Best Actress Ranking - Update

Here is a new update. The newly added performance is highlighted in bold.

If five performances from the same year are included, the winning performance is higlighted in red.

1. Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
2. Luise Rainer in The Good Earth (1937)
3. Jessica Lange in Frances (1982)
4. Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
5. Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress (1949)
6. Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
7. Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)
8. Janet Gaynor in Seventh Heaven (1927-1928)   
9. Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman (1978)

10. Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story (1959)

11. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
12. Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
13. Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991)
14. Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
15. Edith Evans in The Whisperers (1967)
16. Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette (1938)

17. Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment (1983)
18. Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939)
19. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
20. Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004)

21. Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth (1998)

22. Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge! (2001)
23. Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
24. Simone Signoret in Room at the Top (1959)
25. Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941)
26. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
27. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame (1958)
28. Glenda Jackson in Women in Love (1970)
29. Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
30. Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)

31. Renée Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

32. Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire (1941)
33. Sissy Spacek in In the Bedroom (2001)
34. Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (2001)
35. Lee Remick in Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
36. Annette Bening in American Beauty (1999)

37. Diane Lane in Unfaithful (2002)
38. Emily Watson in Hilary and Jackie (1998)
39. Judi Dench in Iris (2001)
40. Julie Christie in Away from Her (2007)

41. Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun (1951)

42. Audrey Hepburn in Wait until Dark (1967)

43. Geneviève Bujold in Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)

44. Meryl Streep in The Devil wears Prada (2006)
45. Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
46. Julie Walters in Educating Rita (1983)
47. Anne Baxter in All about Eve (1950)
48. Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown (1997)
49. Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932)
50. May Robson in Lady for a Day (1933)

51. Jane Fonda in Coming Home (1978)

52. Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

53. Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959)

54. Meryl Streep in One True Thing (1998)
55. Joan Crawford in Sudden Fear (1952)
56. Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953)
57. Katharine Hepburn in Guess who’s coming to dinner (1967)
58. Marsha Mason in Chapter Two (1979)
59. Jane Wyman in The Yearling (1946)
60. Melissa Leo in Frozen River (2008)

61. Deborah Kerr in Edward, my Son (1949)

62. Martha Scott in Our Town (1940)

63. Teresa Wright in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) 

64. Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945)

65. Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year (1978)
66. Susan Hayward in My Foolish Heart (1949)
67. Jeanne Crain in Pinky (1949)
68. Eleanor Parker in Detective Story (1951)
69. Vanessa Redgrave in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
70. Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room (1996)

71. Louise Dresser in A Ship comes in (1927-1928)

72. Dorothy McGuire in Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

73. Loretta Young in Come to the Stable (1949)  

74. Mary Pickford in Coquette (1928-29)

75. Leslie Caron in Lili (1953)
76. Sissy Spacek in The River (1984)
77. Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977)
78. Irene Dunne in Cimarron (1930-1931)
79. Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1928-29)
80. Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade (1932-1933)

81. Bette Davis in The Star (1952)

Best Actress Ranking - Update

Here is a new update. The newly added performance is highlighted in bold. 

Winning performances are higlighted in red.

1. Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
2. Jessica Lange in Frances (1982)
3. Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
4. Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress (1949)
5. Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)
6. Janet Gaynor in Seventh Heaven (1927-1928)   
7. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
8. Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
9. Edith Evans in The Whisperers (1967)
10. Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette (1938)

11. Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939)
12. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
13. Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941)
14. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
15. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame (1958)
16. Glenda Jackson in Women in Love (1970)
17. Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire (1941)
18. Julie Christie in Away from Her (2007)
19. Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun (1951)
20. Audrey Hepburn in Wait until Dark (1967)

21. Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
22. Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
23. Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959)
24. Meryl Streep in One True Thing (1998)
25. Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953)
26. Katharine Hepburn in Guess who’s coming to dinner (1967)
27. Teresa Wright in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) 
28. Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945)
29. Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year (1978)
30. Susan Hayward in My Foolish Heart (1949)

31. Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room (1996)
32. Loretta Young in Come to the Stable (1949)  
33. Mary Pickford in Coquette (1928-29)
34. Sissy Spacek in The River (1984)
35. Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977)
36. Irene Dunne in Cimarron (1930-1931)
37. Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade (1932-1933)

And a hint to the next performance that will be ranked:

YOUR Best Actress of 1954

Here are the results of the poll:

1. Judy Garland - A Star is Born (33 votes)

2. Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones (21 votes)

3. Grace Kelly - The Country Girl (16 votes)

4. Jane Wyman - Magnificent Obsession (7 votes)

5. Audrey Hepburn - Sabrina (4 votes)

Thanks to everyone for voting!

Best Actress 1954 - The resolution

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

5. Jane Wyman in Magnificent Obsession

Jane Wyman is believable in an almost unbelievable part and she thankfully avoided any over-the-top moments but at the same time the script and her character don’t allow her to give a performance that ever goes beyond the surface of Douglas Sirk’s kitschy images. The greater truth in Helen Philips is too often sacrificed for the sake of the melodrama and what remains overall is a performance that is both able to make you roll your eyes and break your heart.

4. Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones

                     

Dorothy Dandridge sometimes may feel too forced in her attempts to appear un-forced but she also finds a lot of naturalism in everything she is doing. She fulfils the purpose of the character with ease and more often than once burns up the screen with fiery passion. She’s not as fascinating as the story suggests she is but it’s still a remarkable and passionate performance of a remarkable and passionate character.

3. Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina

Audrey Hepburn is her usual winning self and gives her part a strength and effectiveness other actress might have missed but the role still doesn’t allow her to explore her talents as other roles later in her career did. Sabrina only exists in her search for Mr. Right. This allows Audrey Hepburn to give her signature sparkle, wear beautiful dresses and show some tears but she’s not able to really leave the one-dimensionality that Sabrina represents behind.

2. Grace Kelly in The Country Girl

Georgie Elgin is a role that could be played and interpreted in many ways and Grace Kelly risked a lot by not going the easy route by showing Georgie as a helpless victim of her husband’s addiction – instead, she was not afraid to demonstrate how sick she seems to be of the man she shares a little flat with. It’s a very strong performance that realized all of the part’s possibilities and successfully showed new facets of Grace Kelly’s talents and personality.

1. Judy Garland in A Star is Born

Judy Garland tells the story of great success and personal tragedy in a larger-than-life way while putting her heart and soul into every scene she appears in. Esther Blodgett seems to be so easy for her while appearing as an incredible challenge at the same time – she was re-written and re-created from 1937 to give Judy Garland the chance to use every bit of her talents in the way that is most comfortable for her and allows her to demonstrate various dramatic and musical heights without ever having to struggle to reach them.

Best Actress 1954: Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina"

One year after Audrey Hepburn won her Oscar for playing the pure and innocent Princess Ann who left her home to have some fun in the Eternal City in Roman Holiday, she received her second nomination for another light-hearted part that only she could turn into something much more lasting and interesting than it should be. In Billy Wilder’s comedy Sabrina, she played Sabrina Fairchild, a young woman far from being a princess; she may have the elegance and the almost royal face but she’s only the chauffeur’s daughter – and hopelessly in love with David, played by William Holden, the good-looking son of her father’s boss. Sabrina is not among Billy Wilder’s most memorable work – it’s an engaging but still rather average romantic comedy that doesn’t find the same kind of magic heart as William Wyler’s Roman Holiday did, but the performances of Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart added a good amount of charm, wit and sophistication. Especially and obviously the screen presence of Audrey Hepburn gave the most needed sparkle in this love-triangle.

Even though her performance in Roman Holiday was only one year old, Audrey Hepburn already found a way to use her own personality beyond the elegant and charming creature. In Sabrina, she doesn’t have the same overwhelming bubbling charm as she did in her Oscar-winning part – but instead, she crafted a character that was the result of a more balanced combination of charm and talent. Her work in Roman Holiday became instantly captivating thanks to Audrey Hepburn’s ability to lighten up the screen with every smile but she didn’t forget to go beyond her own features and used every opportunity the script gave her to invest a certain sense of sadness that would ultimately be replaced by her own sense of duty. Audrey Hepburn’s performances are always interesting to analyze by judging how much of their success is based on her winning screen presence and how much on her talent as an actress. There’s no doubt that this talent is always visible in her work but very often it seems overshadowed by her elfin delicacy. It is to her credit that she never seemed voluntarily to rest on this delicacy – even in her most charming roles, she always tried her best to develop a deeper truth in her characters. In Sabrina, she still used her charm and her sparkling personality but the script also demanded a more serious look at her character’s behavior than Roman Holiday did. Her Oscar-winning role was basically a plot-device that could only be turned into such an unforgettable portrayal thanks to Audrey Hepburn’s powerful presence – her part in Sabrina is a little more demanding and asked her to stretch herself more as an actress but at the same time she also elevates Sabrina as a character with her charms. Still, Audrey Hepburn does a very commendable job by trying to not let her charm be her most distinctive feature. She obviously worked very hard to let her performance appear so light – but she’s not completely able to overcome the problems of her part. She may have ‘acted less’ in Roman Holiday but the role of Princess Ann was simply the perfect vehicle for her – even if it didn’t present a real challenge to her as an actress. In Sabrina, she did the best she could with a part that didn’t feel tailor-made for her – but she never feels as irreplaceable as she did in Roman Holiday nor as wonderful as she did in The Nun’s Story and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Sabrina is neither innocent entertainment like Roman Holiday nor a character study like The Nun’s Story, it’s a harmless movie that takes itself a little too seriously and Audrey Hepburn sometimes struggles to find the right balance. The reason is probably that, even though she had Billy Wilder behind her, the part of Sabrina feels to banal and one-dimensional to really impress – sure, Princess Ann had the same problems but Roman Holiday was constructed in a way that fit an empty character like this better than Sabrina. Sabrina is a woman who, just as Princess Ann, is trapped in a life that prevents her from getting what she wants. Sabrina sitting in a tree and watching a party of the rich and beautiful or Princess Ann standing in her bedroom and watching a party of the ‘common’ and happy – in both cases, Audrey Hepburn’s character wanted something else. But in Sabrina, she is still able to show a deeper pain. Princess Ann simply knew she wanted something different – Sabrina knows exactly what she wants. And that she can’t get it/him. This already makes clear that as a character, Sabrina only exists in her search for Mr. Right. This allows Audrey Hepburn to give her signature sparkle, wear beautiful dresses and show some tears but she’s not able to really leave the one-dimensionality that Sabrina represents behind.

The movie begins with a voice-over by Audrey Hepburn and it becomes quite clear that her usual sophistication and elegance, that even dominates her voice and way of speaking, is very noticeable in this moment – in fact, she rather sounds like a Queen instead of a chauffeur’s daughter. She’s a little too poised, seems a little too graceful which also feels like a problem in her first acting scenes. But Audrey Hepburn does something remarkable in these early scenes – she is able to somehow hide her natural poise without trying to look ugly or plain. The movie wants to tell that her beauty is suddenly discovered once she comes back from Paris and somehow this makes sense even without any make-up or large glasses – her stylish clothes and new haircut make a stark contrast to the plain dresses and the long hair that Audrey Hepburn displays earlier even though her beauty was visible from the first moment. This wonderfully demonstrates that Audrey Hepburn was in full awareness of her own personality and appearance and was able to make the viewers speculate about her character’s thoughts and intentions just as easily as she could make them smile with her own radiance.

In her scenes as a love-struck teenager, Audrey Hepburn is able to find a lot of subtle comedy in some rather dramatic situations. Her suicide attempt, so often unexplainably put into movies for laughs, feels just like what it is – a young girl thinking that life has no meaning when she can’t get the man she loves but this young girl is only inexperienced and shows the naivety of youth. And so Audrey Hepburn is somehow able to turn the whole event into a rather charming, almost innocent moment that makes it easy to sympathize with her character not because of her unanswered feelings but because of that naivety and inexperience that most viewers have already experienced themselves.

10 years before she would play a flower-girl turned into a lady, Audrey Hepburn already underwent a minor character transformation. But even though she changed her wardrobe and her haircut and became apparently more relaxed and secure of herself (Audrey Hepburn is completely winning when she lets Sabrina enjoy herself by making a fool out of David when he picks her up in his car), her main aspect of character development is her attempt to break her own tradition of loving David. She also doesn’t make her transformation too sudden – she is obviously still the ‘old’ Sabrina and her new-found self-confidence is clearly struggling with her old insecurities since her transformation seems to bring her just as much closer to David as it takes her further away from him. Before that, she already shows a surprising amount of honesty in Sabrina’s feelings – when she returns from Paris and finally gets the recognition she wanted for so long, she is perfectly aware of how David is trying to play the same games with her as he does with every other girl he wants to get to bed with. And Sabrina seems completely willing to play this game, knowing that she won’t get true love but willing to fulfill her countless dreams and hopes this way. Audrey Hepburn invests a lot more cleverness in Sabrina than seems visible at first – both in her scenes before and after she went to Paris. And later, she is very amusing in showing the confusion and guilt in Sabrina for maybe cheating on a man who isn’t even her boyfriend.
Overall, Audrey Hepburn clearly fulfills all the tasks that the script and Billy Wilder give to her – she finds subtle ways to let the comedy of the script shine and handles the romantic aspects with her usual elegance, even if there is a shocking lack of chemistry with Humphrey Bogart which seems to be more his fault since he loathed everything about his role but Audrey Hepburn isn’t able to overcome these problems. She does her best to invest the love story with plausibility and has a strong scene when she phones him from the lobby but the outcome of the story is neither romantic nor sentimental – instead, it’s what has been expected right from the beginning but doesn’t feel right either.

The part of Sabrina isn’t really more complex than that of Princess Ann the year before – both characters learn and both develop in a certain way but Roman Holiday gave Audrey Hepburn better possibilities to use her own charisma and talent in the most effective combination. In Sabrina, her role gives her more opportunities to ‘act’ but it prevents her from combining both her charisma and her talent to full extent. She’s her usual winning self and gives her part a strength and effectiveness other actress might have missed but the role still doesn’t allow her to explore her talents as other roles later in her career did. In the end, her charming, amusing and mostly satisfying performance gets

Best Actress 1954

The next year will be 1954 and the nominees were

Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones

Judy Garland in A Star is Born

Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina

Grace Kelly in The Country Girl

Jane Wyman in Magnificent Obsession

YOUR Best Actress of 1961

Here are the results of the poll:

1. Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass (25 votes)

2. Piper Laure - The Hustler & Sophia Loren - La Ciociara (22 votes)

3. Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's (10 votes)

4. Geraldine Page - Summer and Smoke (8 votes)

Thanks to everyone for voting!

Best Actress 1961 - The resolution

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

5. Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke

It seems that the word ‘confusing’ does describe this performance best because it is one of the most affected and ‘obvious’ performances this category has ever seen but at the same time there is something incredibly fascinating and heartbreaking about Geraldine Page’s portrayal that so beautifully catches so many nuances of Alma and is able, despite all the obstacles, to rise to the occasion of this demanding role.

4. Piper Laurie in The Hustler

                     

Piper Laurie created Sarah as a mysterious and pathetic presence that both doesn’t and does fit into the environment of The Hustler. She may not be the driving force of the story and is mostly reacting to Paul Newman’s Eddie but her moving performance which effectively shows her character’s fate and tragedy evokes some unforgettable images.

 3. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Audrey Hepburn portrays this character with an acting style that combines her usual openness and relaxedness in front of the camera with a distinct closeness that seems to come from a sadness and maybe even a depression inside. Her grandest achievement is not only to look like the part but actually bringing it to life in a manner that is very natural considering the eccentric and stylized nature of the character.

2. Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass

Natalie Wood is usually not among the most celebrated actresses of her area but her here she gives an absolutely luminous and daring performance in which she handles the difficulties of the character with astonishing ease and earnestness. Even though her character goes from one extreme to the other in a world she doesn’t understand, Natalie Wood always played her with a strong combination of subtle emotions and shocking realism.

                

1. Sophia Loren in La Ciociara

It’s obvious in every frame of La Ciociara that Sophia Loren felt a very strong connection to her character and that her ‘home field advantage’ helped her to give a very natural and stupendous performance. She  created a character that is both simple and complex and she thankfully always kept its directness as she seemed to get lost in the feelings of Cesira and gave a performance that is neither studied nor overly spontaneous but rather a thought-out collection of emotional and intuitive gestures. 

Best Actress 1961: Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

It’s New York City, apparently very early in the morning. Hardly any people are on the streets. A small, delicate woman leaves a cab, carrying a plastic cup, wearing an elegant and yet also simple black dress. Big sunglasses cover her eyes while she looks at the jewellery in the display windows of Tiffany’s.

Of all her famous appearances, this is undoubtedly the decisive movie moment in Audrey Hepburn’s career. The black dress, her hairstyle, her almost fragile figure have become one of the most iconic images in movie history, copied on countless posters and covers. But what is behind this perfectly executed scene?
Audrey Hepburn is an actress who was much too often cast for her charming and winning personality but she never let the viewers and the critics forget that, underneath the cute smile and the doll-like face, was the soul and the ambition of a true artist. So, Audrey Hepburn very often found herself cast in two types of roles – those which depended on her movie-star qualities and those which depended on her talent as an actress. In the first case, Audrey Hepburn always gloriously displayed everything that was so unique and loveable about her, a wonderful combination of charm and instincts that was able to turn every role of hers into a much more memorable and enjoyable experience but she seldom was able to improve the material beyond her own personality. Roman Holiday was a wonderful display of perfect combination of actress and part and even though she did a lot more ‘acting’ than would have been expected or even necessary, the results would have been forgettable if it hadn’t been for her unique and captivating appearance.
But thankfully, there were also the other kind of parts Audrey Hepburn played – those which actually didn’t care about her charm or her smile but were only interested in exploring Audrey Hepburn, the actress and not Audrey Hepburn, the star. In Wait until Dark, she was cast in the showy part of a blind woman terrorized by a brutal gang of murderers but the structure of the movie, the average quality of the screenplay and the, to some extent, difficulty of the part didn’t do her any favours and it proved that Audrey Hepburn was the kind of actresses who needed everything going for her, the right kind of script, the right kind of character, to really shine. Wait until Dark showed that she had enough talent to give a good performance simply based on her acting – but it wasn’t truly outstanding in any way. But thankfully, there was also her splendid turn in The Nun’s Story where she showed that, if she felt comfortable in a demanding part, she possessed a unique talent, a deep understanding to portray a woman who quietly suffers and mourns underneath that smile which brought joy so easily.
But what does all this ultimately mean? Where does her turn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s fit into this? Well, among her Oscar-nominated performances, it holds the distinction of being the only that one that doesn’t mostly focus on either her charm or her talent, but finds a striking balance between these two. The part demands of her to be her usual charming self, a little bird that flies too high for most of her life, but at the same time, it asks her to create a complex and intriguing character that could very easily be overly annoying or lack any credibility. Here, Audrey Hepburn found a perfect vehicle to use both her gifts – her talent and her personality. The Nun’s Story was her greatest display of acting and Roman Holiday was her greatest display of charm – Breakfast at Tiffany’s is her greatest display of both.

From the first moment she appears on-screen, there is something strangely youthful and non-caring about her, a woman, or maybe a girl who doesn’t give too much thought to anything. Even though Audrey Hepburn was over 30 when she did this movie, she had the wonderful ability to preserve an inner child that could also dominate her whole exterior. Does Audrey Hepburn look like 16, 17 or 18? No, but is it believable? Yes. It seems like a cliché to say that she is ‘ageless’ or ‘timeless’ and even though this refers to a completely different understanding of the word, it is strangely accurate in directing it at her physical appearance. But her grandest achievement is not only to look like the part but actually bringing it to life in a manner that is very natural considering the eccentric and stylized nature of the character. Marilyn Monroe, the actress Truman Capote had actually in mind while writing his short story, could also have done wonders in this role since she also possessed a magnificent talent for both comedy and drama and the childlike naivety of Holly Golightly would have fitted her personality just right but Audrey Hepburn was able to insert a strong intelligence into this naivety which turned Holly into a much more unique and complex character.

She constantly shows Holly as a woman who is a dreamer and who is longing for a different life but just as much as she pushes reality aside, she also never lets her dreams come too close to her. When she watches the windows of Tiffany’s at the beginning, Audrey Hepburn doesn’t do it with a body language that speaks of envy, of desire or lost dreams, but rather in a very common way that shows that this is simply a ritual for her, a nice way to start the day but she doesn’t let it get too close to her. It’s fear of change, fear of life, fear of reality that dominates Holly’s life. The same way she flees from a man into the apartment of Paul, a writer who lives above her, she flees from the consequences of her own doings. It’s a non-caring attitude inside her that helps her to never let anything or anyone come to close to her. Holly wants to be high-spirited and free but is not made for this kind of life. The way she acts at the police station, as if she couldn’t care less shows a woman who would like to be a true diva but ends up a scared, lost soul. Her aggressive “So what?” when Paul confesses his love to her is the main motto of her life – with the same “So what?” she reacts to everything else that happens to her. She constructed a golden cage for herself that keeps everyone out but also keeps herself inside. Despite all her parties and her apparent popularity there is obviously a grave loneliness that dominates her life because she seems unable to get too close to any other living creature. Even the prospect of having a cat is something that’s too final for her and so she decided not to name it – even a name might create too much intimacy and closeness. In the end, it’s the thought of a jewellery store that is giving her apparently the most hope in life, a combination of wealth, security and stability.

Marilyn Monroe’s more ‘obvious’ beauty might have made the relationship with Paul rather simple but Audrey Hepburn’s delicacy, that could also be surprisingly sharp, and approach to the relationship with Paul turns Holly into his buddy instead of a love-interest and that way she created some wonderful and believable moments. Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard share a magnificent chemistry that goes from friendship to love in small, beautifully portrayed steps. The fact that she prefers to call him ‘Fred’, the name of her beloved brother, shows how uncomfortable Holly is inside, that she needs something familiar around herself. Even in her most charming roles, there was always something down-to-earth about Audrey Hepburn. Even her Princess Ann seemed surprisingly real. In Holly, Audrey is both down to earth but also high above the ground. There is something very practical about Holly in her own way of thinking but also impossibly naïve and inexperienced.

Audrey Hepburn portrays this character with an acting style that combines her usual openness and relaxedness in front of the camera with a distinct closeness that seems to come from a sadness and maybe even a depression inside. Her Holly is a very impulsive woman who doesn’t plan ahead, probably doesn’t want to plan ahead even though she has decisive goals about her own life. She is a woman with a serious cause, a hope to be able to take care of her brother but even though she is a woman who gets paid for going to the bathroom (the movie doesn’t make it clear if that’s a polite way to say that she sells herself), money just as easily slips through her fingers again. She is a young girl who doesn’t know how to handle life so she chose a way of life where she doesn’t have to. Just as much as she pretends her naivety and non-caring to everyone else, she also pretends it to herself. Holly seems like a perfectly chaotic but at the same time irresistible young girl but the longer one knows here, the clearer it becomes that the phone in her suitcase or her confused look in the morning before she realises that she is still wearing her earplugs are mostly a façade that has taken over Holly’s life in such a strong way that she herself has begun to believe it. Audrey Hepburn does all this in a performance that combines humour with pathos and drama and that is allowing her to constantly parody her own image. Scenes of Holly trying to charm everyone with a noticeable artificiality turn her own image upside down. While Audrey Hepburn has mostly used her own personality in her career to create characters that immediately captivate the viewer and never let them go again, she used her charm this time to both captivate and repel the audience. Her Holly is the kind of woman who fascinates everyone she meets at first sight. Her chirpy voice, her unusual personality, the way she walks through live without ever really noticing it combined with her winning smile, her charming naivety and her lovely looks result in a woman who naturally receives the utmost attention of everyone she meets. She’s the kind of woman everyone wants to be close to, she has the ability to make a person feel special if she notices him or her, she is a ray of light that can shine on everybody around her. Audrey Hepburn wonderfully displays this effect on Paul, the way she is interested in his writing, goes with him to a library or simply spends some time with him show how much she is able to capture another person. But this time, Audrey Hepburn showed the limits of these attributes if they come connected to a woman who refuses to let anybody come too close and rejects and truth. Because as quickly as Holly can fascinate someone, she also loses this fascination. In Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey Hepburn miraculously takes all her strengths and turns them into weaknesses. Holly is the kind of girl who becomes annoying very easily, who isn’t able to really hold anyone close to her. When her Brazilian millionaire leaves her at the end, it may be because of her behaviour but it could just as easily be because Holly simply loses that ray of light after a while. Even Paul, whose thoughts might be blinded by his love for her, sees beyond the light and discovers the shadows that actually define Holly’s character, her unpleasantness, her (as Addison DeWitt would say) inability to love or be loved. Holly fascinates with superficiality but she disappoints with reality. All the characters in Breakfast at Tiffany’s are fake in one way or the other (no, this is not referring to Mickey Rooney…) and Holly is a woman who has so adjusted herself to her live in an aura of self-chosen naivety and denial that she only seems real when she is fake and seems fake when she is real. Whenever Holly tries to show a bigger truth behind her masque, she becomes much more artificial than usual. Only in some small, unnoticed moments does she really let herself go. It’s a magical moment when Audrey Hepburn sits alone in her window and sings ‘Moon River’. Her unrefined, simple singing voice may not be very special but seldom has so much feeling been put into one song. Audrey Hepburn uses various different nuances in her voice and certain mannerisms to bring all the shades in Holly to live and it is thanks to her magnificent acting in the final scenes that the ‘Hollywood-ending’ of Breakfast at Tiffany’s works. The sudden change of Holly’s character could have been too rushed to be believable but Audrey Hepburn’s silent stares, her hurt pride which slowly turns into a wonderful act of self-realization is a wonder in wordless acting and it’s in this moment Audrey Hepburn suddenly lets Holly drop everything that defined her so far and shows that, for now, there is nothing fake about her anymore. Holly was an impossible character so far and it should be highly doubtful that she will stay with Paul but at this moment, Audrey Hepburn again creates this image of an elfin-like, charming and, most of all, honest character that the whole ending is just incredibly uplifting and heart-warming despite feeling so rushed and manipulative. Who is Holly Golightly? The question receives no answer but there is a feeling that Paul will find out someday – and Holly herself.

It’s a true movie star performance that Audrey Hepburn beautifully turned into a character study and for this she gets

Best Actress 1961

The next year will be 1961 and the nominees were

Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Piper Laurie in The Hustler

Sophia Loren in La Ciociara

Geraldine Page in Summer and Smoke

Natalie Wood in Splendor in the Grass

YOUR Best Actress of 1953

Here are the results of the poll:

1. Audrey Hepburn - Roman Holiday (23 votes)

2. Leslie Caron - Lili & Deborah Kerr - From Here to Eternity (4 votes)

3. Ava Gardener - Mogambo (3 votes)

4. Maggie McNamara - The Moon is Blue (2 votes)

Thanks to everyone for voting!

Best Actress 1953 - The resolution

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

5. Ava Gardener in Mogambo

Ava Gardener makes her Eloise very earthy and immediately likeable and she basically meets all the challenges of the script but it can’t be denied that these challenges are set very low. Ava Gardener’s personality fits the part just right but this soap opera never demands of her to stretch her talents but always seems like a warm-up for more to come.

4. Leslie Caron in Lili

                     

Leslie Caron effectively portrays the sweetness and naivety of the character and is that way much more believable than expected but if the highlight of a performance are the scenes when the character is talking to four puppets, then it becomes clear that this is a role that, even with a serious and dedicated performance, doesn’t offer a real challenge and makes it hard to be taken fully seriously.

3. Maggie McNamara in The Moon is Blue

It’s an overall very unsatisfying movie and leading character – Maggie McNamara tries her best but unfortunately both her performance and her part don’t develop and that way loses the interest of the viewer very soon. Still, it’s a charming and interesting piece of work that unfortunately couldn’t really rise above the material but the lively presence of Maggie McNamara is still the only reason that The Moon is Blue doesn’t fail completely.

2. Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity

Deborah Kerr had wonderful material and an intriguing character to work with but it seems that in her performance, she relied too much on the strength of this material and let the writing dominate her performance. Still, her Karen is a strong creation, a woman who is as common as mysterious and as repellent as appealing.

1. Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday

More than anything, this is a case of excellent casting rather than brilliant acting. Audrey Hepburn may succeed in this part, but there was actually nothing she could do wrong – both because the writing is too undemanding and the part of Princess Ann fitted her so completely that even with a bad performance, her charming personality would still have been satisfying enough. Still, in this weak line-up, her winning combination of talent and charm seems like the most logical choice for the gold.

 

 

Best Actress 1953: Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday"

It seems to be a well-known trivia fact today that Gregory Peck, who should have received sole above-the-tile billing for Roman Holiday, insisted that newcomer Audrey Hepburn should be billed above the title, too – because, as he put it, she was sure to win an Oscar for her role and become an international superstar. And the rest is history.

It is certainly not a surprise that Roman Holiday turned little, unknown Audrey Hepburn into one of the most beloved actresses of the 20th century. Her angelic face, her delicate appearance and her completely winning charm were never better used than in the part of Princess Ann, a royal girl from an unknown country who suffers from her duties and escapes her guards one night to experience a day of freedom and fun in the Eternal City. It’s probably one of the most perfect combinations of actress and part in cinema history – it’s a light and charming story that hasn’t any other goal than entertain the audience and the character of Princess Ann is more a plot-device for this purpose than anything else and so it needed an actress who was able to carry the story, fill the part with the sparking personality required but could also add some depth and layers to be believable as a true princess and succeed in the more emotional parts of the movie.

Right from the start, Audrey Hepburn demonstrates all the qualities that made her such an iconic and popular figure. She is able to control the screen but never in a domineering or attention-seeking way – instead, she immediately creates an aura of such poise, grace, elegance and charm that it seems impossible to not be completely absorbed by her personality. It is this personality that adds so much more to the written words on the page – in theory, the character of Princess Ann is incredibly thin, underwritten and unlike anything else that the Oscars or critics would usually praise. But Audrey Hepburn so naturally and, yes, flawlessly, adds this overwhelming amount of likeability, of familiarity but also mystery, of being strangely close while also being so distant, that Princess Ann, for some strange reason, turns into a simply unforgettable creation. From an observing point of view, it’s unmistakable that there is much missing in the character – still, Audrey Hepburn not only fulfills the tasks of the script but she takes the quality of the script so much further that it seems impossible that any other actress could have done the same. But she doesn’t do this by an overwhelming display of talent but solely thanks to her winning personality that could basically even turn a performance where she doesn’t do anything but stand around and smile for two hours into pure gold. So the question is: how much credit can one give Audrey Hepburn for giving a charming and loveable performance thanks to her charming and loveable personality?

The truth is that the character of Princess Ann is both tricky and simple. It demands of an actress to be a ray of light, a bubbly and charming presence – but if this charm comes easily to an actress, like Audrey Hepburn, than there isn’t much else left. The character requires 80% charm and 20% talent and Audrey Hepburn, while incredibly talented, gives consequently a performance that is 80% charm and 20% acting. It comes down to the eternal question: what is Oscar-worthy? Can it only be a tour-de-force that includes suffering, crying and screaming? Can it only be a challenging and difficult role or can it also be a light and charming part – when done right? What is better – a half-good performance in a challenging part or a good performance in an easy part? This performance doesn’t give any clues but there are ways to judge her properly.

So, after having talked so much about Audrey Hepburn’s charm and personality – what about her actual acting? Happily, one can say that she doesn’t do what William Wyler did – while Roman Holiday solely rests on Audrey Hepburn’s charm and smiles, she herself does much more and actually crafts a real person out of the thin writing. She doesn’t only show her glorious smile, she also evokes an unforgettable sadness, the familiar longing for a simpler and happier life that is so often presented in movies that concern themselves with people of royal status. Audrey Hepburn shows the underlying youth and inner fire in her character, a woman who is forced by protocol to be much more mature and grown-up than she actually is. Her look from her bedroom to a party outside, her eyes filled with excitement, envy and sadness, her breakdown in her bed, her longing for joy in a surrounding that doesn’t allow it is wonderfully done – not only believable, entertaining and engaging but also very mature and with the apparent experiment of a real pro in front of the camera. Nothing seems to indicate how new Audrey Hepburn actually was to the business.

So, it seems that Audrey Hepburn’s performance is basically not only entertaining and charming, but actually flawless from all the angles one looks at it. Because she doesn’t only act the part but carries it to a higher level thanks to her own charm. That way she succeeds in all the tasks of the script and even more. But again, it comes down to the simply too grand simplicity and shallowness of the role. Audrey Hepburn literally sleep-walks through the first half of the movie – she does have some amusing line-readings (“I’ve never been alone with a man before, even with my dress on. With my dress off, it’s MOST unusual.”) and her acting is still captivating (“Is this the elevator?”) but it feels like it takes forever until the Princess finally wakes up again and the actual story of the movie begins – not even Audrey Hepburn can prevent a certain feeling of boredom during the first 40 or 50 minutes of the movie. The highlights of Roman Holiday are the scenes when we actually watch a Roman holiday – and can see Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck visiting all the famous sights, driving on a motor roller, having fun at the Mouth of Truth or getting out of a police station. All these scenes are very entertaining and Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn not only magnificently carry the story but they also develop an exquisite chemistry in a relationship that is both wonderfully human but also full of lies but all these scenes are only a loose series of amusing moments of enjoyment on behalf of Audrey Hepburn in which she has nothing else to do but have a little fun in Rome. The screenplay offers her some chances to show that Princess Ann doesn’t forget who she is and that these moments of pleasure will not last for her but these are much too rare and Audrey Hepburn doesn’t find any shades in Ann which she could use. When it comes to acting, she sticks by the screenplay and gives an expected performance, it’s again only her charm and personality that turns it into something one-of-a-kind and unusual. How can one judge a performance that is basically perfect but not because of the acting but only because of the actress?

It all comes down to the part and the fact, that on the level of difficulty, this role certainly is among the least challenging ever rewarded with a golden statuette. But not only the Oscars fell in love with Audrey Hepburn that year – her win at the New York Film Critics and her Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama (surely a debatable category placement) prove that Audrey Hepburn was simply something so new and different to the cinematic landscape that it seemed impossible to ignore her. Just like Bette Davis almost 20 years earlier, Audrey Hepburn seemed like a revelation – now, almost 60 years later, Roman Holiday seems like a typical Audrey-Hepburn-performance which she has surpassed later in her career with various more challenging and difficult roles.

Luckily for Audrey Hepburn, the later moments of the movie go in a much deeper territory and actually provide her with the scenes needed to turn Ann from nothing into something. Her final scene in Gregory Peck’s apartment is a little heartbreaking moment that Audrey Hepburn used very wisely to show that sadness and misery come just as easily to her as joy and happiness. When she returns to her home and meets the servants and tells them that she only came back because of her duties for her people, Audrey Hepburn shows how much Princess Ann has grown in this one day – even though she was only out to have some fun, she learned more about herself and her responsibilities than in all the years before.

What crowns Audrey Hepburn’s performance is the final press conference. In these few scenes, she again uses her doll-like face in the most expressive way and proves that, if asked to, she could rise to the tasks of more difficult acting. What’s most impressive about her in this scene is the fast amount of emotions she goes through without over- or underdoing it. Audrey Hepburn effectively uses a style of ‘light drama’ that serves this scene the best. Her change from shock to confusion to fear to relief to sadness, mixed with a certain sense of happiness, a feeling of Je-ne-regrette-rien, is simply wonderful to watch in its simplicity. She doesn’t overdo these scenes to show a large amount of suffering in Ann nor does she go for a classic smile-through-tears. Instead, she shows a woman who knows that she cannot change anything about her situation but who knows that, at least for one day, she was able to experience more happiness than in her whole lifetime – and that this one day is memory for her to keep forever. Her delivery of the line “I will cherish this visit here in memory…as long as I live” is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time and she manages to create a moment that is both devastating and a Happy End at the same time, a logical outcome that seems disappointing but also right.

In a performance that is so easy to enjoy thanks to the light nature of the movie, so easy to love because of Audrey Hepburn’s star power and yet so difficult to praise, Audrey Hepburn does nothing wrong and definitely deserves some kind of award for so effectively combining charm with acting – but the feeling remains that what is so overwhelming in its efficiency and its service to the quality of the movie is at the same time so underwhelming in terms of pure acting. Again, how does one judge a performance where the acting is actually flawless but the role so undemanding? Take away Audrey Hepburn’s charming personality and what actually remains? – a thin and underwritten character and a competent and nice performance, but nothing more. To her credit, Audrey Hepburn never makes the simplicity of Princess Ann noticeable. It’s probably her biggest success that she was able to turn Roman Holiday into such a wonderful movie despite the fact that almost nothing really happens and the whole things seems more like a giant advertisement for the Eternal City. Audrey Hepburn turns nothing into gold in a way no other actress could have had – but then, no other actress had her face and her smile. More than anything, this is a case of excellent casting rather than brilliant acting. Audrey Hepburn may succeed in this part, but there was actually nothing she could do wrong – both because the writing is too undemanding and the part of Princess Ann fitted her so completely that even with a bad performance, her charming personality would still have been satisfying enough.

If only there would have been a more even balance of charm and acting, a more demanding combination like Gwyneth Paltrow showed in Shakespeare in Love or, of course, Diane Keaton in Annie Hall. Audrey Hepburn may be perfect but this doesn’t change the fact that Princess Ann is a character that is too under-developed and underwritten and so, in the end, she gets

Best Actress 1953

The next year will be 1953 and the nominees were

Leslie Caron in Lili

Ava Gardener in Mogambo

Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday

Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity

Maggie McNamara in The Moon is Blue

YOUR Best Actress of 1967

Here are the results of the poll:

1. Anne Bancroft - The Graduate (25 votes)

2. Edith Evans - The Whisperers (11 votes)

3. Faye Danway - Bonnie and Clyde (6 votes)

4. Katharine Hepburn - Guess who's coming to diner (4 votes)

4. Audrey Hepburn - Wait until Dark (2 votes)

Thanks for voting!

Best Actress 1967 - The resolution

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

5. Audrey Hepburn in Wait until Dark

Audrey Hepburn can be applauded for completely neglecting her charming personality in this role and bringing a lot of determination to the screen to give a memorable, touching, frightening, entertaining and, most importantly, believable performance. It might be mostly on the surface but this was still enough to turn Wait until Dark into a gripping thriller.

4. Katharine Hepburn in Guess who's coming to dinner

                     

Katharine Hepburn created a strong yet tragically helpless character, a warm and important presence that beautifully stands for a special kind of motherly love and anchors the movie’s most emotional moments while never giving in to easy sentimentality and avoids various clichés in her part even if she sometimes cannot fight against all the obstacles she is given by the screenplay.

3. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde

Faye Dunaway certainly benefited from the legends surrounding the real Bonnie Parker but she also created a legend on her own and bursts with confidence and energy to catch all the different sides of her character, naturally running a wide array of human emotions and catching the comedy and the drama of the movie, even if she might lose some of her impact in later parts of the story.

2. Edith Evans in The Whisperers

It’s a performance that is almost impossible to fully grasp and understand as Edith Evans herself leaves so many questions open, constantly adding new aspects and dimensions to her part, flawlessly combining, separating, changing and intervening different parts and understandings of Mrs. Ross. Maybe Edith Evans played a character who, despite all the eccentricities and fantasies, is tragically ordinary. But her performance is anything but.

1. Anne Bancroft in The Graduate

It’s a mysterious but at the same time very real performance that leaves the audience wanting more and being totally satisfied at the same time. Maybe the character of Mrs. Robinson is much more iconic than Anne Bancroft’s actual performance but this is a case when reality triumphs over everything that legend has created. It’s a fascinating and complex portrayal that fulfils all expectations and even more.