the great big academy awards project: BEST LEAD ACTRESS in the 1950s
Just when you think it can’t possibly still be trudging along, the project rears its magnificent head. And in this case, it’s taking the form of the 1950s Best Actress races — a decade of extreme highs and lows, melodramas that work and those that fail spectacularly, obsessions with particular Oscar darlings that shine brightly and those that fizzle miserably. In other words, this decade was a moment. Let’s dive back into the Hays Code and enjoy a bit of throwback treats (and tricks), shall we?
1950
The Winner: Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday)
State of the Category: We begin the decade that was getting, well… awfully spoiled. Because as it turns out, it can’t get much better than this here lineup. Starting with the pair of performances from the heavenly All About Eve. Anne Baxter is calculating, icy and magnificent in a surprisingly restrained performance, considering the “Moses…” that came after at. Her little miss evil is quintessential doe-eyed villain, keeping her cards close to her vest while her scene partners shoot for the stars. Speaking of stars… is there anything more instantly iconic and splendid than Margot Channing? What can be said that hasn’t been said before — it’s the perfect convergence of everything Bette Davis does well. She’s brassy, she’s hilarious, she’s commanding — it’s a master-class in leading a picture. Next up is Judy —and when your “worst” in the category is this captivating and utter rom-com perfection, you’ve got a great lineup on your hands. Her Billie Dawn is surprising, totes exquisite comedic timing and offers up just the right amount of screwball comedy you crave — and the chemistry with her male co-stars is off the charts. Shocking in its candor around the conditions of women’s prisons, Caged doesn’t mince words in ways you might expect of a film of this era. And Parker’s journey from lost soul to hardened baddie is such a grand takedown of the prison industrial complex that was imminent in the decades to come. Rounding out the list is yet another impossibly iconic role — Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond is camp grandiosity, but grounded in the harsh truths of aging in Hollywood, probable mental illness and a thirst for lost stardom. She’s living in the rafters and it’s incredible to behold. She 100% understands the assignment and is rightfully in the pantheon as a result.
Report Card
Anne Baxter (All About Eve) – A-
Bette Davis (All About Eve) – A
Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday) – A-
Eleanor Parker (Caged) – A-
Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard) – A
My Choice: Gloria Swanson
1951
The Winner: Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire)
State of the Category: To call Katharine Hepburn tempestuous is a bit mundane, but her scrappy Rose in The African Queen is a standard-bearer of her post-rom-com phase. She ably plays against Humphrey Bogart, both in fine form, and though she’s not necessarily mining territory that proves novel in the years after, this is her perhaps her “spinster” character with the most agency and depth. Is Leigh’s the greatest nominated performance of all time? Saying so wouldn’t be hyperbole. She’s pitch-perfect start to finish as the mentally anguished southerner in Streetcar, and her scene work with every single co-star, including extras, is perfection, from the legendary line readings to the subdued build-up scenes between her and Brando’s Stanley. While the motives of Detective Story are hazy, and many of the story beats are troubling in a modern context, Parker is admirable if not astounding in her role as the wife of a detective bearing a secret. In an odd twist, it’s blatant category fraud, as she’s not even in half of the movie and is very clearly a supporting performance. Winters is heartbreakingly realistic and so unlike the “usual” fodder this category gravitates toward, particularly when the ultra-glamorous Elizabeth Taylor is in the mix as well. She is devastating as the collateral damage—finding every corner of Alice’s deeply destroyed soul borne out of being told time and again she’s not worthy. Rounding out the lineup is a veritable embarrassment of a nomination — Wyman makes her LouLou excessively pious and a complete bore devoid of any motivation, passion or desire. She’s a facsimile of what a 50s American housewife was meant to be—all surface-level, ever-pleasing demeanor whose only goal is to serve with a sensible smile. It’s achingly dull, and she’s a covert monster out to deliver hateful judgments on any woman who doesn’t meet her impossible standards of “female.”
Report Card
Katharine Hepburn (The African Queen) – B+
Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire) – A
Eleanor Parker (Detective Story) – B
Shelley Winters (A Place in the Sun) – A-
Jane Wyman (The Blue Veil) – F
My Choice: Vivien Leigh
1952
The Winner: Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba)
State of the Category: A rarity among Best Actress winners, Oscar went with a fifty-something thespian in 1952—never mind the fact that she was making her screen debut! So how does Booth do? Her subtle tics and maneuvers translate surprisingly well from stage to screen—Booth feels more adept than a debut film performer should be at filling a differently sized frame than playing to the back of the room. This is Booth’s picture, and she steals it wholesale. Crawford is amidst a surprisingly genre picture for the category and most succeeds. She delivers a performance that feels masterful in early scenes and occasionally veers into histrionics perhaps one too many times to call a triumph of any major degree. When she’s good, she’s great—taking control of every scene she’s in and refusing to hand off the reins. Davis’s portrayal of an aging, washed-up actress desperate to reignite her flagging career feels a bit on the nose, and the challenge isn’t nearly exciting enough for an actor of Davis’s caliber. It’s a bit dull and predictable, and lacks many of the charms of what a borderline camp Bette flick should be. Our next nominee is a case of badly miscasting. Bizarrely positioning 27-year-old Julie Harris as a 12-year-old was the first problem—the second one that the whole cast is sporting a heavy Southern accent, while Harris boasts one that feels like a combo of British and northeastern American. It’s difficult to look past the screeching and fits of our leading lady… er, girl. A well-meaning but fairly innocuous trifle from the early 50s, With a Song in My Heart is not delving into any new territory for Hayward, who plays the saint-like figure of Jane Froman completely by the book. (And though Froman herself dubbing the singing was stunning, that was the only outstanding part about the performance, unfortunately for Hayward.)
Report Card
Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba) – A-
Joan Crawford (Sudden Fear) – B
Bette Davis (The Star) – B-
Julie Harris (The Member of the Wedding) – D+
Susan Hayward (With a Song in My Heart) – C+
My Choice: Shirley Booth
1953
The Winner: Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday)
State of the Category: A wild array of performance styles come to us courtesy of the women of 1953. Let’s start on a positive note — what could very easily have been a 1950s version of “twee” as we follow an enchanting young woman becoming enamored with a puppeteer, Caron in Lili is genuinely charming, lovely and captivating. Quite honestly, I find it more effective than the much more lauded Gigi. Next up is the devastatingly beautiful Ava Gardner, who does her best to elevate the tiresome Mogambo, but unfortunately can’t do much with a dull script, dated love triangle and dud chemistry. If you don’t first think of Holly Golightly or Eliza Doolittle, you must think of Princess Anne when it comes to Ms. Hepburn. She’s believably naive, adventuresome and romantic in equal measure, delivering just the right amount of comedy and chemistry with aggressively handsome Gregory Peck. While there are heaps of potential in From Here to Eternity, the successes of the film largely rest upon the filmmaking and the performances of Montgomery Clift and Donna Reed. Beyond the iconic beach makeout, Kerr brings nothing to the table, a performance largely devoid of the required sex appeal or charm. Ho-hum. Rounding out the crew is a completely absurd movie — McNamara, with the voice of Snow White and the delivery and impressionability of a woman raised by animated forest animals… is it meant to be intentionally robotic, akin to Diary of a Mad Housewife, or is it merely wildly sexist and of the time period? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I left feeling cold on her Oscar-nominated performance.
Report Card
Leslie Caron (Lili) – A-
Ava Gardner (Mogambo) – C
Audrey Hepburn (Roman Holiday) – A
Deborah Kerr (From Here to Eternity) – B-
Maggie McNamara (The Moon is Blue) – C-
My Choice: Audrey Hepburn
1954
The Winner: Grace Kelly (The Country Girl)
State of the Category: A landmark nomination that cannot be denied for its importance in Oscar history, Dorothy Dandridge saunters into Carmen Jones with epic levels of charisma and confidence — and co-star Harry Belafonte is stunningly beautiful himself. Now, if they’d just had the sense to use their actual singing voices, as the dubbing is incredibly distracting and poorly mixed, taking away from what is almost an opera of a musical. Thank goodness that wasn’t the case for the masterful Judy Garland in 1954’s A Star is Born. You might assume such a mega-watt star wouldn’t be able to sell a rags-to-riches journey, but she does so in spades. Esther is a singular creation and believably the ultimate showbiz hero. Bringing that same level of Roman Holiday charm to a lesser story, Audrey Hepburn makes her Sabrina the most exciting character in the proceedings, but unfortunately the love stories don’t quite connect in any real way, and an iconic film doesn’t quite hold up, in this critic’s opinion, to no fault of Audrey’s. In Country Girl, Grace Kelly is okay but largely buried under being miscast as a long-suffering wife trope, at her worst in the histrionic revelations in the final act. A melodrama can be lovely on occasion, but this one is all bleak and garishly broad line readings. In Magnificent Obsession, Wyman is merely an empty vessel delivering out-of-control dialogue that feels straight out of a Cinema Classics SNL sketch (there is legitimately one moment where a character literally says the phrase “magnificent obsession” without any irony). While I found myself smirking and cackling now and again and was genuinely entertained, I doubt a single laugh-line was intentional in any way, shape or form, so it has to be dinged heavily for that lack of self-awareness.
Report Card
Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones) – B
Judy Garland (A Star is Born) – A
Audrey Hepburn (Sabrina) – B+
Grace Kelly (The Country Girl) – D
Jane Wyman (Magnificent Obsession) – C-
My Choice: Judy Garland
1955
The Winner: Anna Magnani (The Rose Tattoo)
State of the Category: Oh, it’s a Susan Hayward movie? Oh, and she’s playing a tempestuous real-life singer dealing with a tragedy? Oh, and bonus points for said tragedy being crippling alcoholism? (This describes… an astoundingly many movies.) In truth, there are a few bonus points for this particular Hayward outing — one, that her Lillian Roth makes use of Hayward’s actual voice versus a dub, and her throaty tenor is surprisingly astute, with just the right amount of careworn aesthetic. Katharine Hepburn is remarkably restrained in this often-times lovely overseas outing in Summertime. A departure from her “spinster” era, it makes her Jane a fully realized person, though the story itself isn’t entirely remarkable. The less said about Jennifer Jones in Love is a Many-Splendored Thing the better. Eighty percent of the film insists on reminding us that the very Caucasian actress is “Eurasian,” from stereotypical dialogue, deeply racist depictions of the truly Asian performers and the movie’s decision to provide depth solely to the Asian characters played by white actors. But beyond this is the other 20 percent, and to be honest, it doesn’t offer much to write home about. The leads are devoid of chemistry, blankly reciting the lines on the page with zero passion. And then there’s The Rose Tattoo… Led by a gargantuan performance from Anna Magnani, it feels illicit and dark at points in ways that don’t seem possible for 1955. Magnani’s Serafina is all pain in the eyes and body, exuding such a naturalistic performance with peaks and valleys. And though Burt Lancaster is not her match, he at least provides a fresh mirror partway through the movie to bounce her own acting decisions off of. Rounding out the category is Eleanor Parker playing another troubled singer (hey, she’s stealing your thing, Susan!) — Interrupted Melody is fairly corny throughout, and Parker gives it her best, but the dubbing is distracting, and the storyline is too over-the-top to enjoy in any ironically schmaltzy way.
Report Card
Susan Hayward (I’ll Cry Tomorrow) – C
Katharine Hepburn (Summertime) – B+
Jennifer Jones (Love is a Many-Splendored Thing) – F
Anna Magnani (The Rose Tattoo) – A
Eleanor Parker (Interrupted Melody) – B-
My Choice: Anna Magnani
1956
The Winner: Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia)
State of the Category: Gutsy, bold and messy are all words I’d use to describe Carroll Baker in Baby Doll. It’s no surprise that this Southern-fried drama drew a whole lot of attention in the white-picket-fence 50s. Nevertheless, she keeps things remarkably interesting, fully commits to this outlandish character and steals the show start to finish — an impressive feat for what is essentially her film debut. The recent revelations around the Anastasia saga have somewhat complicated the hindsight view of this movie, which insinuates Bergman’s character is the princess herself. But even taking it as fantasy, Bergman is unfortunately staid and a bit boring in the characterization, played much more effectively in animated form 40 years later. And here we are again… we mine the spinster trope again with Katharine, and the absurdity of the self-assured, independent characterization of our leading lady that’s consistently labeled sad, pathetic and lonely by every male in her family… and most of the townspeople. I struggled to suspend my disbelief that Cheekbones Kate could be cast in such a light, particularly when she carried with her the usual panache of a “brassy dame” of the era. As such, the performance felt wholly out of place in what’s meant to be rural Kansas. There’s a whole lot of delicious actressing in The Bad Seed — unfortunately, Nancy Kelly plays her straight-man character very by the book and one-note throughout. This is the supporting women’s movie start to finish, and I’d sadly rank Kelly as fourth-best in show. Finally we have Deborah Kerr’s most remembered performance (outside of perhaps a certain Affair), and while it has a little more to write home about, this is Yul’s movie, and Kerr can’t keep up. (And let’s not even get started on the MANY problematic casting issues that are hard to look past…)
Report Card
Carroll Baker (Baby Doll) – B+
Ingrid Bergman (Anastasia) – C+
Katharine Hepburn (The Rainmaker) – B-
Nancy Kelly (The Bad Seed) – B
Deborah Kerr (The King and I) – B-
My Choice: Carroll Baker
1957
The Winner: Joanne Woodward (The Three Faces of Eve)
State of the Category: Though Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison veered into more bombastic territory when we weren’t just dealing with the two leads’ own character studies, it offered just enough newness to give it a fresher-than-expected feeling. Kerr was effective for the task at hand but didn’t bring quite the complexity and magnetism that her co-star does. Wild is the Wind is another prime example of Magnani’s abilities at being utterly watchable, totally original and a magnet for any viewer’s eyes. Natural, authentic and vibrant. Hm, Raintree County… at nearly three hours of strangely formatted performative white savior-hood held up next to romances involving deeply racist southern belles that we’re supposed to be invested in and… I simply can’t. Taylor doesn’t even have a brilliant performance to fall back on, as she and the rest of the cast are uniformly bland and/or acting for the back of the room. Odd, start to finish. Peyton Place is soapy and packed with what are meant to be gasp-worthy scandals, except rather than being able to attach to them a Austen-esque lens of societal expectations and partake in empathizing with each as it comes, it feels too pat, too sterilized and too schlocky. Turner is admirably stoic as the central character Constance, but her moves are all hollow and gestural, with nothing particularly remarkable in play. In The Three Faces of Eve, Woodward is rather effective in her characterizations and surprisingly doesn’t go histrionic as often as some of her contemporaries might have. But in hindsight it certainly reads as a good-not-great TV movie.
Report Card
Deborah Kerr (Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison) – B+
Anna Magnani (Wild is the Wind) – A
Elizabeth Taylor (Raintree County) – D-
Lana Turner (Peyton Place) – C-
Joanne Woodward (The Three Faces of Eve) – B+
My Choice: Anna Magnani
1958
The Winner: Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!)
State of the Category: Hayward finally snagged her Oscar, and boy does she sweat for it. I Want to Live! is as gonzo as the title suggests. She’s chewing every speck of scenery to such great lengths, it’s comically bad… so much so that it’s almost good. I was endlessly entertained with this wild creation, but not for the clear intentions. Separate Tables is a fantastic concept — and it’s packed with interesting and well-played performances from folks like Hayworth and Hiller. Kerr is… okay — not actively bad, but she’s saddled with a character that’s not even remotely interesting. Shirley MacLaine oozes charisma in every role — she has the natural warmth of a Jennifer Lawrence of her era. Some Came Running unfortunately doesn’t care about her character, painting her as a pathetic figure, and her co-stars pay her no favors. Auntie Mame is maximum camp, and, in the right mood, it’s a fantastic piece of popcorn entertainment. Rosalind Russell is cuckoo as the eponymous Auntie, and I’m largely on board. If it weren’t for the zero chemistry with her young scene partner, it’d be more pro than con. Lastly is our latest Tennessee Williams outing, and boy howdy does Taylor deliver. Her Maggie the Cat is salacious, cocky and attractive in every sense of the word. She plays magnificently opposite Newman, and it’s a master class in code-switching between the stage and the screen.
Report Card
Susan Hayward (I Want to Live!) – B-
Deborah Kerr (Separate Tables) – C+
Shirley MacLaine (Some Came Running) – B-
Rosalind Russell (Auntie Mame) – B
Elizabeth Taylor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) – A
My Choice: Elizabeth Taylor
1959
The Winner: Simone Signoret (Room at the Top)
State of the Category: A fitting gesture to a Hollywood icon, Pillow Talk is the perfect showcase of Day’s gifts — she’s self-assured, romantic and delightfully funny, and her chemistry with Rock Hudson is unsurprisingly off the charts. The perfect example of why rom-com performances deserve their due. Hepburn lives in the silence of The Nun’s Story to magnificent effect — her sister-in-training is never boring, harbors unseen complication and takes what could feel like a dull, saintly premise and gives it intrigue in unexpected ways. Hepburn understands the assignment in Suddenly, Last Summer — she sees the wild premise and raises you an eccentric, wealthy empress of kook that serves as a great preview of what she does (superiorly, mind you) in The Lion in Winter. Signoret is heartbreaking and genuine in Room at the Top — her older woman in a lurid affair is all false hope and devastating sadness. She takes what could be a punching-bag role and instills it with sensuality and realness. Finalizing our category is a decidedly different Taylor portrayal — her institutionalized socialite in Suddenly, Last Summer tosses off obvious “I’m CRAZY!!” choices and grounds the absolutely ridiculous twists of the picture in someone whose motives you can’t track and keeps you guessing. Surprising and unique at every turn.
Report Card
Doris Day (Pillow Talk) – A-
Audrey Hepburn (The Nun’s Story) – B+
Katharine Hepburn (Suddenly, Last Summer) – B+
Simone Signoret (Room at the Top) – A-
Elizabeth Taylor (Suddenly, Last Summer) – A-
My Choice: Elizabeth Taylor
Decade Honors/Dishonors
Best Performance: Vivien Leigh (A Streetcar Named Desire)
Best Nominated Film: All About Eve
Worst Performance: Jane Wyman (The Blue Veil)
Worst Nominated Film: The Blue Veil
Closest Race: 1959
Best Year: 1950
Worst Year: 1956
But what about you? What are your thoughts on the ladies of the 1950s?
Journalistic Skepticism 