Monday, September 10, 2007

Oops, I did it again (Another list)

It’s List Time. I can’t stop myself. This one’s all about the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s – the bubble and boom years of Old Hollywood. I’ve rustled up a roster of 150 gilt-edged portrayals from the era, arranged into six categories:

the top 25 (my choice) in each division *chronologically arranged

I’ve been plunged, immersed and dunked to the dorsals in movies since I was a polliwog. So there’ve been plenty of blue-ribbon candidates to sift through. And certainly a lot I hated to leave out. Can’t believe I had to pass on the Connie and Thelma tag-team from A Letter to Three Wives. Not to mention Evelyn Varden’s nasty little snake-bite of a performance in Pinky. It doesn’t seem right that Simone Simon’s sad, purring Irina’s nowhere to be found. And what? No Alida Valli? No Florence Bates- anywhere? But the competition was just too fierce. Anyway, here they are – my picks for the era’s crème de la crème. Point of interest – of the 150, only 32 managed Oscar nominations. A mere 10 actually won. Nevertheless, they’re all gifts that keep on giving. A thousand years from now, I suspect, someone – human I hope – will be mulling over many of the same performances (in who knows what format), emitting whatever passes for a murmur of pleasure in 3007 and getting ready – of course - to make a list.

Outstanding ACTRESS Performances - The 1930s

1. MARLENE DIETREICH “The Blue Angel”(‘30-Josef von Sternberg)

2. JOAN BLONDELL “Blonde Crazy”(‘31-Roy Del Ruth)
3. NANCY CARROLL “Hot Saturday”(‘32-William A.Seiter)
4. JOAN CRAWFORD “Rain”(‘32-Lewis Milestone)
5. CAROLE LOMBARD “No Man of Her Own”(‘32-Wesley Ruggles)
6. LORETTA YOUNG “Play Girl”(‘32-Ray Enright)
7. MARION DAVIES “Peg O’My Heart”(‘33-Robert Z.Leonard)
8. LORETTA YOUNG “She Had to Say Yes”(‘33-Busby Berkeley)
9. GRETA GARBO “The Painted Veil”(‘34-Richard Boleslawski)
10. MAUREEN O’SULLIVAN “Tarzan and His Mate”(‘34-Cedric Gibbons,Jack Conway)
11. NORMA SHEARER “The Barretts of Wimpole Street’(‘34-Sidney Franklin)
12. MARGARET SULLAVAN “Little Man What Now”(‘34-Frank Borzage)
13. JEAN ARTHUR “The Whole Town’s Talking”(‘35-John Ford)
14. KATHARINE HEPBURN “Alice Adams”(‘35-George Stevens)
15. JEAN ARTHUR “Mr.Deeds Goes to Town”(‘36-Frank Capra)
16. JEANETTE MacDONALD “Rose Marie”(‘36-W.S.Van Dyke)
17. ROSALIND RUSSELL “Craig’s Wife”(‘36-Dorothy Arzner)
18. IRENE DUNNE “The Awful Truth”(‘37-Leo McCarey)
19. LUISE RAINER “The Good Earth”(‘37-Sidney Franklin)
20. JEANETTE MacDONALD “Sweethearts”(‘38-W.S.Van Dyke)
21. NORMA SHEARER “Marie Antoinette”(‘38-W.S.Van Dyke)
22. JEAN ARTHUR “Only Angels Have Wings”(‘39-Howard Hawks)
23. JUDY GARLAND “Babes in Arms”(‘39-Busby Berkeley)
24. VIVIEN LEIGH “Gone with the Wind”(‘39-Victor Fleming)
25. CAROLE LOMBARD “Made for Each Other”(‘39-John Cromwell)

Outstanding SUPPORTING ACTRESS Performances - The 1930s

1. LOUISE CLOSSER HALE “Shanghai Express”(‘32-Josef von Sternberg”)

2. ALISON SKIPWORTH “Night After Night”(‘32-Archie Mayo)
3. MAE WEST “Night After Night”(‘32-Archie Mayo)
4. RUTH DONNELLY “Footlight Parade”(‘33-Lloyd Bacon)
5. DORIS KENYON “Counsellor-at-Law(‘33-William Wyler)
6. KATHLEEN HOWARD “It’s a Gift”(‘34-Norman Z.McLeod)
7. MONA BARRIE “King of Burlesque”(‘35-Sidney Lanfield)
8. ALICE BRADY “Gold-diggers of 1935”(‘35-Busby Berkeley)
9. GLENDA FARRELL “Gold-diggers of 1935”(‘35-Busby Berkeley)
10. HATTIE McDANIEL “Alice Adams”(‘35-George Stevens)
11. UNA O’CONNOR “Bride of Frankenstein”(‘35-James Whale)
12. EDNA MAY OLIVER “David Copperfield”(‘35-George Cukor)
13. MARY ASTOR “Dodsworth”(‘36-William Wyler)
14. JANE DARWELL “Ramona”(‘36-Henry King)
15. MARCIA MAE JONES “These Three”(‘36-William Wyler)
16. ALMA KRUGER “These Three”(‘36-William Wyler)
17. DORIS NOLAN “Holiday”(‘38-George Cukor)
18. DITA PARLO “La Grande Illusion”(‘38-Jean Renoir)
19. OLIVIA de HAVILLAND “Gone with the Wind”(‘39-Victor Fleming)
20. KAY FRANCIS “In Name Only”(‘39-John Cromwell)
21. MARGARET HAMILTON “The Wizard of Oz”(‘39-Victor Fleming)
22. HATTIE McDANIEL “Gone with the Wind”(“39-Victor Fleming)
23. BUTTERFLY McQUEEN “Gone with the Wind”(‘39-Victor Fleming)
24. HELEN PARRISH “First Love”(‘39-Henry Koster)
25. LUCILE WATSON “Made for Each Other”(‘39-John Cromwell)

Outstanding ACTRESS Performances - The 1940s

1. BETTE DAVIS “The Letter”(‘40-William Wyler)

2. IRENE DUNNE “My Favorite Wife”(‘40-Garson Kanin)
3. ROSALIND RUSSELL “His Girl Friday”(‘40-Howard Hawks)
4. JEAN ARTHUR “The Devil and Miss Jones”(‘41-Sam Wood)
5. JENNIFER JONES “The Song of Bernadette”(‘43-Henry King)
6. INGRID BERGMAN “Gaslight”(‘44-George Cukor)
7. CLAUDETTE COLBERT “Since You Went Away”(‘44-John Cromwell)
8. IRENE DUNNE “Together Again”(‘44-Charles Vidor)
9. JUDY GARLAND “Meet Me in St.Louis”(‘44-Vincente Minnelli)
10. ANN SAVAGE “Detour”(‘45-Edgar Ulmer)
11. GENE TIERNEY “Leave Her to Heaven”(‘45-John M.Stahl)
12. JOAN CRAWFORD “Humoresque”(‘46-Jean Negulesco)
13. ELEANOR PARKER “Of Human Bondage”(‘46-Edmund Goulding)
14. GENE TIERNEY “The Razor’s Edge’(“46-Edmund Goulding)
15. JOAN BENNETT “The Macomber Affair”(‘47-Zoltan Korda)
16. JANE GREER “Out of the Past”(‘47-Jacques Tourneur)
17. DOROTHY McGUIRE “Gentleman’s Agreement”(‘47-Elia Kazan)
18. MARLENE DIETRICH “A Foreign Affair”(‘48-Billy Wilder)
19. IDA LUPINO “Road House”(‘48-Jean Negulesco)
20. MOIRA SHEARER “The Red Shoes”(‘48-Michael Powell)
21. INGRID BERGMAN “Stromboli”(‘49-Roberto Rossellini)
22. PEGGY CUMMINS “Gun Crazy”(‘49-Joseph H.Lewis
23. BETTE DAVIS “Beyond the Forest”(‘49-King Vidor)
24. OLIVIA de HAVILLAND “The Heiress’(‘49-William Wyler)
25. VALERIE HOBSON “The Rocking Horse Winner”(‘49-Anthony Pelissier)

Outstanding SUPPORTING ACTRESS Performances - The 1940s

1. JANE DARWELL “The Grapes of Wrath”(‘40-John Ford)

2. FRIEDA INESCOURT “Pride and Prejudice”(‘40-Robert Z.Leonard)
3. GAIL PATRICK “My Favorite Wife”(‘40-Garson Kanin)
4. SARA ALLGOOD “How Green Was My Valley”(‘41-John Ford)
5. SPRING BYINGTON “The Devil and Miss Jones”(‘41-Sam Wood)
6. DOROTHY COMINGORE “Citizen Kane”(‘41-Orson Welles)
7. JOAN LESLIE “High Sierra”(‘41-Raoul Walsh)
8. ANNE BAXTER “The Magnificent Ambersons”(‘42-Orson Welles)
9. NANCY COLEMAN “King’s Row”(‘42-Sam Wood)
10. DAME MAY WHITTY “Mrs. Miniver’(‘42-William Wyler)
11. JEAN BROOKS “The Seventh Victim”(‘43-Mark Robson)
12. GABRIELLE DORZIOT “Le Baron Fantome”(‘43-Serge de Poligny)
13. RUTH HUSSEY “Tender Comrade”(‘43-Edward Dmytryk
14. MARY ASTOR “Meet Me in St.Louis”(‘44-Vincente Minnelli)
15. ANGELA LANSBURY “Gaslight”(‘44-George Cukor)
16. HATTIE McDANIEL “Since You Went Away”(‘44-John Cromwell)
17. ELIZABETH RUSSELL “Curse of the Cat People”(‘44-Robert Wise,Gunter von Fritsch)
18. ROSALIND IVAN “The Corn is Green”(‘45-Irving Rapper)
19. LILLIAN GISH “Duel in the Sun”(‘46-King Vidor)
20. LEOPOLDINE KONSTANTIN “Notorious”(‘46-Alfred Hitchcock)
21. DOROTHY MALONE “The Big Sleep”(‘46-Howard Hawks)
22. MARTITA HUNT “Great Expectations”(‘47-David Lean)
23. HELEN WALKER “Nightmare Alley”(‘47-Edmund Goulding)
24. NATALIE WOOD “Miracle on 34th Street”(‘47-George Seaton)
25. HOPE EMERSON “Cry of the City”(‘48-Robert Siodmak)

Outstanding ACTRESS Performances - The 1950s

1. CORNELL BORCHERS “The Big Lift”(‘50-George Seaton)

2. BETTE DAVIS “All About Eve”(‘50-Joseph L.Mankiewicz)
3. PATRICIA NEAL “Three Secrets”(‘50-Robert Wise)
4. ELEANOR PARKER “Caged”(‘50-John Cromwell)
5. MARGARET SULLAVAN “No Sad Songs for Me”(‘50-Rudolph Mate)
6. GLORIA SWANSON “Sunset Blvd”(‘50-Billy Wilder)
7. PIER ANGELI “Teresa”(‘51-Fred Zinnemann)
8. LESLIE CARON “An American in Paris”(‘51-Vincente Minnelli)
9. EVELYN KEYES “The Prowler”(‘51-Joseph Losey)
10. ANNA MAGNANI “Bellissima”(‘51-Luchino Visconti)
11. JULIE HARRIS “Member of the Wedding”(‘52-Fred Zinnemann)
12. MARILYN MONROE “Don’t Bother to Knock”(‘52-Roy Ward Baker)
13. BARBARA STANWYCK “Clash By Night”(‘52-Fritz Lang)
14. JEAN ARTHUR “Shane”(‘53-George Stevens)
15. DORIS DAY “Calamity Jane”(‘53-David Butler)
16. AUDREY HEPBURN “Roman Holiday”(‘53-William Wyler)
17. JANE RUSSELL “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”(‘53-Howard Hawks)
18. BARBARA STANWYCK “Titanic”(‘53-Jean Negulesco)
19. BRENDA De BANZIE “Hobson’s Choice”(‘54-David Lean)
20. GIULIETA MASINA “La Strada”(‘54-Federico Fellini)
21. SUSAN HAYWARD “I’ll Cry Tomorrow”(‘55-Daniel Mann)
22. BETTE DAVIS “The Catered Affair”(‘56-Richard Brooks)
23. PATRICIA NEAL “A Face in the Crowd”(‘57-Elia Kazan)
24. SHIRLEY MacLAINE “Some Came Running”(‘58-Vincente Minnelli)
25. SIMONE SIGNORET “Room at the Top”(‘59-Jack Clayton)

Outstanding SUPPORTING ACTRESS Performances - The 1950s

1. HOPE EMERSON “Caged”(‘50-John Cromwell)

2. BETTY GARDE “Caged”(‘50-John Cromwell)
3. NANCY OLSON “Sunset Blvd”(‘50-Billy Wilder)
4. NINA FOCH “An American in Paris”(‘51-Vincente Minnelli)
5. KIM HUNTER “A Streetcar Named Desire”(‘51-Elia Kazan)
6. MIRIAM HOPKINS “Carrie”(‘52-William Wyler)
7. GRACE KELLY “Mogambo”(‘53-John Ford)
8. MACHIKO KYO “Ugetsu”(‘53-Kenji Mizoguchi)
9. ALLYN McLERIE “Calamity Jane”(‘53-David Butler)
10. TERESA WRIGHT “The Actress”(‘53-George Cukor)
11. MERCEDES McCAMBRIDGE “Johnny Guitar”(‘54-Nicholas Ray)
12. NIMMI “Amar”(‘54-Mehboob Khan)
13. KINUYO TANAKA “Sansho the Bailiff”(‘54-Kenji Mizoguchi)
14. LILLIAN GISH “Night of the Hunter”(‘55-Charles Laughton)
15. JO VAN FLEET “I’ll Cry Tomorrow”(‘55-Daniel Mann)
16. EVELYN VARDEN “Night of the Hunter”(‘55-Charles Laughton)
17. JOAN BLONDELL “Desk Set”(‘57-Walter Lang)
18. DOROTHY DANDRIDGE “Island in the Sun”(‘57-Robert Rossen)
19. UNA O’CONNOR “Witness for the Prosecution”(‘57-Billy Wilder)
20. GLADYS COOPER “Separate Tables”(‘58-Delbert Mann)
21. HERMIONE GINGOLD “Gigi”(‘58-Vincente Minnelli)
22. MADELEINE SHERWOOD “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”(‘58-Richard Brooks)
23. DIANE BAKER “The Diary of Anne Frank”(‘59-George Stevens)
24. CONSTANCE FORD “A Summer Place”(‘59-Delmer Daves)
25. THELMA RITTER “A Hole in the Head”(‘59-Frank Capra)