Best Actress 1943 - Vote for the Best Actress 1943

1927/28 through 1997
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Best Actress 1943 - Vote for the Best Actress 1943

Jean Arthur - The More the Merrier
14
56%
Ingrid Bergman - For Whom the Bell Tolls
3
12%
Joan Fontaine - The Constant Nymph
1
4%
Greer Garson - Madame Curie
1
4%
Jennifer Jones - The Song of Bernadette
6
24%
 
Total votes: 25

flipp525
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Re:

Post by flipp525 »

The Original BJ wrote:The Constant Nymph is a truly negligible movie, and Fontaine's performance isn't that much more notable. In many ways, her character's arc is similar to her arc in Letter From an Unknown Woman, except that movie is great and Constant Nymph is pretty hoary. (Gee, I wonder why she's coughing so much?)
Was she coughing? I just finally watched (read: suffered through) The Constant Nymph and what Joan Fontaine's Tessa seemed to be suffering from throughout the film were painful "stitches" in her side. I'm not sure I ever saw her cough once. Some completely unknown ailment that is never addressed in any way during the run of the film until she collapses and dies alone at the end. A terrible performance in a truly forgettable film. How she was nominated for that is a mystery.

Not for one second, does Fontaine look like this in the film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Const ... phfilm.jpg

No wonder this movie has all but vanished from the Earth!
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The Original BJ
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Post by The Original BJ »

Agreed that, overall, the lineup is rather uninspiring. I'd definitely rank Teresa Wright and Bergman in Casablanca over all the actual nominees.

The Constant Nymph is a truly negligible movie, and Fontaine's performance isn't that much more notable. In many ways, her character's arc is similar to her arc in Letter From an Unknown Woman, except that movie is great and Constant Nymph is pretty hoary. (Gee, I wonder why she's coughing so much?)

Garson is fine in Madame Curie, but I already voted for her in '42 for a performance I do think is special; I see no need to pick her again for this more generic role.

Ingrid Bergman is one of those actresses who I think is virtually incapable of giving a bad performance, and her intelligent, detailed approach to the character makes her the standout in For Whom the Bell Tolls. But the movie is such a slog! And there's really no reason why she should have been nominated for this character when her stirring, iconic role in Casablanca could have been in the running.

The Song of Bernadette is a little too long, but it's really quite an affecting movie, and Jennifer Jones is lovely in it. But I agree with Damien -- Jones was still warming up as an actress in her debut role.

On the other hand, Jean Arthur's persona had crystallized by this point, and she's in top form as the lovable, earnest working girl with too many tenants in The More the Merrier. She's sharp, funny, and sweet, and I think the best of these five.
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Post by Reza »

Big Magilla wrote:Bergman was nominated for the wrong film.

I agree with Damien about what he says below on Bergman. She is so much better in Bells than in Casablanca.

My top 5:


Jennifer Jones, The Song of Bernadette
Ida Lupino, The Hard Way
Ingrid Bergman, For Whom the Bell Tolls
Teresa Wright, Shadow of a Doubt
Jean Arthur, The More the Merrier




Edited By Reza on 1247705371
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Post by Damien »

There are a number of wonderful performances the Academy was oblivious to in this category: Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt, Gracie Fields in Holy Matrimony, Ida Lupino in The Hard Way, Betty Hutton in Star Spangled Rhythm, Bette Davis in Old Acquaintance, Frances Dee in I Walked With A Zombie and Kim Hunter in The Seventh Victim.

I adore Jean Arthur, but I certainly wouldn't want her to win for such a dreary blob of a film as the painful , atrocious The More The Merrier. (George Stevens is probably the worst "major" director of his era.) Haven't seen Constant Nymph. Garson was neither believably French nor Polish in Madame Curie, athough she was reliably endearing. Jennifer Jones's performance is impressive in its unsentimentality, but her really great performances were still to come.

Ingrid Bergman is extraordinary in For Whom The Bell Tolls. Back in 1943, critics marveled that she didn'r seem like a Hollywood star at all, but an unadorned, highly naturalistic and carnal actress reminiscent of European performers. They were so right -- there's no other performance quite like this in studio films from that period. And she also managed to transcend the presence of her hilariously wooden co-star, Cooper, and the inumbingly rritating Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. Amazing.




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Post by Mister Tee »

I'm hesitant to vote given that Constant Nymph has remained elusive for me, but among what I've seen...

I don't know if it's just my overall love for Shadow of a Doubt that makes me wish Wright were cited; sometimes it's hard to separate the singer from the song.

But among the nominees, it's Jean Arthur -- a wonderful screen presence who was sadly under-rewarded throughout most of her career (like her never-nominated co-star McCrea) and who is glowingly wonderful here.
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Post by Big Magilla »

It could be argued that Jean Arthur deserved more than one nomination, but The More the Merrier was her best performance. She gets my vote.

As for the rest of the nominees - phooey! Bergman was nominated for the wrong film. Garson was good but by then had played so many great ladies that Madame Curie was hardly a stretch. Jones was OK but it was the supporting cast that made The Song of Bernadette special. I've always felt her award was a case of confusing the character with the performance. As for Fontaine, I thought she was just ghastly in The Constant Nymph, especially in the early scenes when she was supposed to be playing a teenager.

Missing in addition to Lupino: Teresa Wright in Shadow of a Doubt and Gracie Fields in Holy Matrimony.
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Post by jowy_jillia »

A Decent year. The Obvious best performance of the year is Ida Lupino in "The Hard Way", but since she wasn't nominated. Arthur is Good, Bergman is Good, Fontaine is Good, Garson is Warmth once again and Jones is also warm.

I give my vote to... Fontaine, cause in a nominee year like this when all the nominees were good I give the award to the overdue. Jones I've never been particulary keen on, Garson got my vote in 1942, Bergman will get my vote in the future and Arthur only got one nomination.

Also snubbed Wright and Davis.

Results:
1942
1. Bette Davis - Now, Voyager - 6 votes
1. Greer Garson - Mrs. Miniver - 6 votes
3. Katharine Hepburn - Woman of the Year - 1 vote

1941
1. Barbara Stanwyck - Ball of Fire - 8 votes
2. Bette Davis - The Little Foxes - 4 votes

1940
1. Katharine Hepburn - The Philadelphia Story - 8 votes
2. Joan Fontaine - Rebecca - 6 votes
3. Bette Davis - The Letter - 3 votes

1939
1. Vivien Leigh - Gone With the Wind - 15 votes
2. Greta Garbo - Ninotchka - 2 votes

1938
1. Bette Davis - Jezebel - 4 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. Janet Gaynor - A Star is Born - 1 vote
3. Luise Rainer - The Good Earth - 1 vote
3. Barbara Stanwyck - Stella Dallas - 1 vote

1936
1. Carole Lombard - My Man Godfrey - 10 votes
2. Irene Dunne - Theodora Goes Wild - 1 vote
2. Luise Rainer - The Great Ziegfeld - 1 vote

1935
1. Katharine Hepburn - Alice Adams - 7 votes
2. Claudette Colbert - Private Worlds - 2 votes
2. Bette Davis - Dangerous - 2 votes

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

1932/33
1. Katharine Hepburn - Morning Glory - 5 votes
2. May Robson - Lady for a Day - 2 votes

1931/32
1. Marie Dressler - Emma - 6 votes

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

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

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

1927/28
1. Janet Gaynor - Sunrise - 5 votes
2. Janet Gaynor - Seventh Heaven - 3 votes
3. Janet Gaynor - Street Angel - 1 vote

Most Wins:
Bette Davis - 2
Katharine Hepburn - 3

Most Runner-Ups:
Bette Davis - 3
Greta Garbo - 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
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