Damien wrote:I haven't seen Jean Simmons's performance, but none of the other four does much for me.
Simmons was Oscar-deserving in years she wasn't even nominated (eg, 1952 and '53), so I'll vote for her here.
And this is why now I officially love you, and, I guess, why we love America.
I will vote for Fonda, the first of two times I will pick her. But of course Smith, in a completely different kind of performance, of acting tradition, and of movie, is equally good. (But then They Shoot Horses Dont They is a better movie than Miss Brodie).
And Uri is right about Simmons. I think it's a honest, sometimes affecting performance, in an obviously flawed but not uninteresting movie.
Damien wrote:I haven't seen Jean Simmons's performance, but none of the other four does much for me.
Simmons was Oscar-deserving in years she wasn't even nominated (eg, 1952 and '53), so I'll vote for her here.
Good. Yes, I'm also one of those who (are conditioned to?) think it should be between Smith and Fonda – I went with Smith's one of a kind performance, but I'm happy Simmons's lovely performance is recognized, whatever the circumstances are. The Happy Endings is not a fully successful film. In a way, unlike the case of Rachel, Rachel a year earlier, there's a sense that Brooks didn't feel comfortable being solely a director of a project which is obviously his wife's pet project, so he tried too hard to put his stamp on it. But beyond the labored attempt at fashionable, European like Cinema, there is a melancholic, authentic core. I can see why someone who likes Simmons may not be a fan of her here – it's like her usual inner light is turned off, but that's the point of her character, and she's pitch perfect in it. (And there is an added bonus in Shirley Jones's turn in a brilliantly unsentimental portrayal of a disillusioned professional mistress – my choice for best supporting actress of that year).
Anyway, there's something misleading in this game when it comes to really knowing what's this board true evaluation of the nominees. The results for '51 are probably the most indicative of these shortcomings – while Leigh's landslide status is inevitable, I don't really think our collective opinion, us who awarded Hepburn with 5 awards, is that it was a two actress's race and of the other 4, only Winters was the one to give a notable performance. It would have been interesting if we had 10 votes each to distribute as freely as we wanted. For example, for '69 I'd give Smith 5 votes, Fonda 3 and Simmons 2. And this way we can go with a tie – back in '50 someone might have give both Swanson and Davis 4 votes each and give the other 2 to Holiday or Parker. The results might be less conclusive, but more informative.
Maggie Smith had given a number of amazing performances throughout the 60s (The V.I.P.s; Young Cassidy; Othello; The Honey Pot; Hot Millions; Oh! What a Lovely War) but they were always parts in someone else's movie Finally she had the chance to shine on her own as the self-deluded, hypocritical teacher in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
It always amazed me that her win was considered a surprise when I had thought all year long (the film came out in January) that she would be the one to beat.
Jane Fonda was the real surprise, showing unsuspected strength as the suicidal marathon dancer in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? She had previously been seen mostly in lightweight fare.
Liza Minnelli is poignant in The Sterile Cuckoo but the film was a slight one that hasn't aged particularly well. I don't think she was ever a serious contender though the smart money at the time was on a close race between her and Jane.
It's nice that Jean Simmons has a Best Actress nod for something but The Happy Ending is not one of her better performances. The film itself is a total mess. Where were her friends when she was giving all those great performances in Angel Face; The Actress; Young Bess; Home Before Dark; Elmer Gantry and All the Way Home?
Genevieve Bujold is the best thing about Anne of the Thousand Days but that isn't saying much. The film, based on a then 23 year-old Broadway play should have stayed packed in mothballs in the era of A Man for All Seasons and the soon to be seen BBC mini-series, Henry VIII and His Six Wives.
Those I would have preferred to have seen nominated instead of Bujold include Shirley MacLaine in Sweet Charity; Ingrid Bergman in Cactus Flower; Geraldine Page in What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?; Kim Darby in True Grit and Patty Duke in the forgotten Me, Natalie.
1967
1. Anne Bancroft - The Graduate - 9 votes
1. Edith Evans - The Whisperers - 9 votes
3. Faye Dunaway - Bonnie and Clyde - 2 votes
4. Audrey Hepburn - Wait Until Dark - 1 vote
4. Katharine Hepburn - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - 1 vote
1966
1. Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - 16 votes
2. Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street - 3 votes
2. Lynn Redgrave - Georgy Girl - 3 votes
4. Anouke Aimée - A Man and A Woman - 1 vote
1965
1. Julie Christie - Darling - 11 votes
2. Julie Andrews - The Sound of Music - 8 votes
3. Elizabeth Hartman - A Patch of Blue - 2 votes
4. Samantha Eggar - The Collector - 1 vote
1964
1. Kim Stanley - Séance on a Wet Afternoon - 8 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. Shirley MacLaine - Irma La Douce - 1 vote
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 - 7 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 - 10 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 - 5 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
Most Winns:
Katharine Hepburn - 5
Anne Bancroft - 2
Bette Davis - 2
Vivien Leigh - 2
Rosalind Russell - 2
Barbara Stanwyck - 2
Joanne Woodward - 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
