daughter, a shy spinster who's terrified even by a touch of a man. However, she falls badly for Laurence Harvey's character and we get to see how their "relationship" goes. I really liked their chemistry on the screen and I was surprised how believable their "romance" was. I mean, I've seen actresses portraying spinster who are desperately in love with a man but this relationship was so different from them. Alma is neither too shy nor possessive. There's a bit of this and a bit of that.

As I said, this performance can be a justification for the both the admirers and the haters of Geraldine Page. In the beginning, Page is obnoxious and unbearable. She played Alma in such way too theatrically. I just felt so confused about her and I had trouble warming up to her work. It felt like watching a menstruating Deborah Kerr. In short, I didn't like her at all. That lasted for about 15 minutes and after that there seemed to be a wonderful change in either me or the performance.

In this movie, we can see many of Geraldine Page's famous nervous ticks and she excellently uses them when she needs to. I really loved her mentally unstable character in Interiors and her breakdowns there were so delicious and enjoyable so I hoped I would see something like that here. And I did, in fact. Whenever Page looked at Laurence Harvey, I felt that Alma's character is actually more controlling and manipulative than one would think and deep she tries to corner him emotionally with her breakdowns. Although John is also fooling around with Alma, Alma is not that different from him.

After all, Page got the shy personality of Alma right and she played that aspect of the character very well, despite the fact that the huge emotional scenes were the real highlights. Her big breakdown towards the end when she realizes the truth about her love is just excellently played by her. I really felt the character's pain and that scene was really intense.

Still, I don't think that this performance of Geraldine Page is all that special. I mean, she's great and she has a lots of great moments but altogether, she's not that brilliant. Apart from the beginning, she played Alma just like she had to and she put on very decent work that could be expected from an actress of her calibre. However, she's not as amazing as some say.

What do you think? (I forgot to grade Piper last time but she'll also get a 4.)

The Next Year

1961

So the nominees were:

• Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's
• Piper Laurie in The Hustler
• Sophia Loren in Two Women
• Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke
• Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass

Sophia Loren made history in 1961 by becoming the first actress to win for an entirely foreign language-speaking performance. Will she be my winner, too or will I pick one of the other incredible ladies?

What do you think? What's your ranking? What's your prediction for my ranking?

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1978

1978

5. Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year

So, I can say that Ellen Burstyn gives quite a good, entertaining, but surprisingly uneven performance, which is quite far from her best, but for an actress with less talent it would be a huge feat. But we're talking about Ellen Burstyn who's quite far from mediocre. What worked well on stage doesn't necessarily translate that well to the big screen.

4. Geraldine Page in Interiors

This is fantastic, unforgettable acting for the ages and I'm really hoping that more people will discover Page's greatness in Interiors. Although I could have arguments that she's supporting, the impact of this performance is so strong that it truly stays with you. Somehow, all the things that usually bother me with Page's performances work in her favor here. Simply magnificent.

3. Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman

It's mainly Clayburgh's achievement that this whole thing works. She's the engine, the power, she has so much screentime (she's practically always on-screen) and a very baity role, which is much more layered than you would think. She gets into your mind and leaves there a seed which continues to grow and grow.

2. Jane Fonda in Coming Home

This is a fantastic, brilliant and unforgettable performance for the ages. I'm feeling so guilty about not giving her a win. In any other year, she would be a shoo-in for the award. Unfortunately, I have to go with Ingrid but my dear Jane is just wonderful and really heart-breaking as Sally Hyde. Excellent, unforgettable and thought-provoking work that grows with each view.

1. Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata
This is, and now I'm not overly enthusiastic, one of the best and most true performances I have ever seen from an actor, male or female.She does not only haunt you for days, she remains with you for the rest of your life. I wish Bergman had the opportunity to say farewell to her film career with a last, glorious Oscar win for this once-in-a-lifetime performance.

So I can proudly announce
that my winner is... 
Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata

An astonishing farewell

About the field: If we switched Ellen Burstyn to Liv Ullmann in Autumn Sonata, this could be the strongest Best Actress field on record. I'm a huge fan of 3 of the nominees in general (hell, you all know how I feel about Jane) and even though I'm constantly biased towards Jane, I simply cannot pretend that anyone besides Ingrid Bergman deserved this Oscar. She takes acting to a whole, different level in Autumn Sonata, giving her absolute best performance. I sort of feel sorry for people who don't feel what many of us do feel about her. It's one helluva feeling and they miss a lot. :) 

Omissions:

• Liv Ullmann in Autumn Sonata
• Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween

And now it's time to give the clues to the next year, which was a very legendary year. If there's only ONE legendary year in motion picture history, this is it. No other clues and I helped you more than enough. :)

What do YOU think? :)

Geraldine Page in Interiors

Geraldine Page received her sixth Best Actress nomination for playing Eve, an interior decorator having mental problems in Woody Allen's bergmanesque drama, Interiors. Well, poor Geraldine Page. In my opinion she had the least chance of winning as she was campaigned in the wrong category. I'm more than sure that had she been nominated supporting she would have won the Oscar (just like she did at the Baftas). I'm not certain though if I would pick her over the great Dame Maggie, but I may give her the win in a tie.

Interiors is a pretty much love-or-hate movie and your attitude and reaction really depends on your own mood. When I first saw it I couldn't stand a minute of it as at the time I was a bit anxious. But now when I was totally relaxed looking forward to the weekend, I really was crazy about it. In fact, it was so good sometimes that I got creeps. It really is a grabbing piece with excellent performances by Maureen Stapleton, Diane Keaton and mostly by Mary Beth Hurt and Geraldine Page. I especially loved Hurt in the last scenes. It's interesting that for the first time I hated the movie mostly because of her.

And Geraldine Page. What can I say about this masterful actress? She was so unique and versatile that whenever I see a movie with her I am really not surprised at all how brilliant she is. For her it wasn't a problem to play a forgotten movie star after a shy spinster, or a suicidal, theatrical interior decorator before a lovely old lady desperate to see her home. She had so many faces and really never could be stuck in a typical character.

You might think that when I said in the beginning that I would give her the Supporting Actress win, I really wanted to suggest that she belongs to the supporting category. But if I really think about it, SHE is the lead. Despite not having much screentime, everything is about her and the effects of her actions on her family. It's tricky that she is even on-screen when is not (if you know what I mean), because her impact in this small (at least in terms of time) role is probably the most significant one.

When we first see Eve, Page makes it very clear that she's a very controlling, ultra-sensitive woman with over-the-top reactions, mood swings, huge screams and breakdowns, but also that she's a very intelligent and gifted person, who's probably way too perfect for her family and even herself. She loves being worshiped and pampered, but she always makes sure that it's the decision of the other person. Actually I can think of her profession (decorator) as a symbol of her role in the family. She always sets the stage for everyone, guides, helps, but also mercilessly controls them.

It's also fatanstic to witness how carefully Page built the relationship between Eve and Joey. In one of the first scenes they are chatting, but all the tension between these two women come to the surface. Eve really corners everyone emotionally and almost kills them with her mood swings. She always refers to the other one and has problems and she causes so much pain.

My favorite scene comes at the beginning during the birthday party. Eve is having a usual conversation with her daughter, when she suddenly (after a brief sentence about her husband) suffers a theatrical and almost laughable breakdown in front of everybody. Right there, Page was really on the edge of being too over-the-top, but she solved this very hard sequence with such dexterity and ease that it's amazing.

Her suicide attempt is really chilling. It shows, how theatrical and over-the-top Eve is, lying down gracefully in a beautiful dress. She's really madness in person.

People mostly praise her (well sort of) last scene in the church, when she has another breakdown as she finds out about the marriage plans of her ex-husband. I cannot really say enough times how well page shows Eve's personality. She screams "It's humiliating" with such passion and I even dare say, pleasure. Actually there and in the birthday party I became quite sure that Eve actually enjoys being in the centre of attention. Not to mention how incredibly haunting she is even when she's silent.

So to sum up, I saw once again fantastic, brilliant and unforgettable acting for the ages and I'm really hoping that more people will discover Page's brilliance. Although I could have arguments that she's supporting, the impact of this performance is so strong that it truly stays with you. Terrific work by a terrific actress, which gets

So, what do you think? I haven't decided about who should be the next, but you will know in time.

The Next Year

So right now, I'm moving along with my next year, which is said to be one of the strongest ones ever in this category. We'll see. There are supporters of all the nominated performances and you will find out my ranking of these five great ladies. I really wanted to do this year, so I'm quite excited. There are more performances here I am very fond of, so I will really like this year I think.

The nominees were:

• Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata
• Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year
• Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman
• Jane Fonda in Coming Home*
• Geraldine Page in Interiors

I really don't know what my ranking will look like (well, I have an idea about a certain place, but no rush) but we will see. Any predictions anyone? Who are YOU rooting for?