Who was your Best Actress of 1950?

[FreemanGriffin]

#1203420656

The Oscar nominees were:

Anne Baxter, All About Eve

Bette Davis, All About Eve

Judy Holliday, Born Yesterday

Eleanor Parker, Caged

Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard

Here are my top five other actresses:

Gloria Grahame, In A Lonely Place

Katharine Hepburn, Adam’s Rib

Barbara Stanwyck, No Man Of Her Own

Margaret Sullavan, No Sad Songs For Me

Jane Wyman, Stage Fright

Jog my memory of foreign language actresses from 1950 and other lead actress performances that were memorable!

My pick: BETTE DAVIS IN ALL ABOUT EVE!!!!

• This topic was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by FreemanGriffin.

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[Bassett Joined: Dec 21st, 2016 Topics: 9 Posts: 4025 View Predictions]

#1203420676

Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis both gave all-time best performances but Gloria deserved it the most. Too bad she died Oscarless

FYC :

Best Actress - Viola Davis, Frances McDormand
Best Actor - Delroy Lindo, Chadwick Boseman
Best Supporting Actor - Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman
Best Picture - Nomadland
Best Director - Chloé Zhao
SAG Ensemble - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Best Cinematography - Nomadland

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[JayDF Joined: Sep 18th, 2011 Topics: 36 Posts: 19318 View Predictions]

#1203420678

My own personal lineup that year is…

Peggy Cummins, Gun Crazy
Bette Davis, All About Eve
Gloria Grahame, In a Lonely Place
Judy Holliday, Born Yesterday
Gloria Swanson, Sunset Boulevard

Not excluding Katharine Hepburn at all. She wins my 1949 lineup since I don’t follow the academy’s rules & “Adam’s Rib” was released in 49. If I were to have a tie to equal the academy’s 1968, it would be 1950 with Davis & Swanson winning together. No tie? Probably Davis.

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[FreemanGriffin Joined: Feb 19th, 2012 Topics: 477 Posts: 7425 View Predictions]

#1203420685

Thanks for reminding me about Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy!

I have been wracking my brain trying to think of any foreign language actresses from 1950 but drawing a blank.

My five would be: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis, Gloria Grahame, Katharine Hepburn, and Gloria Swanson with an honorable mention to Margaret Sullavan!

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[JulieF Joined: Oct 14th, 2011 Topics: 0 Posts: 83 View Predictions]

#1203420706

Bette Davis in All About Eve

For me, this is the best performance by an actress to not win the Oscar.

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[JayDF Joined: Sep 18th, 2011 Topics: 36 Posts: 19318 View Predictions]

#1203420716

The only ones I can think of are future Oscar winners Anna Magnani in “Volcano” which I haven’t seen & Simone Signoret in “La Ronde” which is a very good film and a good performance from Signoret, although the film is episodic and I wouldn’t consider her leading, but she is the most visible actress in the film. The film competed at the 1951 Oscars. Also past & future winner Ingrid Bergman in “Stromboli” which is basically the same story as the Magnani film mentioned above.

FreemanGriffin wrote:

Thanks for reminding me about Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy!

I have been wracking my brain trying to think of any foreign language actresses from 1950 but drawing a blank.

My five would be: Anne Baxter, Bette Davis, Gloria Grahame, Katharine Hepburn, and Gloria Swanson with an honorable mention to Margaret Sullavan!

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[FreemanGriffin Joined: Feb 19th, 2012 Topics: 477 Posts: 7425 View Predictions]

#1203420722

There was an actress in an early Ingmar Bergman film but I can’t remember her name (Maj Britt-Nelson maybe? Summer Interlude but that might be 1951?). Also the lead from Les Parents Terribles was I think 1950? Sorry for being so vague!

If you have never seen Margaret Sullavan as a dying woman in No Sad Songs For Me she is wonderful in it.

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[Emmyfan Joined: Nov 26th, 2010 Topics: 74 Posts: 4580 View Predictions]

#1203420739

My vote would have been for Gloria Swanson. My guess is that she came in second behind Judy Holiday.

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[Karofsky Joined: Mar 25th, 2017 Topics: 0 Posts: 12541 View Predictions]

#1203420741

Gloria Swanson

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[Sam_Malone Joined: Aug 22nd, 2018 Topics: 2 Posts: 203 View Predictions]

#1203420964

For me this is easy: Bette Davis in All About Eve – my all-time favorite performance. I think enough has been said about her performance, so I leave it at this.

It’s too bad that Gloria Swanson ran into her that year – she’s great in SB and would have been a worthy winner in any other year.

Third is Eleanor Parker in Caged who is kind of the lost nominee as she is never mentioned when talking about this race, but she is very good; maybe even her best performance (or Detective Story); nevertheless, she was never a contender to win as there was always somebody better than her.

Fourth is Anne Baxter who is very very good but it’s Davis show.

The only nominee I do not nominate is Judy Holliday. A performance I like but a performance that so obviously won due to vote splitting, it’s not even funny. Sweet performance against two power houses.

I wanna throw in Joan Crawford for Harriet Craig into the discussion (my fifth nominee) which I consider her best performance (post-Metro … and come to think of it; maybe also including Metro) but it’s borderline ham (as most post-Metro Crawford performances).

I was underwhelmed by Stanwyck in No Man of her own (quite unremarkable movie for me).

Gloria Grahame is an enigma to me. Sometimes I consider her brilliant like in Crossfore or (especially) The Big Heat. Then in other movies she couldn’t be more dull despite getting very good material – as in In a Lonely Place. Then she won an Oscar for a performance (and role) that is just there but doesn’t do anything for anybody. I just don’t know what to think of her and her acting abilities – it’s a mess.

Re: Katharine Hepburn in Adam’s Rib – good work but nothing too special, imo. Can’t hardly remember Jane Wyman (another actress who probably has no business being an oscar winner) in Stage Fright.

Haven’t seen Sullavan’s movie yet.

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[ArtIsntEasy Joined: Dec 17th, 2011 Topics: 3 Posts: 1117 View Predictions]

#1203421075

Even though I do support ALL ABOUT EVE winning Best Picture, I would’ve given my vote to Gloria Swanson in this case.

“The art of making art is putting it together...”

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[Gabe Guarin Joined: Feb 23rd, 2017 Topics: 40 Posts: 2272 View Predictions]

#1203421347

I would’ve given Judy Holliday the Supporting Actress prize for Adam’s Rib (she wasn’t even nominated) and given Gloria Swanson the Lead Actress prize for Sunset Boulevard.

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[Army Of Me]

#1203421369

1. Bette Davis – Margo Channing was the perfect role for Davis at this stage in her career. She was in her early forties and seen as being well past her glorious prime. It’s a perfect example of the right actress adding a great deal of depth to an already outstanding role.

2. Gloria Swanson – Norma Desmond is iconic and would probably be my winner in any other year.

3. Judy Holliday – Holliday delivered a masterful comedic performance. She benefited greatly from the vote splitting of the two titans above. The performance was also so different from the other four dramatic and heavy turns.

4. Anne Baxter – She deserved her nomination but was overshadowed by her costar. Baxter does deserve more credit than she usually receives because she was outstanding in many key scenes in her film.

5. Eleanor Parker – Great performance in a good movie that was elevated by strong acting. She was likely dead last. I’d imagine the subject matter was a turn off for voters.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by Army Of Me.
• This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by Army Of Me.

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[RobertPius Joined: Nov 22nd, 2012 Topics: 262 Posts: 1830 View Predictions]

#1203421744

The scene in the car where Davis talks about what it means to be a woman and makes Celeste Holm cry…well…just perfect acting.

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[Jake Joined: Jul 2nd, 2011 Topics: 73 Posts: 3047 View Predictions]

#1203422408

Gloria Swanson. When I saw the movie, I was surprised how real Norma Desmond felt given how campy she could have been. The entire film still feels very fresh and timeless like it’s from any given year.

I imagine Bette Davis being respected enough to score nominations but not liked enough because they simply didn’t want to give her third Oscar.

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