Best Actress 1966

1927/28 through 1997
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Best Actress 1966

Anouke Aimée - A Man and a Woman
4
10%
Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street
3
8%
Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl
6
15%
Vanessa Redgrave - Morgan
0
No votes
Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
27
68%
 
Total votes: 40

bizarre
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Re: Best Actress 1966

Post by bizarre »

I've seen Taylor and Kaminska. Taylor is terrfiic for reasons that everyone else has covered. I do prefer Burton's and Dennis' performances, though, and she fades from the picture for a large stretch of the film's middle.

The Shop on Main Street is a fabulous film, but Kaminska is one-note - she never plays the character as someone who willingly blocks these things out. That's all script and reflected light from Jozef Króner's wonderful performance. In actuality it's a shrill, tedious caricature.

My picks:

1. Bibi Andersson, Persona
2. Liv Ullmann, Persona
3. Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
4. Maya Bulgakova, Wings
5. Tuesday Weld, Lord Love a Duck
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Post by mayukh »

Aimee's nomination, I think, is one of the most pointless ever – she's a great actress and she certainly deserved a nomination at some point in her career, but not for this kind of banal trifle. Absurd nomination, and one really has to wonder what the Academy was thinking when Lelouch's film won awards over The Battle of Algiers and Loves of a Blonde.

Taylor was sensational in the best and worst sense of the word. I thought she was simply divine in her sort of tragically comical scenes, but her dramatics rang hollow. I always thought her performance was a tad artificial.

Ida Kaminska is very affecting, but it's ultimately between the two Redgrave sisters for me. Vanessa is glorious – charismatic but also subtle, absolutely radiant and very self-aware. But I ultimately give my award to Lynn, headstrong, petulant, and achingly vulnerable.
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Post by Hustler »

Tough Lineup. But Taylor performance as Martha is irresistible. A movie that never ages.
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Post by Mister Tee »

Apparently I've single-handedly cost Elizabeth Taylor a landslide.

I don't know what to say; it's apparently a Rohrschach test. You guys see depths beneath a relatively unvarying surface. For me, it's just a demonstration of less being less. As I said, I have nothing against the performance; I just don't much respond to it. (As opposed to, say, Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple -- another performance I've had people insist to me is brilliant but which has always struck me as entirely vapid)
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Post by flipp525 »

Mister Tee's dismissal and Magilla's use of the word "lovely" to describe her performance surprised me as well.

I think Ida Kaminska is hauntingly brilliant and unforgettable in The Shop on Main Street. The fact that Mrs. Lautmann either doesn’t hear what's going on, or doesn’t want to hear it, becomes a coping mechanism the character uses throughout the film to deal with unpleasant situations which ultimately contributes to her downfall. Is she really completely unaware that WWII is raging around her? Does she simply choose to dodder around in a frustrating oblivion? Reducing her actions to a total "obliviousness" seems to miss a lot of what she's doing in that performance. It's a difficult character to play and I think she pulls it off with devastating aplomb.

This category has always belonged to La Liz in an absolutely sensational performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. With all those odds working against her (playing-against-age, the make-up, the-this-the-that) her turn as Martha succeeds on so many levels (including the meta-level), there is a certain justice to her win here, especially in light of her previous undeserved win.

But Kaminska is every bit as deserving, make no mistake about it. I'm throwing a vote her way on general principle.




Edited By flipp525 on 1252966678
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Post by dws1982 »

I can't argue with the fact that Elizabeth Taylor is running away with this. It's a deserving performance in a role where no one had any reason to expect her to succeed. In a way she was one of the first beauties to get ugly and get an Oscar, but unlike many who followed her lead, I think she pulls it off.

If Kaminska's and Taylor's films had been released in different years, like 65 and 66 (or even 66 and 67), both would've gotten my vote in those years, no question. In the same year it's a little tougher, thought. I suspected Taylor would run away with this, though, and so I voted for Ida Kaminska, whose quick dismissal from Mister Tee is surprising to me. Here's something a blogger wrote about Kaminska that sums up my feelings about her performance pretty well:

But as the nightmare of the town's occupation and, worse, the psychological colonizations and, worst, the ominous deportations begins to encroach, Kaminská not only deepens our connection to her character, and plays her fear and despair more directly, she also reveals an impressive scheme behind the earlier movements in the performance. "I know you're only pretending! You knew what was happening!" Tony shouts, in a long-escalating and grotesquely self-serving context: he's drunk, exorcising his own guilt, and desperate to save his own ass. But, in his reprehensible way, which could never be "right," is he onto something? Kaminská's elaborate mimesis of deafness and ignorance starts to crack, such that we grasp it in retrospect as the character's own semi-willful mimesis. What did she know? What did she understand, and what does she now understand? Without violating the tact or the formal lightness of touch that characterize this film (and many other touchstones of the mid-1960s Czech New Wave), Kaminská constructs a performance that seems, occasionally, too heavy or stagebound or old-fashioned but reveals itself as an inspired, deeply affecting, and ethically courageous decision to speculate about a victim's own denials—this isn't the first time this widow has refused a truth—and about the moments when disavowal is forced to give way to something else. Her line-reading of the single word "pogrom" raises more ghosts and asks more cutting questions than do most Holocaust-themed films, even those with direct representations of the kind this film refuses.




Edited By dws1982 on 1252941048
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Post by The Original BJ »

I think it's somehow fitting that an actress of as wild extremes as Elizabeth Taylor would give one of the worst performances to ever win the Best Actress Oscar ('60) and one of the best ('66).
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Post by Reza »

Mister Tee wrote:Redgrave V. does really beautiful, subtle work -- so subtle that when I first saw it, age 18, I didn't have a clue what critics had seen in her. It takes a more educated palate to recognize what a fine job she does.

I did not get Vanessa's nod.....probably because I was so annoyed watching the over-the-top antics of David Warner that her ''subtle'' work here escaped me. I always thought her nod was the Academy's way of welcoming a younger member of a great acting dynasty.....it helped that Vanessa was very much part of the swinging 60s scene, and mood of the moment, along with Christie, Terence Stamp, The Beatles, Michael Caine, David Hemmings, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton etc. and wife of acclaimed film and stage director Tony Richardson. She was also seen in a brief unbilled part as Anne Boleyn in the year's most acclaimed film, A Man For All Seasons, in addition to her participation in Antonioni's Blow-Up. And she was already a fairly acclaimed star on stage.

Have not see Ida Kaminska's film but love the dreamy quality of A Man and a Wloman and Anouk Aimee's performance.

Anyway I voted for La Liz.

My own personal top 5:


Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Sharmila Tagore, Anupama
Lynn Redgrave, Georgy Girl
Virginia McKenna, Born Free
Anouk Aimee, A Man and a Woman




Edited By Reza on 1252903570
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Post by mlrg »

Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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Post by ITALIANO »

Five good performances. Anouk Aimee was pure cinema, one of those faces the camera can't not fall in love with. I'm not sure she was a great actress, and she was better in other (French or Italian) movies than in A Man and a Woman... but when you have that face, you dont have to be Eleonora Duse. (And Aimee WAS a good actress anyway).

Lynn Redgrave is affecting in Georgy Girl, Vanessa Redgrave is subtle in Morgan, Ida Kaminska is one of those Oscar oddities that you want to root for... but this is a Hollywood prize after all, and La Taylor is the perfect embodiment of the kind of actress Oscar is meant for. I wouldnt vote for her if she didnt deserve it though, and in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf she's so effective that she makes you forget how miscast she is.
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Post by Damien »

Ida Kaminska.
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Post by Mister Tee »

Aimee was obviously nominated in salute to her film's (unfathomable out of its era) popularity. Nothing notable.

I find Kaminska wildly overrated -- the utter obliviousness of her character makes for a strictly one note performance. Not bad or anything, but also not memorable.

Redgrave V. does really beautiful, subtle work -- so subtle that when I first saw it, age 18, I didn't have a clue what critics had seen in her. It takes a more educated palate to recognize what a fine job she does.

Lynn's work reaches the audience more directly, and she's just wonderful. When I first saw the film, at age 14, I fell head over heels in love with her, and was crushed when she didn't win the Oscar. In a re-viewing last year, I thought both film and performance held up remarkably well. Redgrave does a great job creating a character who's vulnerable and sympathetic but also has a keen survival sense beneath it all.

But the chief reason I was so heavily rooting for Lynn in April 1967 is that I hadn't seen Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- it being the first "No One Under 18 Admitted" major movies, 14-15 year old me was barred from it. When I saw it a few years later, my allegiance shifted sharply. I know Elizabeth Taylor is not, by objective standards, much of an actress...and I know getting to put on weight and drink and swear -- and perform Albee's scathing dialogue -- are all Oscar-bait. But, damn, I just think she's sensational in the part. Any other year, I'd stick with Lynn, but Taylor is my clear choice of this bunch.
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Post by Big Magilla »

Elizabeth Taylor will win this one without any help from me, so I'm giving my vote to Lynn Redgrave who was just as worthy in Georgy Girl, so much so that the New York Film Critics couldn't decide between them and voted a vote.

Even, this is one year the National Society of Film Critics may have gotten it right in giving the award to 83 year-old French character actress Sylvie for her wonderful late career triumph in The Shameless Old Lady.

Vanessa Redgrave is marvelous in Morgan! but her best work is ahead of her. She's good enough for a nomination, but not a win.

Ida Kaminska gives a lovely performance in The Shop on Main Street but her screen time is limited. The film focuses on co-star Josef Kroner who oddly did not receive the same amount of acclaim at the time. I'd have given her token old lady slot to Sylvie.

The one I don't get at all is Anouk Aimee. A Man and a Woman was a big hit but the only thing I ever found it good for, in theaters or on home video, is as an instant cure for insomnia. I'd have preferred a nod for Anne Bancroft in 7 Women instead.




Edited By Big Magilla on 1258001562
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Post by jowy_jillia »

T-A-Y-L-O-R

1965
1. Julie Christie - The Sound of Music - 9 votes
2. Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music - 6 votes
3. Samantha Eggar - The Collector - 1 vote
4. Elizabeth Hartman - A Patch of Blue - 1 vote

1964
1. Kim Stanley - Séance on a Wet Afternoon - 7 votes
2. Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins - 6 votes
3. Anne Bancroft - The Pumpkin Eater - 3 votes
4. Debbie Reynolds - The Unsinkable Molly Brown - 1 vote

1963
1. Patricia Neal - Hud - 15 votes
2. Leslie Caron - The L-Shaped Room - 3 votes
3. Rachel Roberts - This Sporting Life - 1 vote

1962
1. Anne Bancroft - The Miracle Worker - 7 votes
1. Katharine Hepburn - Long Day's Journey Into Night - 7 votes
3. Bette Davis - What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? - 3 votes
4. Geraldine Page - Sweet Bird of Youth
4. Lee Remick - Days of Wines and Roses

1961
1. Sophia Loren - Two Women - 9 votes
2. Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's - 8 votes
3. Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass - 4 votes
4. Geraldine Page - Summer and Smoke - 2 votes
5. Piper Laurie - The Hustler - 1 vote

1960
1. Deborah Kerr - The Sundowners - 8 votes
2. Shirley MacLaine - The Apartment - 6 votes
3. Melina Mercouri - Never on a Sunday - 2 votes
4. Greer Garson - Sunrise at Campobello - 1 vote

1959
1. Simone Signoret - Room at the Top - 9 votes
2. Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story - 6 votes
3. Katharine Hepburn - Suddenly Last Summer - 1 vote
3. Elizabeth Taylor - Suddenly Last Summer - 1 vote

1958
1. Rosalind Russell - Auntie Mame - 8 votes
2. Susan Hayward - I Want to Live! - 6 votes
3. Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - 3 votes
4. Shirley MacLaine - Some Came Running - 2 votes

1957
1. Joanne Woodward - The Three Faces of Eve - 6 votes
2. Anna Magnani - Wild is the Wind - 4 votes
2. Lana Turner - Peyton Place - 4 votes
4. Deborah Kerr - Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison - 2 votes

1956
1. Ingrid Bergman - Anastasia - 10 votes
2. Carroll Baker - Baby Doll - 2 votes
2. Nancy Kelly - The Bad Seed - 1 vote
4. Katharine Hepburn - The Rainmaker - 1 vote
4. Deborah Kerr - The King and I - 1 vote

1955
1. Katharine Hepburn - Summertime - 11 votes
2. Anna Magnani - The Rose Tattoo - 4 vote
3. Eleanor Parker - Interrupted Melody - 2 votes
4. Susan Hayward - I'll Cry Tomorrow - 1 vote

1954
1. Judy Garland - A Star Is Born - 14 votes
2. Grace Kelly - The Country Girl - 2 votes
2. Jane Wyman - Magnificent Obsession - 2 votes
4. Audrey Hepburn - Sabrina - 1 vote

1953
1. Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday - 10 votes
2. Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity - 4 votes
3. Leslie Caron - Lili - 1 vote
3. Ava Gardner - Mogambo - 1 vote

1952
1. Julie Harris - The Member of the Wedding - 5 votes
2. Susan Hayward - With a Song in my Heart - 4 votes
3. Shirley Booth - Come Back, Little Sheba - 3 votes
3. Joan Crawford - Sudden Fear - 3 vote

1951
1. Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire - 21 votes
2. Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun - 3 votes

1950
1. Gloria Swanson - Sunset Blvd. - 13 votes
2. Bette Davis - All About Eve - 9 votes
3. Anne Baxter - All About Eve - 1 vote
3. Eleanor Parker - Caged - 1 vote

1949
1. Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress - 13 votes
2. Deborah Kerr - Edward My Son - 3 votes
3. Susan Hayward - My Foolish Heart - 1 vote
3. Loretta Young - Come to the Stable - 1 vote

1948
1. Jane Wyman - Johnny Belinda - 9 votes
2. Olivia de Havilland - The Snake Pit - 6 votes
3. Barbara Stanwyck - Sorry Wrong Number - 2 vote

1947
1. Rosalind Russell - Mourning Becomes Electra - 5 votes
2. Susan Hayward - Smash Up - 4 votes.
3. Joan Crawford - Possessed - 3 votes
4. Loretta Young - The Farmer's Daughter - 2 votes

1946
1. Celia Johnson - Brief Encounter - 15 votes
2. Olivia de Havilland - To Each His Own - 3 votes
2. Jennifer Jones - Duel in the Sun - 3 votes
4. Jane Wyman - The Yearling - 1 vote

1945
1. Joan Crawford - Mildred Pierce - 8 votes
2. Gene Tierny - Leave Her to Heaven - 6 votes
3. Ingrid Bergman - The Bells of St. Mary's - 4 votes
4. Jennifer Jones - Love Letters - 1 vote

1944
1. Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity - 16 votes
2. Ingrid Bergman - Gaslight - 5 votes

1943
1. Jean Arthur - The More the Merrier - 6 votes
2. Jennifer Jonies - The Song of Bernadette - 4 votes
3. Ingrid Bergman - For Whom the Bell Tolls - 2 vote
3. Joan Fontaine - The Constant Nymph - 1 vote

1942
1. Bette Davis - Now, Voyager - 8 votes
1. Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver - 7 votes
3. Katharine Hepburn - Woman of the Year - 1 vote

1941
1. Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire - 9 votes
2. Bette Davis - The Little Foxes - 5 votes
3. Olivia de Havilland - Hold Back the Dawn - 1 vote
3. Joan Fontaine - Suspicion - 1 vote

1940
1. Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story - 10 votes
2. Joan Fontaine - Rebecca - 7 votes
3. Bette Davis - The Letter - 5 votes

1939
1. Vivien Leigh - Gone With the Wind - 24 votes
2. Greta Garbo - Ninotchka - 2 votes

1938
1. Bette Davis - Jezebel - 6 votes
1. Wendy Hiller - Pygmalion - 4 votes
3. Margaret Sullavan - Three Comrades - 3 votes
4. Norma Shearer - Marie Antoinette - 1 vote

1937
1. Irene Dunne - The Awful Truth - 7 votes
2. Greta Garbo - Camille - 6 votes
3. Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas - 2 votes
4. Janet Gaynor - A Star is Born - 1 vote
4. Luise Rainer - The Good Earth - 1 vote

1936
1. Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey - 11 votes
2. Irene Dunne - Theodora Goes Wild - 1 vote
2. Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld - 1 vote

1935
1. Katharine Hepburn - Alice Adams - 8 votes
2. Claudette Colbert - Private Worlds - 2 votes
2. Bette Davis - Dangerous - 2 votes
4. Miriam Hopkins - Becky Sharp - 1 vote

1934
1. Claudette Colbert - It Happened One Night - 7 votes
2. Bette Davis - Of Human Bondage - 2 vote

1932/33
1. Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory - 6 votes
2. May Robson - Lady for a Day - 3 votes

1931/32
1. Marie Dressler - Emma - 6 votes
2. Lynn Fontanne - The Guardsman - 1 vote

1930/31
1. Marlene Dietrich - Morocco - 8 votes
2. Marie Dressler - Min and Bill - 1 vote
2. Irene Dunne - Cimarron - 1 vote
2. Norma Shearer - A Free Soul - 1 vote

1929/30
1. Greta Garbo - Anna Christie - 4 votes
2. Norma Shearer - The Divorcee - 2 vote
3. Ruth Chatterton - Sarah and Son - 1 vote
3. Greta Garbo - Romance - 1 vote

1928/29
1. Ruth Chatterton - Madame X - 4 votes
2. Jeanne Eagels - The Letter - 1 vote

1927/28
1. Janet Gaynor - Sunrise - 7 votes
2. Janet Gaynor - Seventh Heaven - 3 votes
3. Janet Gaynor - Street Angel - 1 vote

Most Winns:
Katharine Hepburn - 5
Bette Davis - 2
Vivien Leigh - 2
Rosalind Russell - 2
Barbara Stanwyck - 2

Actual Winners who didn't recieve any vote
28/29. Mary Pickford - Coquette
31/32. Helen Hayes - The Sin of Madelon Claudet
40. Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle
50. Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
60. Elizabeth Taylor - Butterfield 8
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