Best Actress Ranking - Update

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

My 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. Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman (1978)
8. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
9. Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
10. Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991)

11. Edith Evans in The Whisperers (1967)
12. Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette (1938)
13. Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939)
14. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
15. Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth (1998)
16. Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
17. Simone Signoret in Room at the Top (1959)
18. Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941)
19. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
20. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame (1958)

21. Glenda Jackson in Women in Love (1970)
22. Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
23. Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
24. Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire (1941)
25. Emily Watson in Hilary and Jackie (1998)
26. Julie Christie in Away from Her (2007)
27. Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun (1951)
28. Audrey Hepburn in Wait until Dark (1967)
29. Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
30. Anne Baxter in All about Eve (1950)

31. Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown (1997)
32. Helen Hayes in The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932)
33. Jane Fonda in Coming Home (1978)
34. Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
35. Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959)
36. Meryl Streep in One True Thing (1998)
37. Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953)
38. Katharine Hepburn in Guess who’s coming to dinner (1967)
39. Marsha Mason in Chapter Two (1979)
40. Jane Wyman in The Yearling (1946)

41. Martha Scott in Our Town (1940)
42. Teresa Wright in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) 
43. Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945)
44. Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year (1978)
45. Susan Hayward in My Foolish Heart (1949)
46. Eleanor Parker in Detective Story (1951)
47. Vanessa Redgrave in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
48. Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room (1996)
49. Loretta Young in Come to the Stable (1949)  
50. Mary Pickford in Coquette (1928-29)

51. Sissy Spacek in The River (1984)
52. Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977)
53. Irene Dunne in Cimarron (1930-1931)
54. Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1928-29)
55. Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade (1932-1933)

Simone Signoret as Alice Aisgill in Room at the Top

I don’t want to comment yet if I would have voted for Simone Signoret in 1959’s Best Actress race but I can start my review with the words that it is still one of my favorite Oscar wins for reasons that go beyond the actual performance. To say it better – even if it might not be my favorite winning performance, it is still one of my favorite wins. 

Because how many times does a win like this happen? Simone Signoret plays the elderly lover of a young man with limited screen time that a lot of other actresses might have caused to go the supporting route. Also, even if she was an internationally acclaimed actress, she was still up against four American superstars – Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn. Especially Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor had roles that were extremely showy while Simone Signoret played a part that was often a cliché. Add to that that Simone Signoret underplayed her part and actively refused to take any chances that would have allowed her to go broad and it just makes you happy to think that Academy members really voted for her to win because they actually thought that she was the best and they were able for once to forget their love for BIG acting (just look at the previous Best Actress winners Grace Kelly, Anna Magnani, Ingrid Bergman, Joanne Woodward and Susan Hayward who all had chances to let their acting overwhelm the screen and took it eagerly). So this is a fantastic win simply because of how unusual it is – and the best thing is that the enthusiasm for Simone Signoret’s performance is also mostly completely justified.

As mentioned above, Simone Signoret played the part of Alice Aisgill, a middle-aged woman who starts an affair with a much younger man who wants to get ahead socially by courting the daughter of some rich business man while also falling in love with Alice. As also mentioned above, the role of Alice is very often a cliché and doesn’t actually offer a lot on paper – Alice is a sad woman, trapped in a loveless marriage, seeking opportunities for have affairs until she falls in love with Joe; at this moment she finally seems to find a chance for a better life but her happiness has ultimately no place in Joe’s ambitious plans. It is also a secondary role as Joe is the clear center of the story and other characters in his story come and go just the way Alice does. 

So, there is a lot going against Simone Signoret in this part – and it’s so fascinating to see how she took all of these disadvantages and turned them into something truly captivating. Because everything that is so fascinating about Alice as a character comes only from Simone Signoret’s performance and presence – not from the screenplay not from the direction, not from her co-stars, only from her. Her unique appearance, that French accent, that completely calm style create a performance that is as unexpected as it is fulfilling.

I am not sure if there is another performance in this category that so much defines the words “mature” and “erotic”. Simone Signoret embodies the kind of mature wisdom that is so often attached to performers but in her case, the praise is more than earned. Her Alice has not necessarily seen it all nor knows everything but she has accepted what life has to offer while grabbing every chance for happiness at the same time. There is nothing “flirty” about her, she is as straight-forward as one can possibly be without creating any false illusions but you’d be hard-pressed to find a performance that radiates more sex-appeal. After watching Room at the Top, it feels almost impossible to not think that Simone Signoret could be the most beautiful woman on earth. Her Alice is a cool, composed figure without any grand emotions but she possesses a face and eyes that can tell the whole story of her life. And she portrays all this in such a calm and composed manner that it creates a fascinating contrast to everything that we might expect of her.

So it is no surprise that Simone Signoret always shines most in scenes that ask her to portray her depth of feelings, that constant sadness, that hesitation of joy and that sexual maturity, and mostly focus on her face – sitting in the car next to Joe talking about her marriage, seducing him only with her eyes, being a friendly advisor in his quest to conquer another woman, saying goodbye to him at a train station or quietly telling him all he did wrong and how he threw away every chance for happiness without ever raising her voice but still creating the most condemning effect.

My main reason for not putting her higher in my ranking despite my enthusiasm is that, even if she is able to overcome the obstacles put in her way, she is still held back by the screenplay that never really explores Alice as a character – even Simone Signoret cannot fully explain just why Alice is so obsessed by Joe, why she would have been involved with her husband in the first place and why the character would end up the way she does. And since the fascination from Simone Signoret comes from her being such a calm presence, any scenes that demand a more “active” acting from her don’t achieve the same effect – mainly her first break-up scene with Joe feels a bit out-of-place when she walks around the apartment and insults him in a more direct manner.

So, this is a unique and truly one-of-a-kind Oscar winner that proves that, in some cases, less is truly more.