Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

1927/28 through 1997

Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

Anne Baxter - All About Eve
1
2%
Bette Davis - All About Eve
20
49%
Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday
1
2%
Eleanor Parker - Caged
1
2%
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Blvd.
18
44%
 
Total votes: 41

The Original BJ
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Re: Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

Post by The Original BJ »

A lineup for the ages, topped by two of the greatest performances in the history of film. I see that my vote turned this outcome into an exact tie between the two of them, which seems fitting.

Despite the overall high quality of the roster, I'd still have found room for Gloria Grahame, always a unique screen presence, who got her finest role in In a Lonely Place.

Eleanor Parker would probably fall in last place for me, but she still does strong work in Caged, charting her character's arc from naive prison newbie to hardened, worldly-wise tough girl. Caged is a movie that often feels on the verge of tipping over into the ridiculous, but the humanity of Parker's work goes a long way to help ground it.

Much as Bette Davis might have groaned that Anne Baxter was nominated alongside her in the lead category, it's quite pleasing in today's era to see this performance properly cited as the starring role it is. And as with everyone on this list, this part was probably a career peak for Baxter. Her gentle air and seeming innocence in the early portions of the movie keep the audience off guard as much as the film's other characters, and even once Eve's self-serving motives are revealed, Baxter never goes full tilt into the malicious, as if the character can't even admit the cold and calculating nature of her behavior to herself. Still, she's clearly the second place finisher among the All About Eve actresses.

Judy Holliday didn't deserve her trophy, but a lot of that simply comes down to the world-class level of her competition. Had she been running in a weaker year (say, 1952), I imagine her win would have been viewed a lot more fondly. Holliday wasn't an actress of great range, but Born Yesterday gave her a part that fit her like a glove, and I'd argue that Holliday's contribution added quite a bit of dimension to the role. Billie Dawn isn't the smartest girl in the room, but she has a level of self-awareness about that fact that's heartbreaking at times, and I think she makes the role something far more tender than a stereotypical dumb blonde might have been.

But she just can't compare to Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson, and choosing between the two of them is a bit like to trying decide whether or not "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" is a more iconic moment in film history than "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup."

Norma Desmond is more obviously a career peak for Swanson -- despite her notable silent career, none of those roles have cemented themselves in the history of movies as much as what Sunset Boulevard gave her, a part that was basically a riff on her own persona, simultaneously a comeback and her last great hurrah. And she's spectacular here -- delusional, pathetic, often very funny, a larger-than-life character who nonetheless feels as tragically human as any the cinema has ever given us. In nearly any other year, she'd have my vote in a walk.

Margo Channing isn't so clearly the apex of Davis's filmography, but that's simply because Davis had a far greater career overall, with many achievements that approach or even match this. Still, if you pressed me, I'd say All About Eve was her finest hour, the perfect embodiment of her screen persona -- bitchy but still lovable, commanding yet vulnerable, precise with her rapier wit while still plumbing raw emotional depth. Even among very successful actors of this era, there are very few who have the kind of singular screen energy that makes one think, THAT person is what I think of when I think of a movie star. Davis was unquestionably one, and a superlative master of acting craft as well, and it's for these reasons that I ultimately sided with her in this wonderful year.
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Re: Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

Post by bizarre »

I have not seen Holliday's performance. I'd rank the others like so:

1. Eleanor Parker
2. Bette Davis
3. Anne Baxter
4. Gloria Swanson

Parker surprised me here - I think I'd only seen her in The Man with the Golden Arm, where she's shrill and awful, and The Sound of Music where she is elegant and understated, so I didn't know what to expect. Certainly not something so effortlessly charismatic and almost... meta? Both the film and the performance operate on a level of high style that are tricky to pull off, but Parker makes so many tiny modulations even within single scenes that by the end of the film her transformation makes complete sense. It's the least iconic performance of this bunch but I think it could easily be the best - Holliday unseen.

If Parker was an actress giving a terrific performance, Davis was a Star letting her ego eat the picture from the inside out. The character is deservedly famous, and the script gets its dynamism from Davis' celebrity energy. But I still wish that, for the sake of her story arc, she'd treated her character's insecurities with less acid flippancy. The film would take on added layers if there was a greater immediacy to her fears of aging and competition.

Baxter is disappointing on first watch simply for playing her role in a far more traditional vein than Davis does - Baxter was more talented than a lot of her 40s contemporaries, but I could imagine someone like Ann Sheridan or Helen Walker playing most of her roles and barely being able to tell the difference - but she has a fits-and-starts subtlety that doesn't always grasp the character's motivations in a fully coherent way but does pay off very well in that final hotel scene with George Sanders, where she's wise to keep the proceedings touched by ambiguity. Is this a sincere expression of shame, or just another marionette game of manipulations being set into motion?

Swanson is Norma Desmond, but that's not necessarily a good thing. She's larger than life without necessarily being interesting, or charismatic in a fruitful way, and she never once appears to realise that the joke of Wilder's nastily misogynistic film is entirely on her, which gives both character and performance the grim feeling of watching a sick animal in a zoo exhibit. I think there are definitely other actresses that could have given this role something better and something else.

My picks for the year:
1. Eleanor Parker, Caged
2. Peggy Cummins, Gun Crazy
3. Bette Davis, All About Eve
4. Kinuyo Tanaka, The Munekata Sister
5. Simone Signoret, Manèges
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Re: Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

Post by nightwingnova »

Thanks. I was wondering if it was just me. :wink: (And, thanks for reminding me, I did like her in the Ambersons.)
Damien wrote:
nightwingnova wrote:I have always found Anne Baxter an insincere actress. Comments?
Three words: "Moses! Moses! Moses!"

Only Eleanor Parker could match Anne Baxter for artificiality (although, admittedly, Baxter is pretty wonderful in The Magnificent Ambersons and Parker is very good in Caged).
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Re: Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

Post by Damien »

nightwingnova wrote:I have always found Anne Baxter an insincere actress. Comments?
Three words: "Moses! Moses! Moses!"

Only Eleanor Parker could match Anne Baxter for artificiality (although, admittedly, Baxter is pretty wonderful in The Magnificent Ambersons and Parker is very good in Caged).
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Re: Best Actress 1950 - Vote for the Best Actress 1950

Post by nightwingnova »

I have always found Anne Baxter an insincere actress. Comments?

As for the rest, how can one choose between a da Vinci and a Michelangelo? Two great, iconic performances: Davis and Swanson.
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Post by Reza »

jowy_jillia wrote:My Choices:
Ingrid Bergman - Stromboli
Bette Davis - All About Eve

Katharine Hepburn - Adam's Rib
Eleanor Parker - Caged
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Blvd.
Aaahh....would have been a dream come true. Wonder if Bette would have ''appreciated'' sharing the Oscar with Swanson!!

LOL
Reza
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Post by Reza »

ITALIANO wrote:It's not an easy choice, but I usually end up voting for Davis who had, I think, a more difficult role.
YES....that IS the reason why Davis also ends up a winner in my mind......although almost neck-to-neck with Swanson.

However, I'm not at all fond of Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday but do agree with you again on both Baxter and Parker.
jowy_jillia
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Post by jowy_jillia »

My Choices:
Ingrid Bergman - Stromboli
Bette Davis - All About Eve

Katharine Hepburn - Adam's Rib
Eleanor Parker - Caged
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Blvd.
ITALIANO
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Post by ITALIANO »

Judy Holliday was a great comic talent, and she was very good and very funny in Born Yesterday. An Oscar for her wouldnt be a major sacrilege, but of course her problem is that she was up against two of the most legendary performances in American cinema ever. (The other nominees werent bad either. Caged is probably Eleanor Parker's only truly impressive performance, and a very promising one. She was Best Actress at Venice by the way, and as a result the movie was a huge hit at the time in Italy. And Baxter was memorable as Eve. Really, it's the kind of year that makes you depressed when you compare it with the Best Actress races of today, though of course even back then not all years were like this).

But today, unlike in 1951, voting for anyone who isnt Davis or Swanson would be unthinkable. It's not an easy choice, but I usually end up voting for Davis who had, I think, a more difficult role.
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Post by Reza »

Greg wrote:
Reza wrote:However, cannot stand Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. So I toss her out of my list.
The problem with you is you're just not cooth! :;):
LOL
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Post by Greg »

Reza wrote:However, cannot stand Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. So I toss her out of my list.
The problem with you is you're just not cooth! :;):
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Post by Reza »

I've always had a very hard time deciding between Swanson and Davis but when it comes time to make a choice I immediately always vote for Davis....maybe it's because the film has such witty dialogue...who knows.....although Sunset Blvd is also a great film, with Swanson at her peak. I also love Anne Baxter in the film and am glad she was also up in the lead category. The scene where George Sanders slaps her (and her reaction....the look of shock on her face) is my favourite. Cannot fault Parker in Caged...a richly deserved nomination. However, cannot stand Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday. So I toss her out of my list.

My top 5
Bette Davis, All About Eve
Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard
Eleanor Parker, Caged
Anne Baxter, All About Eve
Claudette Colbert, Three Came Home
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Post by mlrg »

I voted for Gloria Swanson - Sunset Blvd.
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Post by Big Magilla »

Sabin wrote:Swanson gives basically a Movie Monster Performance and a great one, but let it be said that the most challenging role in Sunset Boulevard is William Holden's. He is masterful at conveys self-loathing, obligation, curiosity, machismo, impotence...writer-ness. He's the kamikaze heart at the center of Sunset Boulevard.
Agreed. Swanson is the one who is usually singled out but Holden gives the film a resonance it might not have had with a lesser actor. This is the film he should have won his Oscar for.
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Post by Sabin »

Every once in a while, someone extolls the virtue of just giving a tie. Most vocally this decade I think in the case was made for Murray/Penn or Penn/Rourke. I volunteer a tie for Best Original Screenplay for Memento and The Royal Tenenbaums, but that's neither here nor there.

I think this is the all-time best candidate for a tie. There's a degree of auto-criticism at play with both of these roles and the women who play them. I'll concede that perhaps nobody could have played Swanson role but her, but I keep going back to Bette Davis and how complicated Margot is and how gracefully she conveys that. I think Swanson walks the odder tightrope, but no matter how purposefully tailor-made (or not) Margo Channing may be for the actress it's just as perilous. And she doesn't just act for herself either. I think Anne Baxter gets half the mileage out of the way that Bette Davis looks at her. It's a glorious ensemble screenplay that ends up feeling like a One Woman Show. Swanson gives basically a Movie Monster Performance and a great one, but let it be said that the most challenging role in Sunset Boulevard is William Holden's. He is masterful at conveys self-loathing, obligation, curiosity, machismo, impotence...writer-ness. He's the kamikaze heart at the center of Sunset Boulevard.
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