100 Great Lead Actress Performances

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Heksagon
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Post by Heksagon »

There’s no particular reason why I did not choose to list any pre-1927 performances. It is true that I have seen only few pre-1927 films and I don’t particularly admire acting styles in silent films, but there’s no single reason - other than that there were not individual performances I would have liked enough. I would have included Lillian Gish for Broken Blossoms, but in the end I went with The Wind (although I haven’t seen either film in a long time, so the decision between the two was rather arbitrary). Amongst other performances from the period that I considered were Pola Negri in Madame Dubarry, ZaSu Pitts in The Greed and Greta Garbo in Joyless Street.
Reza
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Post by Reza »

Why does your list begin from 1927? Is it because you haven't seen any films made before that year or did not like any female performance before 1927?
Heksagon
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Post by Heksagon »

It took me more than a month to finish my list of top lead actress performances (my list of lead actor performances is to be found at the appropriate thread). Well, here it is, and I’m still very uncomfortable with it. There were too many candidates for this list that I have seen only a long time ago - and ones that I have never seen, but I know I should have. While watching a movie, I usually don’t pay that much attention to how "good" an individual performance is, so I have had to work on some rather fuzzy memories... (With some exceptions) I like performances best if I can "forget" that they’re acting, so I usually try to dissipate rather than pay attention to details. The fact that I try not to pay attention to individual performances is probably the reason why so many of the films mentioned here also have mentions in my list of top lead actors.

And once again, I have only one performance per actress. I’ll see if I can value supporting performances next.


1. Janet Gaynor, Sunrise (1927)
2. Lillian Gish, The Wind (1928)
3. Maria Falconetti, Passion of Joan of Arc (1929)
4. Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night (1934)
5. Myrna Loy, The Thin Man (1934)
6. Ruth Chatterton, Dodsworth (1936)
7. Paulette Goddard, Modern Times (1936)
8. Carole Lombard, My Man Godfrey (1936)
9. Irene Dunne, The Awful Truth (1937)
10. Katharine Hepburn, Bringing Up Baby (1938)
11. Wendy Hiller, Pygmalion (1938)
12. Greta Garbo, Ninotschka (1939)
13. Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind (1939)
14. Merle Oberon, Wuthering Heights (1939)
15. Norma Shearer, The Women (1939)
16. Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday (1940)
17. Barbara Stanwyck, The Lady Eve (1941)
18. Greer Garson, Random Harvest (1942)
19. Teresa Wright, Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
20. Judy Garland, Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
21. Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce (1945)
22. Ingrid Bergman, Notorious (1946)
23. Celia Johnson, Brief Encounter (1946)
24. Ann Baxter, All About Eve (1950)
25. Bette Davis, All About Eve (1950)
26. Gloria Grahame, In a Lonely Place (1950)
27. Gloria Swanson, Sunset Blvd. (1950)
28. Anna Magnani, Bellissima (1951)
29. Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun (1951)
30. Maureen O’Hara, The Quiet Man (1952)
31. Harriet Andersson, Summer with Monika (1953)
32. Danielle Darrieux, Madame de... (1953)
33. Chieko Higashiyama, Tokyo Story (1953)
34. Deborah Kerr, From Here to Eternity (1953)
35. Dorothy Dandridge, Carmen Jones (1954)
36. Giulietta Masina, La strada (1954)
37. Simone Signoret, Les diaboliques (1955)
38. Carroll Baker, Baby Doll (1956)
39. Lana Turner, Peyton Place (1957)
40. Leslie Caron, Gigi (1958)
41. Jean Seberg, Bonjour tristesse (1958)
42. Elizabeth Taylor, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
43. Doris Day, Pillow Talk (1959)
44. Shirley MacLaine, The Apartment (1960)
45. Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
46. Piper Laurie, The Hustler (1961)
47. Silvia Pinal, Viridiana (1961)
48. Sue Lyon, Lolita (1962)
49. Jeanne Moreau, Jules and Jim (1962)
50. Patricia Neal, Hud (1963)
51. Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins (1964)
52. Anna Karina, Bande à parte (1964)
53. Kyoko Kishida, Woman on the Dunes (1964)
54. Debbie Reynolds, The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
55. Constance Towers, The Naked Kiss (1964)
56. Julie Christie, Darling (1965)
57. Bibi Andersson, Persona (1966)
58. Liv Ullman, Persona (1966)
59. Faye Dunaway, Bonnie & Clyde (1967)
60. Jane Alexander, The Great White Hope (1970)
61. Jane Fonda, Klute (1970)
62. Sarah Miles, Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
63. Catherine Deneuve, Tristana (1971)
64. Liza Minnelli, Cabaret (1972)
65. Dominique Labourier, Céline et Julie vont en bâteau (1974)
66. Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
67. Isabelle Adjani, The Story of Adèle H (1975)
68. Louise J. Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
69. Sissy Spacek, Carrie (1976)
70. Diane Keaton, Annie Hall (1977)
71. Sally Fields, Norma Rae (1979)
72. Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City (1980)
73. Debra Winger, The Terms of Endearment (1983)
74. Judy Davis, A Passage to India (1984)
75. Helena Bonham Carter, A Room with a View (1987)
76. Sally Yeh, Peking Opera Blues (1987)
77. Glenn Close, Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
78. Carmen Maura, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
79. Helen Mirren, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
80. Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
81. Meryl Streep, Postcards from the Edge (1990)
82. Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
83. Marisa Paredes, High Heels (1991)
84. Juliette Binoche, Three Colours: Blue (1993)
85. Holly Hunter, The Piano (1993)
86. Irène Jacob, Three Colours: Red (1994)
87. Melanie Lynskey, Heavenly Creatures (1994)
88. Rena Owen, Once Were Warriors (1994)
89. Gong Li, Shanghai Triad (1995)
90. Emma Thompson, Sense and Sensebility (1995)
91. Frances McDormand, Fargo (1996)
92. Josephine Siao, Summer Snow (1996)
93. Jennifer Tilly, Bound (1996)
94. Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves (1996)
95. Annette Bening, American Beauty (1999)
96. Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me (2000)
97. Maggie Cheung, In the Mood for Love (2001)
98. Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher (2001)
99. Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
100. Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

I haven't seen Edward, My Son in years, but I do recall liking Kerr a lot while not liking Spencer Tracy at all. Interestingly I looked up the original Variety review and was surprised to find they highly praised both the screenplay and Tracy's performance, adding that Kerr and Ian Hunter were very good as well.

Deborah Kerr is the only other nominee whose name appears in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's records of 1949 Golden Globe nominees, although it was another British acting legend, Edith Evans, who was de Havilland's closest rival at the New York Film Critics Awards for both Dolwyn and Queen of Spades. Kerr came in seventh behind Mercedes McCambridge in All the King's Men, Lea Padovani in Salt to the Devil (aka Christ in Concrete and Give Us This Day), Nora Swinburne in Quartet and Judy Holliday in Adam's Rib.
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Post by kaytodd »

Magilla, I think you (and the Academy) made the correct choice for 1949 with Olivia De Havilland for The Heiress. It is a wonderful performance and she dominates the film, being in nearly every scene.

But last night I saw Edward My Son for the first time in nearly 20 years. I was reminded of how startled I was the first time I experienced the transformation Deborah Kerr went through in that film.

When I first saw it, I had seen the very beautiful Kerr in The Sundowners, From Here To Eternity, The King And I, Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, Tea And Sympathy, etc. Seeing her start off as a working class woman who loves and admires her husband, go through all those changes, and end up a decrepit alcoholic was rather shocking.

I'll bet some people in 1949 thought she was over the top in her drunken scenes toward the end of the film. But I kept remembering how cynical she became as she saw what her husband (Spencer Tracy, miscast IMO) was becoming and how she frequently let him know just how she felt about him. A woman like that who tries to find comfort in alcohol would likely act the same way.

I agree Olivia was a more deserving Oscar winner. But I hope Deborah got a lot of buzz. That was a truly great performance that strikes me as ahead of its time. I hope it was it seen that way in 1949.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living. Oliver Wendell Holmes
Reza
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Post by Reza »

Big Magilla wrote:and corecting a few omiss'ons, most notably Julie Christie (Reza, I'm surprised you weren't cursing me out for that one.)
I would have chosen Christie's performance in Afterglow (1997).
ITALIANO
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Post by ITALIANO »

Hehe... Love this revenge...
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

I went in and made a few corrections such as Lillian Gish in The Wind instead of Broken Blossoms (thanks, Okri, you were right), Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage insead of Jezebel, Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry instead of Milliion Dollar Baby and corecting a few omiss'ons, most notably Julie chriwte (Reza, I'm surprised you weren't cursing me out for that one.)

Alas, no additional foreign language performances and I had to eliminate Italiano's all-time favorite, Anna Magnani, though even he will agree she is better in her native Italian in Bellisma and other films than she is in The Rose Tattoo.

I did have a pang of conscience in the best acotr category and added Victor Sjostrom in Wild Strawberries thanks to Ui's and Heksagon's reminders.
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

Sally's probably the weak link - I was trying to balance this particular list out with more recent performances as my usual lists tend to weigh more heavily on decades prior to the 80s, but even so, Michelle Pheiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys or Helen Mirren in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover at the end of the decade would probably have been better choices.
rudeboy
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Post by rudeboy »

While there are many listed here I wouldn't agree with personally - that's the fun of lists like these - I have to question your inclusion of Sally Field in Places in the Heart. If ever an oscar was won due to an utter lack of competition, this one was it. Surely calling it a "great" performance is pushing things too far, particularly when Field's (somewhat limited) contribution to cinema history is more than adequately covered by her far, far better performance in Norma Rae?
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Post by Okri »

I prefer Gish in Broken Blossoms and The Wind, but I haven't seen Way Down East in such a long time.
Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

100 Great Performances by Actresses in Leading Roles Since 1927 (the beginning of the Oscar era)

1. Lillian Gish in The Wind (1928)
2. Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc (1929)
3. Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel (1930)
4. Greta Garbo in Queen Christina (1933)
5. Katharine Hepburn in Little Women (1933)
6. Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night (1934)
7. Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage (1934)
8. Myrna Loy in The Thin Man (1934)
9. Greta Garbo in Camille (1936)
10. Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey (1936)
11. Beulah Bondi in Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
12. Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth (1937)
13. Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind (1939)
14. Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (1940)
15. Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1941)
16. Bette Davis in Now, Voyager (1942)
17. Greer Garson in Mrs. Miniver (1942)
18. Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier (1943)
19. Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
20. Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity (1944)
21. Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
22. Olivia de Havilland in To Each His Own (1946)
23. Joan Crawford in Possessed (1947)
24. Deborah Kerr in Black Narcissus (1947)
25. Olivia de Havilland in The Snake Pit (1948)
26. Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda (1948)
27. Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress (1949)
28. Bette Davis in All About Eve (1950)
29. Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
30. Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen (1951)
31. Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
32. Susan Hayward in With a Song in My Heart (1952)
33. Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man (1952)
34. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (1953)
35. Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953)
36. Judy Garland in A Star Is Born (1954)
37. Katharine Hepburn in Summertime (1955)
38. Marlene Dietrich in Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
39. Deborah Kerr in An Affair to Remember (1957)
40. Giulietta Masina in Nights of Cabiria (1957)
41. Susan Hayward in I Want to Live! (1958)
42. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame (1958)
43. Simone Signoret in Room at the Top (1958)
44. Audrey Hepburn in The Nun’s Story (1959)
45. Greer Garson in Sunrise at Campobello (1960)
46. Deborah Kerr in The Sundowners (1960)
47. Sophia Loren in Two Women (1960)
48. Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment (1960)
49. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
50. Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke (1961)
51. Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker (1962)
52. Katharine Hepburn in Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962)
53. Patricia Neal in Hud (1963)
54. Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins (1964)
55. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
56. Lynn Redgrave in Georgy Girl (1966)
57. Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
58. Anne Bancroft, in The Graduate (1967)
59. Edith Evans in The Whisperers (1967)
60. Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter (1968)
61. Joanne Woodward in Rachel, Rachel (1968)
62. Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
63. Julie Christie in The Go-Between (1970)
64. Jane Fonda in Klute (1971)
65. Glenda Jackson in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)
66. Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972)
67. Cicely Tyson in Sounder (1972)
68. Joanne Woodward in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973)
69. Ellen Burstyn in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
70. Isabelle Adjani in The Story of Adele H. (1975)
71. Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)
72. Diane Keaton in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)
73. Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata (1978)
74. Sally Field in Norma Rae (1979)
75. Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest (1981)
76. Katharine Hepburn in On Golden Pond (1981)
77. Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice (1982)
78. Jane Alexander in Testament (1983)
79. Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment (1983)
80. Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment (1983)
81. Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple (1985)
82. Holly Hunter in Broadcast News (1987)
83. Jessica Tandy in Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
84. Anjelica Huston in The Grifters (1990)
85. Joanne Woodward in Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990)
86. Geena Davis in Thelma & Louise (1991)
87. Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
88. Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991)
89. Emma Thompson in Howards End (1992)
90. Angela Bassett in What’s Love Got to do With It (1993)
91. Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking (1995)
92. Frances McDormand in Fargo (1996)
93. Debbie Reynolds in Mother (1996)
94. Helena Bonham Carter in The Wings of the Dove (1997)
95. Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown (1997)
96. Hilary Swank in Boys Don’t Cry (1998)
97. Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream (2000)
98. Sissy Spacek in In the Bedroom (2001)
99. Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give (2003)
100. Felicity Huffman in Transamerica (2005)




Edited By Big Magilla on 1151020595
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