Best Actress 1969

[Aceisgreat]

I think my real issue with the confrontation is the decision to have Brodie shout "Assassin!" at Franklin as she walks away; yes until these final scenes, she has not truly considered (or been confronted with) the possibility that she is doing much more harm than good--even the scene before this where she is dismissed, her character would write off her dismissal as "I am too radical, too ahead of my time for this stuffy headmaster"--but a better screenplay and director would've had that realization hit her in a much more subtle way. Smith is great here. A great Best Actress win, in my opinion.

The director, Ronald Neame, says on the DVD commentary track that Jean was originally supposed to remain in the empty classroom after Sandy left and she whispers "Assassin" to herself, but he and the producer felt something more animated was needed, hence the shout on the landing with the added echo. Maggie Smith wanted to do it the quiet way and was overruled, but Neame acknowledged she was probably right as he watched the scene years later.

[Big Magilla]

I have no idea what the inspiration for Dead Poets Society was, but the writer, Tom Shulman, is basically a comedy writer, whose other film that year was Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. I always thought The prime of Miss Jean Brodie was anti-Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Good Morning, Miss Dove, and all those inspirational teacher books and films. It was after all based on the author's real-life experiences.

Muriel Spark's inspiration for her 1961 novel was her own fascist teacher. Pamela Franklin's character was based on Spark herself. Interesting casting of Maggie Smith's husband, Robert Stephens, as the other major villain. Great acting, especially from Smith who was given the role after Vanessa Redgrave, who had played it on the London stage, turned it down, but also from Franklin, Stephens, Jane Carr, and lovely Celia Johnson cast against type as the pinch-nosed principal by director Ronald Neame, her Brief Encounter producer and director of photography.

[dws1982]

Watched The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie from the TCM broadcast this month. I wonder if Dead Poets Society was meant to be some type of response to it, because they seem to be almost in direct dialogue with each other: charismatic fascist teacher creates a personality cult around him/her-self, which leads to tragedy; in Dead Poets Society, Keating is not overtly fascist (or shown to be overtly sympathetic to fascism, as Brodie is), and it's the forces of conservatism that unite to force Keating out. The film is also fully in sympathy with Keating, never truly calls him out*, and works hard to absolve Keating of any responsibility in the tragedy that he (indirectly) set in motion. (* - Norman Lloyd's character does call him out for his irresponsibility, but he is clearly meant to be a villain of the piece, although Lloyd's performance does add some nuance to the situation.)

Prime... comes out a lot better in comparison, both because it does call her out (more on that in a bit) and because as opposed to inspirational teddy bear that Williams turns Keating into, there's a real danger in the character of Brodie. Smith walks the viewer right up to the line of going almost anywhere with this character, without blinking, without trying to reassure us that she does not share this character's beliefs. (This is why she is much better cast than Vanessa Redgrave would've been, because I don't think Redgrave would've been as fearless in going all the way that Smith goes with this character, although I have no idea how she played it onstage, obviously.) It's so easy to understand how someone young and impressionable would be so captivated by this teacher and how that captivation can lead, if you follow it far enough, to tragic consequences. Smith is in control of it all. If she weren't, it would just be Robin Williams in Dead Poets twenty years earlier. But she knows not just how charismatic Brodie is and how easily she can rope us in, she knows Jean Brodie is manipulative, a narcissist, and that she, like the art teacher, is abusing her power, although in a very different way than he is. The scene where Pamela Franklin's character calls her out is not any more on-the-nose than the scene where Norman Lloyd calls out Williams in Dead Poets; the difference is that film is fully in sympathy with Williams character whereas this scene is where the movie makes fully explicit that Brodie is, if not the villain then a villain. (She can't be the only villain in a film with that art teacher in it.) I think my real issue with the confrontation is the decision to have Brodie shout "Assassin!" at Franklin as she walks away; yes until these final scenes, she has not truly considered (or been confronted with) the possibility that she is doing much more harm than good--even the scene before this where she is dismissed, her character would write off her dismissal as "I am too radical, too ahead of my time for this stuffy headmaster"--but a better screenplay and director would've had that realization hit her in a much more subtle way. Smith is great here. A great Best Actress win, in my opinion.

[bizarre]

I have seen Fonda, Smith and Minnelli and they are all tremendous.

First to be eliminated, however, would be Smith - an incredible, fully-rounded performance of a woman seeking immortality, for better or worse, through her students. But I think Pamela Franklin dominates in the second half.

Jane Fonda is tremendous, terse, serious and ice cold and more believable than I've ever seen her. It's to her credit that this film's period trappings work so well, and she enriches the performances of Young, York and Sarrazin just by being around them.

But there's no other option than Minnelli. This film pioneered the 'manic pixie dream girl' archetype while deconstructing it - scathingly at points - at the same time. It's a lovely little film, beautifully written with great performances by Wendell Burton and Tim McIntire, endlessly insightful and sensitive to its characters. And Pookie is a brilliant character, whose path to total codependency is charted with great creativity, verve and intelligence by Minnelli, who I had no idea had this kind of talent. Asides she makes later in the film make you rearticulate performance decisions she made 30 minutes before - she takes a holistic approach to the performance, which make its it more than the sum of its parts. Her virtuosic phone call scene is a highwire act, but I'm even more enamoured of the scene where Burton finds her upon her return to town, silent for the first time in the picture, eyes bleeding into the darkness, cut raw from self-flagellation with her own constructed personality. It's one of the true tragic figures in American cinema, and in a "teen movie", no less. I'll vote for her anyway as I can't imagine Bujold or Simmons coming close, as good of actresses as they are.

My picks for this year:

1. Liza Minelli, The Sterile Cuckoo
2. Jane Fonda, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
3. Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
4. Jacqueline Bisset, The Grasshopper
5. Dyan Cannon, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

[mayukh]

My feelings toward Liza Minellii were substantially different. I'd always thought of her as the less attractive, less talented daughter, one whose naked emotional neediness made me want to turn away.

Then I saw the two films, within the span of a week or two post-nominations. And, while I fully admired Fonda's work, I was unprepared for how taken I was by Minnelli. Her personal desperation for once was completely right for a role. And her extended telephone scene was such a tour de force, I found myself rooting for her.

I'm glad you voted for her. I first saw the film a good forty or so years after its release and, though I can't speak for you, I'd say the performance is just as moving as it probably was way back then. I can't say much about this performance but it's one of the most moving pieces of acting I've seen. She realizes her character's vulnerability through her quirks. Her line readings are so nuanced. It is an absolutely beautiful study of a person who draws people close to her – people meaning anyone who gives her attention – without realizing how repulsive that can be; it is direct, lucid, and completely, like you said, naked without being alienating or ostentatious. All I could think of while watching Like Crazy was how well Minnelli captured how damaging falling in love for the first time can be (and how badly Felicity Jones tried to capture that). I can cheer for days about this performance, so I'm glad that there's someone else who feels this way.

Fonda – perfect performance, and it's nice to see she's winning here. The first time in her career she really appeared to be in full control of her diction and technical skills as an actress, but still possessing depths of feeling that characterized her earlier, less-refined work. (In hindsight, she would begin to, later in her career, seem a bit too in control of these skills. But you can tell that she was exploring something very personal in this film and Klute.)

Bujold is a wonderful actress who is fascinating even when wrong for a role, and so she is just that in Anne – fascinating but unable to transcend the limits of the role. Same goes, essentially, for Jean Simmons. Smith is obviously quite deft but it takes awhile for her mannerisms to seem in-character, even if she is ultimately affecting (I think her film is quite under-celebrated, by the way, and it succeeds in spite of her often stifling affectations); also, I couldn't help but think that Vanessa Redgrave could've captured the odd, quirky charisma that attracted to many to Miss Brodie in the first place better than Smith. But it's still a wonderful performance and I understand why so many gravitate towards it.

[danfrank]

I've been luckily enough to see Maggie Smith once, in Talking Heads. Needles to say she was great.

Ditto. I saw her in Lettuce and Lovage in London for which she later won the Tony when the play moved to New York. A great comic performance.

Me three. I saw her in The Importance of Being Earnest, I think it was 1993, in the West End. Oscar Wilde AND Maggie Smith; it was a thrilling wit-fest.

[Reza]

I've been luckily enough to see Maggie Smith once, in Talking Heads. Needles to say she was great.

Ditto. I saw her in Lettuce and Lovage in London for which she later won the Tony when the play moved to New York. A great comic performance.

[Precious Doll]

I've been luckily enough to see Maggie Smith once, in Talking Heads. Needles to say she was great.

[Cinemanolis]

Maggie Smith on her career, the cancer that may end that career and death among other things:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol....533.ece

Very nice article. Thanks Magilla.

I've seen her twice on stage. In "Lady In the Van" and "Breath of Life" with Judi Dench. She was wonderful, i hope i will soon have another chance of seeing her performing live.

[Reza]

Maggie Smith on her career, the cancer that may end that career and death among other things:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol....533.ece

A lovely article.

Hope she gets better soon.

[Big Magilla]

Maggie Smith on her career, the cancer that may end that career and death among other things:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol....533.ece

[Mister Tee]

Bujold was surely the best thing about Anne of a Thousand Days, but the movie was such a dead piece of mackerel it didn't matter much.

As others have said, The Happy Ending is not a disgrace -- it's certainly trying to be about something. But it falls way short of success, which hurts Simmons. (I, like many, am a great overall fan of the lady)

Beyond that, I run into Perspective Paradox. I was old enough to have serious contemporary opinions about the other three (who were the main competition -- Magilla's right that the press mainly played it as Battle of the Second Generation between Jane and Liza, but I thought at the time Smith had a shot). It's entirely possible those opinions could change today, based on evolutions in my taste as well as hindsight. But all I can honestly do is report on my feelings at the time.

When I saw Fonda had won the NY Critics, I was jubilant. I'd decided, based on of all things Barefoot in the Park, that she was a comer, and to have my feeling so quickly validated was quite satisfying.

My feelings toward Liza Minellii were substantially different. I'd always thought of her as the less attractive, less talented daughter, one whose naked emotional neediness made me want to turn away.

Then I saw the two films, within the span of a week or two post-nominations. And, while I fully admired Fonda's work, I was unprepared for how taken I was by Minnelli. Her personal desperation for once was completely right for a role. And her extended telephone scene was such a tour de force, I found myself rooting for her.

I didn't see Maggie Smith till a few days after her upset Oscar win. And I thought she was quite good, though not clearly better than the other two.

Sometime in the past decade or two I watched Brodie again, and found the material pretty creaky, but Smith still quite enjoyable. I've also watched They Shoot Horses again, and had the same problems I always did with the film (Michael Sarazin; those flash-forwards!), but thought Fonda was splendid, even better than I'd remembered -- though not up to the extraordinary Klute level.

I've not seen Sterile Cuckoo again. It's possible if I did, I'd downgrade the film the way Magilla has. But all I can do here, in honesty, is echo my 18-year-old choice, and be the apparently sole vote for Liza Minnelli.



Edited By Mister Tee on 1254769407

[Reza]

However, I prefer other performances of both Fonda and Smith and shall vote for them in later years.

Are you really going to go with Travels with My Aunt?

No not at all.

I'll go for one of her supporting nominated performances instead, assuming ofcourse jowy_ jillia eventually extends this poll to the supporting awards.

I think Maggie Smith gave far greater lead performances in a number of films for which, unfortunately, she was not nominated.

[Uri]

However, I prefer other performances of both Fonda and Smith and shall vote for them in later years.

Are you really going to go with Travels with My Aunt?

[Reza]

I equally like the performances of Bujold, Fonda and Smith here. However, I prefer other performances of both Fonda and Smith and shall vote for them in later years. Therefore, I voted for Bujold as the fiery Anne Boleyn.

My top 5

Genevieve Bujold, Anne of the Thousand Days
Jane Fonda, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Maggie Smith, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Jean Simmons, The Happy Ending
Barbra Streisand, Hello Dolly!