Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Ten Greatest Movie Performances by Lead Actresses—Not an IMDB.com List!

By Nicholas Stix

10. Meryl Streep in Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982)

9. Katharine Hepburn in George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story (1940)

7. (Tie) Gloria Swanson in Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950)

7. (Tie) Bette Davis in Herman J. Mankiewicz’ All About Eve (1950)

6. Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958)

5. Giuletta Masina in Federico Fellini’s La Strada (1954)

4. Vivien Leigh in Victor Fleming’s Gone with the Wind (1939)

3. Vivien Leigh in Elia Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

2. Meryl Streep in Clint Eastwood’s The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

1. Katharine Hepburn in David Lean’s Summertime (1955)

at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousWednesday, January 21, 2015 at 8:26:00 PM EST

    Those are some great movies. I am a fan of film noir and even some B movies that aren't so great, but suspenseful. Some of my favorite actresses are Ida Lupino, Joan Crawford, Shelly Winters,Bette Davis,and Barbara Stanwick.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousThursday, January 22, 2015 at 12:22:00 AM EST

    Tried to come up with additions to your list, but most of my favorite movies aren't female-centered! Only these came to mind: Vivien Leigh in "Waterloo Bridge", Eleanor Parker in "Caged", and Beverly Garland in almost anything. There were actually stronger roles for women in many of the outstanding TV dramas of the 50's-60's, and many fine actresses playing in them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NicholasThursday, January 22, 2015 at 2:46:00 AM EST

    Anon, Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 8:26:00 PM EST

    You listed some great actresses, but I didn’t have room for them on my top 10 list. We saw Ida Lupino about eight months ago, in High Sierra, with Bogie. It’s at least 40 years since I saw Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity and Sorry, Wrong Number, but I still remember her vividly. I saw a young Shelly Winters again a couple of years ago in Winchester 73 and A Place in the sun.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousThursday, January 22, 2015 at 5:33:00 AM EST

    Deborah Kerr~ Especially in "Black Narcissus" and "The Life and Death of Col. Blimp"!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFriday, January 23, 2015 at 10:00:00 PM EST

    Another good actress was Mercedes McCambridge. Her personal life was far more tragic than any role she ever played. Her son murdered his wife and children, then he committed suicide.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousSaturday, January 24, 2015 at 9:46:00 AM EST

    Actress Joan Bennett played femme fatal roles in Friz Lang's Scarlet Street and The woman in the window. Her family background was comprised of actors and actresses. Her grandfather was Jamaican born actor Lewis Morrison. He was of African, Spainish, English and Jewish ancestry. Her real life had as much drama as her movies.

    ReplyDelete