My current Top 5

My current Top 5

2/10/2012

Best Actress 1963 - The resolution

After having watched and reviewed all five nominated performances, it's time to pick the winner!


5. Shirley MacLaine in Irma La Douce

Shirley MacLaine both saves and harms her movie as she often feels out of place but her no-nonsense approach to this part is also a welcome change of pace and helped to craft an entertaining, sometimes touching, sometimes amusing but never stupid character.



                     
Natalie Wood gives a performance that never goes beyond the surface but still works surprisingly well because her charm, her ability to handle comedy and drama and her clear display of Angie’s journey are still so intriguing, entertaining, poignant, funny and provoking.



3. Leslie Caron in The L-Shaped Room

In this very emotional performance, Leslie Caron gives a quiet and subtle piece of work that may be limited by the way her character was written but is also much more memorable than any exaggerated overacting would have been.



2. Patricia Neal in Hud

Patricia Neal’s performance is a beautiful example of a dedicated realism on the screen but also of an actress taking an underwritten and thin part and filling it with life thanks to her own acting, her own personality and her ability to use her material to craft the idea of a whole world beyond the written word.




Rachel Roberts lingers like a ghost over every moment of her movie and she mixed moments of pure intensity with shocking and heartbreaking images and that way gave an incredibly effective turn that leaves a lasting and hunting impression.

 



7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great reviews, as always...
Could you please do a recent year next? Like in the last 20 years? Thanks :)

Anonymous said...

A shocking winner, but I'm glad you liked the main 3 :)

You should consider 2005 Fritz...

Louis Morgan said...

Surprised a little by the winner myself, but Roberts is certainly deserving.

dinasztie said...

Very surprised by the winner. I predicted Caron. Anyway, I can't complain. Great work!

You should do 2010.

Fritz said...

Well, I thought it would be time for a surprising winners after so many years with rather predictable choices! :-)


LOL, I had actually considered doing one of the first years of the Awards but I will think about switching to a more recent year!

Fritz said...

I also have to say that this was a year where I had absolutely zero idea about how it would turn out. Most times, you already expect to like a certain performance very much or you can already guess who will be your winner but this time it was really hard. Somehow, Leslie did not feel like a winner to me after I saw her so I gave Patricia another chance and decided to upgrade her above Leslie. And Rachel was initially my number three but as time passed, I realized that Patricia did not feel right either and I could not get Rachel out of my head. So I gave Rachel another chance and, bingo, I finally had my winner!

Anonymous said...

Yes! Perfect choice.