Best Actress 1965

[bizarre]

Julie Andrews is nice in The Sound of Music, but this isn't really artistry, is it?

I haven't seen the other nominees.

My picks:
1. Sachiko Hidari, Straits of Hunger
2. Anna Karina, Pierrot le fou
3. Stefania Sandrelli, I Knew Her Well
4. Catherine Deneuve, Repulsion
5. Eva Dahlbeck, The Cats

[Mister Tee]

I'm merely suggesting that sympathetic handicapped characters have scored rather well at the Oscars. This isn't to demean Hartman, whose work I praised. But she might have done considerably less and still got a nomination. Consider: in 1989, few questioned Daniel Day-Lewis was exceptional in My Left Foot. But the same night, Tom Cruise also had a nomination for playing a wheelchair-bound character, despite not being in Day-Lewis' league.

[flipp525]

Not to seem like I'm picking on you today, Mister Tee, but with the "sure-fire" comment about the role of Selina D'Arcy in A Patch of Blue, do you mean to say that this was a guaranteed nomination for whoever played the role (a la Effie White in Dreamgirls)? If so, I have to disagree. If they had gone with one of their early contenders for the role (Patty Duke, for example), I don’t think I would've been as invested nor the part have been so successful, partly because it would've been a retread for Duke and also because I don't think she brings that strange mixture of brittleness and resilience to the table that Elizabeth Hartman so wonderfully infused into the role. My whole argument rests on supposition, but I think there's something to ponder there.

I think it's pretty easy to see why Eggar was nominated while Stamp was left out. Stamp's performance never quite finds the vulnerability in that character (so readily accessible, by the way, in the novel). He's a stone-cold automaton almost throughout with barely a moment of variation (which, believe me, definitely works for some of his most successful roles, but here, not so much). I think a more deceptively charismatic actor would've been much wiser casting (Dirk Bogarde? Maybe not. Peter Sellers even might've been interesting against-type casting). I don’t see why anyone would've initially given Stamp the time of day, let alone believed him enough to have initially fallen into his "web".

Julie Andrews is glorious in the never-treacly, always-beautiful The Sound of Music. I agree with Penelope that she does earn and retain "icon" status for this performance. Christie was certainly better post-Darling, but it was a worthy and topical winner. I need to re-watch Ship of Fools because I completely forget Simone Signoret's performance (but what a damn sexy voice).

I vote for Hartman.

[Mister Tee]

I have to adnit I'm astounded at the level of affection for The Sound of Music here -- and I speak as someone who adored it, both on Broadway (my first show, age 11) and in the movies (age 13). But, you know, I also loved Gomer Pyle USMC in those days, and view both now as embarrassing youthful tastes. It hasn't dated? Well, only in the sense that it's no more twee than it ever was. (The nuns halt the Nazis by disabling their cars? As Michael Gebert memorably put it, How charming! Shoot them with our tiniest guns) Andrews is the best thing about the film -- the role certainly showcases her better than Mary Poppins did -- but, though I ached to see her win back then, I couldn't vote for her with a straight face today.

The others are all quite good, though Eggar's role is less dominant than I'd expected (the wonderment about the film is how she got a nomination when Stamp didn't). Hartman is perfectly genuine in a fairly sure-fire part. And Signoret is affecting, as always, despite having to wade through Kramer/Mann-land.

But I'll stick with Julie Christie, playing one of the screen's first modern women. She's not as good here as she would be 42 years later, but plenty good enough to merit the prize.

[ITALIANO]

When I went to see Diving Bell and the Butterfly when it came out, I sat beside a group of older/middle aged men. They were chatting amongst themselves when one asked another if he was going to the Sound of Music annual showing/sing-a-long. The second man affirmed that he was. The first man: "Are you going to dress up as a nun again?"

Great!

It says alot about the appeal of that movie, on this board too.

[Okri]

When I went to see Diving Bell and the Butterfly when it came out, I sat beside a group of older/middle aged men. They were chatting amongst themselves when one asked another if he was going to the Sound of Music annual showing/sing-a-long. The second man affirmed that he was. The first man: "Are you going to dress up as a nun again?"

Best thing about The Sound of Music.

I voted for Julie Christie.

[Penelope]

With the exception of Samantha Eggar (who's good, but the role isn't all that interesting--it wasn't in the book, either), these are all deserving nominees. Hartman is heartbreaking, Christie is charismatically entrancing and Signoret is exquisite.

But I give it to Andrews, who takes a thin role and turns it into something extraordinary. It's one of those performances that DOES deserve its "icon" status.

[mlrg]

Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music

[dws1982]

I shall vote for the most deserving nominee.

In other words, Sissy Spacek.

[Damien]

Well but come on, NOBODY could vote for Julie Andrews TWICE...

And we have 1982 still to come.

You wont vote for Julie Andrews over Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange, will you?

I shall vote for the most deserving nominee.

[ITALIANO]

Well but come on, NOBODY could vote for Julie Andrews TWICE...

And we have 1982 still to come.

You wont vote for Julie Andrews over Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange, will you?

[ITALIANO]

But Julie Andrews is Julie Andrews. That no one can deny.

I spoke too soon.

[Damien]

Well but come on, NOBODY could vote for Julie Andrews TWICE...

And we have 1982 still to come.



Edited By Damien on 1252776138

[Damien]

What a superb line up! Any of these 5 would have been a worthy winner (I wonder why Sammantha Eggar didn't become a bigger star.)

But Julie Andrews is Julie Andrews. That no one can deny.

[ITALIANO]

Well but come on, NOBODY could vote for Julie Andrews TWICE...