The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1958

1958

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mamie

Somehow I feel that Roz Russell's performance as Auntie Mame is quite lacking and not a really great one. There's something really off-putting about it and I feel she could have tried harder to elevate the material. It might be that she didn't impress me because I don't go for this type of performance. I don't know why I didn't like her but the point is that I wasn't impressed at all.

4. Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables

I liked Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables, despite the fact that she didn't give the best performance of the ensemble an she was too much outshone by some of the fellow members of the cast. If we look at her performance out of its context, it's a pretty great one. It just pales in the context of the movie and the rest of the performers. Still, good job that works well.

3. Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running

Although it's true that Shirley MacLaine gave a great performance as Ginnie Moorehead but she was trapped in a movie that's constantly working against her, plus she didn't have enough time to develop the character as well as she could have/should have. Still, I applaud Shirley for making Ginnie loveable and being the best part of her movie.

2. Susan Hayward in I Want to Live!

It's no wonder that Hayward won the Oscar for this performance. Although I have some problems with her work here, I can say that she's indeed fantastic at showing all of Barbara's emotions. It's a very realistic portrayal of a desperate woman who wants to live. Hayward made this character much more complicated and layered than most actresses would have.

1. Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

This is a wonderful performance that (at least to me) lives up to its reputation. Elizabeth Taylor is really fantastic as Maggie, the Cat, creating a fascinating, complex, multi-layered character. The fierce emotionality Liz added to Maggie is just brilliant. You can so easily identify with this character thanks to Taylor's greatness in this part. Extraordinary work.

So I can proudly announce

that my 30th winner is...

Elizabeth Taylor

in

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The first double winner. :)

Final thoughts: A so-so year. I didn't give any 5s but I guess a year can be great if I don't give any 5s. It wasn't the problem here. This ranking surprised me though I was almost sure that Liz would win. There was only one really fantastic performance (Liz), Susan was "just" fantastic. I had my problems with the others. Roz was quite much for me, Shirley was very good but she was robbed of enough screentime, so it couldn't have worked anyway. Deborah is not my favorite actress but I really liked her in Separate Tables.

About the next year: I don't have any idea yet, I still want to save 1967. Originally, I wanted to do that but I want to save the great years. I'll think about the next year but I'd be glad to have requests. :) It's your turn. I don't want to make a poll because that usually turns out bad and I'm rather superstitious.

What do you think?

Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame

Rosalind Russell received her last Oscar nomination for playing the title role of Auntie Mame, a very eccentric, free-spirited woman who has to take care of her nephew after her brother dies. If Susan Hayward hadn't been nominated that year, I think Russell might have won. She was overdue and she had a successul movie and won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical. I feel, though, that her star faded a little bit at the time and she wasn't as popular as she was 15 years before. Still, I think she was at least the third. That being said, I think Russell's 'time' was in 1947 when she infamously lost to her friend Loretta Young.

Auntie Mame is movie that I really didn't like much. It's much better than Travels with My Aunt but I don't think that it deserved a Best Picture nomination. There are many "funny" situations but I never laughed out loud. The art direction and the costumes were, however, just excellent and I feel the movie deservedly received those nominations. I guess audiences at the time must have been crazy about this movie but right now it didn't really impress me. Peggy Cass is amusing in some moments but I didn't feel that she really rocked in that role or deserved a nomination.

Rosalind Russell is an actress I don't really know what to think about. I saw too few of her movies to judge her overall work. For example, I loved her in His Gorl Friday, but I thought she really overacted in Mourning Becomes Electra. She might have been one of those actresses who were nominated for the wrong roles or something. She's now mostly renowned for her comedy roles so I was actually quite looking forward to watching Auntie Mame, which is one of her most popular movies.

One expression sums up Rosalind Russell's performance the best: over-the-top. Her Mame is a very exaggerated character, who's quite loud and colorful. This is not exactly the type of performance that I go for and this one was not an exception, either. All in all, I wasn't impressed by Roz Russell. One would expect a very significant and grand entrée from such a character but somehow it wasn't that big. She's just there and that's it. She's saying things to her nephew in a very over-the-top manner, she has colorful costumes and that's it. That might be heavenly for some, but not me.

Roz Russell is really weird as Auntie Mame. You don't get a full picture of her and you don't know what to think about her. The character's development is not solved very well by Roz. Mame might be a fickle person but I don't think that she changes that fast. Her motherly instincts become strong from one moment to another without anything that could make it more believable.

Roz wass great at comedy in general and she solved the funny parts of the movie well without making Mame a total idiot. Although the horse riding scene if on the edge, Roz somehow survived that one, too. There are parts when Mame is more sarcastic and those scenes show something of the His Girl Friday Roz. Otherwise, this is not one of her best comedy performances on the screen.

This doesn't mean that she's not amusing in some of the scenes. She did not make me laugh out loud but she made me smile once in a while. Mame's extravagance is quite entertaining if you get used to it. Because you really have to empty your head to enjoy this performance. If you really think, you will be disappointed but you'll like her to a degree if you don't think that much. Because there are really stupid things about this performance. If you're willing not to care about them, you'll be quite pleased by Roz, ortherwise you'll have two and a half hours of suffering. I think you should let yourself get used to this character.

Still, somehow I feel that Roz Russell's performance as Auntie Mame is quite lacking and not a really great one. There's something really off-putting about it and I feel she could have tried harder to elevate the material. It might be that she didn't impress me because I don't go for this type of performance. I don't know why I didn't like her but the point is that I wasn't impressed at all.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1958

So the nominees were:

• Susan Hayward in I Want to Live!
• Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables
• Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running
• Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame
• Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Wow, an interesting looking year but I don't have any idea how my ranking will look like. At the time, a whole country wanted Susan Hayward to finally win and her triumph was one of the most applauded ones (if not the one) in history. Many people are still talking about that year with sweet memories, so we'll see if I go with America's pick of the time or somebody else.

What do you think? Who's your pick? What are your predictions?