The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1943

1943

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Greer Garson in Madame Curie

I was quite disappointed by this performance as I expected way more of Greer Garson, a truly wonderful actress. She's trapped in a boring movie, which is the enemy of its on and she's sometimes overshadowed by the boredom of Walter Pidgeon. Under these circumstances, it's a decent performance with problems.

4. Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier

Everything works perfectly with this performance. Then why am I still a bit disappointed? For some reason, I was never totally blown away by Jean Arthur's work. Although I enjoyed it from the beginning to the end, there wasn't a moment when I said "Wow! She's amazing!". Still, it's a well-played, entertaining comedy role and I really don't have complaints.

3. Joan Fontaine in The Constant Nymph

I wouldn't say that this is a pleasant surprise because I expected to like Joan but I was really impressed by Joan Fontaine's performance as Tessa. Although this is neither groundbreaking nor amazing work, I enjoyed every minute of it. Joan never fails to make Tessa a sympathetic character and I liked the character overall.

2. Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls

It might seem like that I'm collecting many things to prove that I like her (because of my love for Ingrid) but I'm indeed quite fond of this performance. It's nothing groundbreaking but it's quite impressive and interesting. Ingrid does her usual routine and the result of it was positive for me. Not great but certainly good.

1. Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette

A no-brainer, easy winner. I really did not expect to be impressed by Jennifer THIS much but I was, after all. Jennifer Jones is nothing short of amazing as St. Bernadette. Her grace and dignity shines through the screen and grabs your attention and never lets you go. It's a wonderful, unforgettable performance that's not as frequently talked about as it should be. A real miracle, if I may say so.

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Jennifer Jones

in

The Song of Bernadette

Easy win.

Omissions:
Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca *My Pick*  (Do I have to explain????)

Final thoughts: A mixed bag. Jennifer Jones got my vote very easily. I liked the rest of the ladies, too but to a much lesser extent. Joan and Ingrid were almost equal for me, Jean was not far behind them and Greer wasn't much worse than them. I think it's a very even but quite weak year and Jennifer so obviously stands out in this bunch. She's just wonderful. Otherwise, I enjoyed this year but didn't love it.

Note: From now on, I won't rank the years. I don't really see the point of it.

About the next year: Wow, I'm ending the summer with a really strong three-way race. I'm very excited to give clues once again (after such a long time :D). However, I can only start reviewing next Saturday. But I'll annonce the year on Wednesday.

• Mommie dearest (x2)
• Don't get THIS mad!
• Leading or supporting? Vanity will decide. :D

So what do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

Joan Fontaine in The Constant Nymph

Joan Fontaine received her third and last Oscar nomination for playing Tessa Sanger, a teenager falling in love with a composer in The Constant Nymph, the favorite movie of hers. In my humble opinion, Joan could have been third, fourth or even fifth. I guess she was fifth as Greer Garson might have had some leftover love after Mrs. Miniver plus Madame Curie was a Best Picture nominee while The Constant Nymph was not. However, Joan was at the peak of her career in the early fourties so who knows? This one remains a mystery for sure.

The question about The Constant Nymph is not the usual "How did you like it?" but "How did you get it?". Well yeah, this movie is among the most hard-to-find Best Actress movies (it's probably the second on the list after The Blue Veil"). Everybody who's lucky enough to see it, can watch only very awful copies. However, it's quite a good film and it's much more surprising than one would imagine. I really liked Charles Boyer and although he's doing his routine, he's quite good here. The supporting cast is also quite good in this movie. All in all, I must say that I enjoyed this movie though I probably wouldn't watch it again.

Joan Fontaine, in my opinion, is a very interesting actress who always gives very special performances. I prefer her to her sister and big rival Olivia as Joan's performances always seem to be much more honest and less fake. I always enjoy Joan's presence on the screen even when she's not given a very rich character to work with (like in Suspicion). It's sad that Joan is not that frequently talked about nowadays even though she would deserve to be. Whenever Joan comes to my mind, I always think that she's able to give such rich performances. She fills very uninteresting characters with life and she's able to turn in wonderful works. In Rebecca, her unspectacular character turned out to be full of layers and she really rocked in that part.

Because of these reasons (and the fact that this was Joan's favorite movie of hers), I was quite optimistic about The Constant Nymph and was really looking forward to watching it. You know, when I read the story, I didn't think "another 1940s romantic movie with a young girl hopelessly falling for an older man". I though "Wow! Joan Fontaine must be great in this one (and she is). Yes, the story (and once again, the character) is not that interesting at first sight. Tessa is just a fourteen-year-old who's crazy about a handsome composer, Lewis (played by Charles Boyer). Alhtough her love marries her cousin, there's still a special relationship between Tessa and Lewis.

Honestly, I hate when adults play teenagers but 1943 has caused me to get rid of my prejudices as not one but two actresses gave excellent performances as teenagers. While Jennifer Jones had a very epic role in The Song of Bernadette, Joan's character is somewhat different. However, there's a common thing in their performances that neither of them overplays the childlike aspects of the characters. Joan could have fallen into that trap much easier than Jennifer as Joan's character had many of the traits of young girls. She's giggling, she blushes because of the sight of a man and such things. With Joan, it's all really believable.

The chemistry between Charles Boyer and Joan Fontaine was crucial to the story and it worked. They seem like the perfect hopeless lovers and I actually felt sorry for them. Although it's Joan who's the emotional centre of the film, Boyer adds his own to the story. Whenever I saw Joan, it was just fine the way it was and I was simply charmed by her presence. Her scenes with Boyer (as a result) were really likeable and I thought that neither of them overdid them. This is another thing I admire about Joan: she never really overplays the sentimentality of her characters.

Joan plays the ending excellently. I was kind of surprised by it and Tessa's last scenes were really impressive for me. I was taken by the emotions and I felt truly sorry for her. However, it was never too soappy or sentimental (at least not more than it had to be).

So to sum up, I wouldn't say that this is a pleasant surprise because I expected this but I was really impressed by Joan Fontaine's performance as Tessa. Although this is neither groundbreaking nor amazing work, I enjoyed every minute of it. Joan never fails to make Tessa a sympathetic character and I liked the character overall.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1943

So the nominees were:

• Jean Arthur in The More The Merrier
• Ingrid Bergman in For Whom The Bell Tolls
• Joan Fontaine in The Constant Nymph
• Greer Garson in Madame Curie
• Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette

A weak year apparently but we'll see. :)

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

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!

Joan Fontaine in Suspicion

Joan Fontaine received her second Oscar nomination and only Oscar for playing Lina McLaidlaw, a scared young wife in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, Suspicion. It's easy to see why Joan won for this performance: the Academy realised how incredibly stupid they were when they did not give her the award for Rebecca, one of the greatest performances of the 1940s. This is another proof for what Katharine Hepburn once said, that always the right actors win Oscars, but for the wrong roles. Moreover, Joan's case became much more interesting since her win worsened the feud between her and her sister, Olivia de Havilland.

Suspicion is a fascinating movie, but what else do you expect from the great Alfred Hitchcock? It's certainly one of his lesser and least memorable works (it's not even close to, say, Vertigo or Rear Window), however, Suspicion is just great to watch. Although the exposition is a bit slow and lazy (yes, probably a bit boring), the rest of the movie really makes up for it. After a while, the whole thing becomes really tense. Plus, Hitchcock's mixture of genres (romantic movie and thriller) is just brilliant. Also, Cary Grant is one of my favorite actors, so I always like him very much. This is not his best performance, though.

Joan Fontaine (as I said) deserved an Oscar for Rebecca, hands down. She was so incredible in that movie, covering such a wide range of emotions: fear, desperation and so on. Although she was only 23 at the time, she was already so masterful with the emotions (better than her sister ever was) and I would have expected something like that from this performance hadn't I seen it beforehand. I knew that this wouldn't live up to that great work, but I remember really enjoying it for the first time. I wasn't even influenced by the many negative reviews about her.

And Joan Fontaine is indeed quite enjoyable as the terrified Lina. However, this time I couldn't overlook the flaws in this performance, which are mostly obvious in the beginning. The whole beginning of the movie is rather slow, so it's the actor's task to make it enjoyable, however, I think they failed at doing so. At first the chemistry between Joan and Cary Grant is not that strong and it has to develop a lot as the film progresses. Fortunately, the chemistry somehow becomes much better between them.

Although Joan's work here is quite uneven, it's positive thing about it that her performance really develops and gets better and better in time. It starts out extremely weak and her presence doesn't have very much weight. It might be, though, that it was the aim of those scene to show Lina a very boring and grey person, who's not very interesting. If that was the purpose, than Joan really succeeded. I wasn't fully convinced that Lina was really seduced by Johnnie. Or she just wanted to get married and not to be called a spinster. Well, that's an interesting option. However, there isn't much mystery in this performance.

When the story gets a bit more exciting, Joan's performance also becomes very good. There were scenes where I said "wow, she's quite good actually". Her presence became so much stronger, plus she was somehow able to deal with the emotions much better, she perfectly showed how terrified and uncertain she is. You can defend her that you couldn't make such a character interesting, but I feel that Joan could have added more to it in the beginning. And the second part proves my point. I actually did develop an interest in Lina and I really cared about her.

Still, she's not very impressive even in the second half since the direction is so masterful there that it totally overshadows the rest, everything pales in comparision with it. Although Joan's performance improves a lot in the second half, she's not an exception. I'm not saying that she's not enjoyable, but she did not completely satisfy me. That's too bad, because that's what I hate the most: mediocre performances. I don't want to take anything from Joan, but this is not better than average, unfortunately. I really-really wanted to love her, but I wasn't able to.

All things considered, 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. Not close to Rebecca, but I think that I shouldn't make comparisions.

A weak 3,5.

What do you think?

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 1940

About the field: Although I thought that it was going to be very strong, it was actually quite weak, with only one truly outstanding performance (no surprise who I guess) and it was very easy to do this ranking. For me everything was so obvious about whom I liked and how much. Except for my #1 and #2 my feelings are leaning towards neutral. However this year was still better than 1998 (though then there were two unforgettable performances). We saw in 1940 a scared woman, a socialite, a killer wife and two confused girl. The overall quality of the movies was also very low, yet I enjoyed doing this year as it's so often talked about (IMO yes). So my ranking for this year is:

5. Martha Scott in Our Town

Yet, her lack of presence effects my opinion about her unfortunately. Her whole performance fails to become substantial or really impressive. It's true that she shines sometimes, but it was way not enough to have a lasting impression on someone. This performance is not much. I'm a bit sorry as this could have been so much more.

4. Bette Davis in The Letter
Overall it's not bad, however it's very inconsistent and uneven in its strenght. Here however, Davis also had to work with a mediocore material. Too bad as this is probably the only performance of Bette I was disappointed by.

3. Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle
I can say that she gave a very strong and memorable performance. She is truly great but I simply cannot overcome the fact that she's so uneven. A performance that could have been so great, but was damaged by the quality of the movie.

2. Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story
this is a very nice and entertaining performance, which may not be that deep, however it succeeds in pleasing the audience and most of all, in being funny and amusing. It's probably not the best performance of Kate Hepburn, but not her worst either. Great fun and nice entertainment.

1. Joan Fontaine in Rebecca
Such an obivous (and delightful) pick. She holds it together with her charm, beauty and immense talent and also, I don't really think that anyone could have played this character this well with such credibility. Fontaine definitely deserves the huge amount of love she gets for this performance. Viva Joan!

So my winner for this year is (by a landslide)...
Joan Fontaine in Rebecca
Hey Judith! Don't be pissed that Joan won and you didn't!

Bad news everyone: I'll be away until August so no blog entries until then. However I've already picked my next year and I have good news: all movies are online so we'll be able to discuss and (re-)watch them together. Naturally, I give you clues, which one it will be. These clues will be very easy, but let's see:

• People hearing without listening... Or the contrary?
• She's on fire... (sorry)
• Speaking. Oh sorry...
• NO-Way

And time to announce another winner of the prediction contest: Joe Burns, congratulations!

So what do you think? Guesses, opinions anyone?

P.S.: I would like to make my conscience clear, so that's why I made a bit of change here. I don't want to really explain it and I may regret this one too, but I was not satisfied with the original. First I thought that my doubt would disappear, but it did not unfortunately. I know that this is not fair, but I don't make excuses. So that's just how I feel.

Joan Fontaine in Rebecca

Joan Fontaine received her first (out of three) Best Actress nomination for playing a naive young girl marrying a rich widower in the Best Picture-winning Rebecca, the masterpiece of the legendary Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Fontaine became a huge star with this performance and exactly a year later, she won an Oscar, which is considered to be a make-up prize for losing for Rebecca. Neverthless both the movie and Fontaine's performance became classic and if it wasn't for Ginger Rogers' huge popoularity, she probably would have won.

As I said Rebecca is simply a masterpiece. It's full of suspense, mystery and excitement, plus you can never take your eyes off the screen. Hitchcock was a film master that's for sure and he showed his talent at filmmaking with this movie too, even though it's not as amazing as Vertigo or Rear Window. The actors all give strong and memorable performances and three of them got their nominations. Laurence Olivier is a bit mannered in the beginning if I may say so, but in the end, he's simply amazing. Judith Anderson is the most loved of the public, even though I feel she's a bit over-the-top, but great anyhow.

And about Joan Fontaine's performance: all I can say is WOW! I read somewhere that although Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier are great in this movie, they are both overshadowed by the creepy Judith Anderson. I would like to rephrase that sentence: although Laurence Olivier and Judith Anderson are great in this movie, they are both overshadowed by the magnificent Joan Fontaine. And it's all so true: every movement, every action of Fontaine is pitch-perfect and her presence is simply magnetic.

The amazing and shocking thing about this performance is that it's not showy or baity at all. Actually, it's such a subtle and (I even dare to say) thin role, that it's almost a miracle that Fontaine got so much out of it. In my opinion in 90% of the cases, actresses playing naive young girls are destined to be weak and not impressive at all. It's so great that Fontaine belongs to that 10% (thank God for that). It's such a lovely contradiction that she is enourmously strong by being weak and inconfident. From a standard character she created a living, breathing woman, for whom you root and want to succeed.

At the beginning we can only see a shy young girl watching Laurence Olivier. We can immediately feel her attraction towards him and the chemistry between is remarkable and rarely seen in other movies. Two other performances came to my mind about Joan Fontaine in Rebecca: Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (this is more obvious) and Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story. Although she doesn't seem to be a mix between them (Fontaine's movie was made way before those ones), the common thing among them is their huge impact with subtle, minimal acting. They all haunted me for a long time and the effect of them is almost indescribable.

And yet this is not the best thing about her performance as it is the amazingly and carefully worked out development of her character. First, she's just a shy young girl, serving a horrible, nosy woman and falling for Maxim de Winter. Then at Manderley, she's an even more inconfident living in a world that is unknown and strange to her. We see her as a scared little animal parted from its mother. She is unforgettable in the scene where she says that Mrs. de Winter is dead and she doesn't realize that the man on the phone wanted to talk to her. That small sentence was probably the highlight of her whole performance (for me at least, I suspect that I might be the only one) and it is the reason why I love the Best Actress reviews. And as we approach the ending, this girl becomes so confident, that she's not even afraid to fight Mrs. Danvers (the way she says "I'm Mrs. de Winter now" is chilling). It's also worth mentioning, that her romantic moments with Laurence Olivier never become corny or soappy, they remain credible and of course full of tension.

Joan Fontaine's acting in this movie is so progressive, in my opinion way ahead of her time. Back in the 1940s it was all about drama queens and zany comedies, but Fontaine created something new, which effected the later film acting. I just cannot imagine other actresses in this kind of roles being that good, if it wasn't for the inspiration of Fontaine. I know that this is debatable and naturally it's just my opinion.

Her huge screentime is also an important factor of her whole performance. With that much time, she had the opportunity to go this deep into her character, though I must say that towards the end it's more about Laurence Olivier. We can agree that Fontaine's performance is the main reason why this movie is so great. She holds it together with her charm, beauty and immense talent and also, I don't really think that anyone could have played this character this well with such credibility. Fontaine definitely deserves the huge amount of love she gets for this performance. Personally, I even liked her in Suspicion. But that's a different story. Viva Joan!






Comments, opinions, predictions anyone? To watch Rebecca click here.

The Next Year

Moving along with our next year, which is 1940 one of the most talked about races ever. The nominees cover a wide range, but now I stop talking. This time I will send links to the movies, which I hope will be useful to you (I cannot give you one to The Philadelphia Story but it's available on DVD I'm sure). Again, let's enjoy the movies and naturally, the performances of these iconic stars.



So the nominees were:

• Bette Davis in The Letter
• Joan Fontaine in Rebecca
• Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story
• Ginger Rogers in Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman
  
• Martha Scott in Our Town
  

So what are your predictions? It's time to share your fearless, gutsy predictions with me and the world.