In Your Opinion, Tell Us The Best Performance By an Actress in a Movie - Ever

You have a lot to choose from.

• Sofia Copolla, Godfather III

• Diana Ross - Lady Sings The Blues Jessica Lange - Frances Cate Blanchette - Elizabeth

• Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment

• Lillian Gish- Broken Blossoms (though The Wind is a close second)

• not ever, but..... Judy Davis in a scene from "Husbands and Wives" when she shows up for a date and proceeds to call her estranged husband from her dates house or Jennifer Tilly in Bullets over Broadway

  anon

• Charlize, "Monster"

• Bette Davis - All About Eve Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice Vivian Leigh - Gone With the Wind Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do With It

• Rosiland Russell in "The Trouble With Angels"

• Gloria Swanson's disturbing portrayal of Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard."

• And the winner is.... Faye Dunaway in "Bonnie and Clyde."

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• I have to assume that many of these are meant as jokes. There is no discussion here. The greatest performance ever by an actress is Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, and second place is Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois.

• Jane Fonda "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

• Leigh was terrible as Blanche DuBois. She ruins the movie for me.

• Gena Rowlands, "A Woman Under the Influence" Emily Watson, "Breaking the Waves" Jessica Lange, "Frances" Ellen Burstyn, "Requiem for a Dream"

• Sally Field "Sybil"

• Setsuko Hara, "Tokyo Story" Best good "bad" performance- Lana Turner, "Imitation of Life"

• Cybill Shepherd "Cybill"

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• Emma Thompson - Remains of the Day (Love, Actually as a runner up) Vivien Leigh - Gone With The Wind Anne Bancroft - The Graduate Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People (People will say she's just playing herself, but coming out of perky Mary Richards, it was a good acting job)

• Katrin Cartlidge - "Claire Dolan"

• Sophia Loren 2 Women, Giulietta Messina La Strada, Davis in All About Eve, Streep in Sophie's Choice,

• One of the best performances I've ever seen is Sissy Spacek in Carrie. Sissy was 26 playing a teenager.

• Kathy Bates - Misery Frances McDormand - Fargo Holly Hunter - The Piano Diana Ross - Lady Sings the Blues

• I agree with most of the serious posts but I want to mention one performance that I thought was amazing, and that was Miranda Richardson in Damage. She was nominated for a Supporting Oscar. I don't think I've ever seen anything so real.

• Mary Wickes. White Christmas

• Giulietta Masina -- Cabiria Lisbeth Morvin -- Day of Wrath Lillian Gish -- The Wind Delphine Seyrig -- Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Victoire Thivisol -- Ponette Setsuko Hara -- Early Summer Barbara Stanwyck -- Stella Dallas

• Anne Bancroft- The Miracle Worker

• r25: sorry, that should Lisbeth Movin, not Morvin

• Charlize Theron - Monster Liz Taylor - Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal Mink Stole - Desperate Living Dianne Wiest - Hannah and Her Sisters

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• Thx for mentioning Dench in Notes on a Scandal. If not for Mirren's showy turn as QEII - people would remember this as an incredible piece of work. Theron in Monster I loved Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata Gong Li in The Story of Qui Ju Ellen Burstyn in Requim for a Dream

• Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry. She knocked it out of the park.

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• Lillian Gish for the closet scene in "Broken Blossoms." Spinning, trapped and frantic, as he breaks in to kill her. She was inventing realistic film acting in that scene. Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard." Perfectly balanced, nuanced, funny, absolutely fearless, brave, controlled, savage, self-lacerating, wise, and multi-layered.

• Elizabeth Taylor "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Meryl Streep "Sophie's Choice" Katharine Hepburn "The Lion In Winter" Bette Davis "All About Eve" Rosalind Russell "Auntie Mame" Judi Dench in anything she is in

• Michelle Pfeiffer - Fabulous Baker Boys

• Rosie - Riding the bus with my sister.

• Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice. It is the pinnacle of screen acting. No one else compares.

• r26 and don't forget Patty Duke in the Miracle Worker

• Marilyn Chambers in Insatiable

• alicia silverstone in clueless is pure genius

• Vanessa Redgrave - The Devils Glenda Jackson - The Music Lovers Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice

• Kim Stanley in The Goddess and Seance on a Wet Afternoon

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• Sissy Spacek – Coal Miner’s Daughter Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful Maggie Smith – The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne Brenda Blethyn – Secrets & Lies

• Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence Jane Fonda - Klute

• Bette Davis, All About Eve

• [quote]Geraldine Page – The Trip to Bountiful Sorry, Lillian Gish's performance is 100% better. Even Horton Foote has said repeatedly that Lillian's performance was better than Geraldine Page's

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• Jane Fonda - They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

• Olivia Newton John "The Heiress"

  Benicio Del Havilland

• MTM Ordinary People.

• Another vote for Vivien Leigh in GWTW.

• Sissy Spacek- Coal Miner's Daughter Sally Field- Sybil Jessica Lange- Frances Ann Bancroft & Patty Duke- The Miracle Worker Shirley Mclaine- Terms of Endearment. And really Debra Winger too.

• Sigorney Weaver in Aliens followed closely by Holly Hunter in Broadcast News.

• R50, I loved Holly in Broadcast News

• Gone With The Wind is a great film, but it would have been half the film it was without Vivien Leigh. Even watching screen tests of other actresses makes you realize it would have been just another golden oldie without her. She's timeless. By far, the greatest performance captured to celluloid.

• Helen Lawson- "Twice is Too Much"

• Anna Magnani, The Rose Tattoo

• Vivian Leigh - GWTW Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice Julie Christie - McCabe and Mrs. Miller Liv Ullmann - Scenes From A Marriage Judy Garland - The Wizard of Oz Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata Charlize Theron - Monster Hannah Schygulla - The Marriage of Maria Braun Susan Sarandon/Geena Davis - Thelma and Louise Jane Fonda - Klute Liz - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Diane Wiest - Bullets Over Broadway Sigourney Weaver - Aliens But ultimately ... Bette Davis - All About Eve

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• Hitchcock may or may not have been a monster, but he certainly got amazing performances from his leading ladies -- ranked in order: Ingrid Bergman in Notorious Kim Novak in Vertigo Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest Tippi Hedren in The Birds Janet Leigh in Psycho Grace Kelly in To Catch A Thief I agree that Miranda Richardson's performance was astonishing in Damage. She was also brilliant in Dance With A Stranger.

• Helen Lawson in "I'll Cry When My Eyes are Wet"

• [quote]Sorry, Lillian Gish's performance is 100% better. Even Horton Foote has said repeatedly that Lillian's performance was better than Geraldine Page's Lillian Gish's performance in the role was for television, not for the movies.

• Falconetti in Passion of Joan of Arc

• Another one - Ellen Burstyn Resurrection

• Two more votes for: Vivien Leigh -- Gone with the Wind Jane Fonda -- They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

• Meryl Streep - Bridges of Madison County

• Always a sucker for a great Supporting performance. Doesn't get any better than: Sandy Dennis in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Susan Tyrrell in "Fat City" Shelley Winters in "Lolita"

• I'd second some others, but...and I know I will be mocked for this...Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple.

• Sorry that the meds haven't helped your OCD, R55.

• Barbara Stanwick - Double Indemnity Judy Holliday - Born Yesterday Lee Remick - Days of Wine and Roses Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence

• Rosalind Russell-Auntie Mame

• Vivian Leigh-Streetcar

• Patty Lapone - Witness

• HOW DARE YOU, R69!!!

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• R60 yes she was wonderful in that. And Eva Lagalliene in it too. The scenes with them together. Great movie, great actors.

• r72 Take that back!

• great choices in here. maybe not critically "best" but best (and most memorable) to me... Vivien Leigh in GWTW Judy Garland in Wizard of Oz Ellen Burstyn in The Exorcist or Alice Doesn't... Diane Keaton in Annie Hall, Something's Gotta Give Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct and Casino Angelina Jolie in Gia/Girl Interrupted - same thing Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction or Kill Bills Susan Sarandon was great in Bull D/Client/Dead Man Walking. I love Melanie Griffinth in Working Girl And speaking of WG, love Sig Weaver in Alien series Nicole Kidman in To Die For - her best by far. Okay, that;s enough - some may resent my populist choices. Go watch Breaking the Waves

• Bette Davis--The Little Foxes, Now Voyager, All About Eve Barbara Stanwyck- Stella Dallas, Double Indemnity Gloria Swanson--Sunset Boulevard

• [quote]Diane Wiest - Bullets Over Broadway Good one! I have loved Diane Wiest in everything I've seen her in. She's great.

• Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Cher - Mask and Come Back to the Five & Dime Jimmy Dean Sandy Dennis - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dea˜ Bette Davis - The Letter and The Little Foxes Vivien Leigh - Streetcar Named Desire and GWTW Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice Faye Dunaway - Bonnie and Clyde and Network Geraldine Page - Trip to Bountiful and Toys in the Attic Mia Farrow - Rosemary's Baby and Purple Rose of Cairo

• Susan Hayward "With A Song In My Heart"

• [quote]Gena Rowlands, "A Woman Under the Influence" Emily Watson, "Breaking the Waves" Jessica Lange, "Frances" Ellen Burstyn, "Requiem for a Dream" bitch knows what she's talking about! great list

• Bette Davis- "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" Joan Crawford -"Mildred Pierce" Elizabeth Taylor - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe" Anne Bancroft - "The Graduate"

• kate winslet - eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

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• Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. No one else comes close.

• It's fascinating to see the range of tastes on this thread.

• Charlie - Monster Meryl - Sophie's Choice Mariah - Glitter

• [quote]Hannah Schygulla - The Marriage of Maria Braun Thank you for mentioning it, R55. While I think it is impossible to name the best performance in all of film history, this one is really special. Schygulla plays a character that works on two levels; as a symbol and as a human. This is something I have never seen another actress do.

• Emily Watson - Hilary and Jackie Emily Waston - Breaking the Waves Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry Sissy Spacek & Shelley Duvall - 3 Women Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

• r32, marry me.

• Judy Garland - Wizard of Oz

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• Judy Garland, Star is Born Sophia Loren, Two Women Giulietta Masina, Nights of Cabiria Jane Fonda, They Shoot Horses Don't They Angela Bassett, What's Love Got To Do With It Mary Tyler Moore, Ordinary People Nazimova, Camille

• Jean Arthur, "The More the Merrier" Barbara Stanwyck, "The Furies" Bette Davis, "Now, Voyager"

• R55, please add another 30 names to your list of "an Actress." When you take a multiple choice test, do you blacken in every box on the page?

• Shirley Temple - Heidi Judy Garland - Wizard of Oz Betty Davis - What Ever Happended to Baby Jane Anne Bancroft - The Graduate Gena Rowlands - Gloria Faye Dunaway - Bonnie & Clyde Madeline Kahn - Young Frankenstein Diana Ross - Mahogany Tatum O-Neil - Paper Moon Jessica Lange - Frances Angelina Jolie - Gia Halle Berry - Monster's Ball Jennifer Lopez - Selena Charlize Theron - Monster Gaboret Sidibe - Precious

  Anonymous

• I'm tempted to go all in with Irene Dunne in "The Awful Truth". Yes, that settles it.

• Whenever I participate in games like this, I always get people to agree that GONE WITH THE WIND should be in its own little bubble. Agree with the poster who said it wouldn't be half the film it was without Viven Leigh. Having said that, another vote for the great Barbara Stanwyck in STELLA DALLAS. Flawless. I hope "supporting actor/actresses" threads start popping up, because that's where some real action is. This kind of thread is classic DL.

• I'm willing to put GWTW in a bubble and take it out of the running. It is extraordinary on every level, not the least of which is Leigh's astonishing performance as Scarlett. That done, here are my favorite great performances: Bette Davis (Now, Voyager; All About Eve) Katherine Hepburn (Alice Adams, The Lion In Winter); Sophia Loren (Two Women); Anna Magnani (Rome, Open City); Marion Cotillard (Piaf); Ingrid Bergman (Notorious); Geraldine Page (The Trip To Bountiful); Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, The Way We Were); Jane Fonda (Julia); Cher (Moonstruck); Meryl Streep (Silkwood, A Cry In The Dark). These are just my favorites. It's by no means a complete list.

• meryl streep- sophie's choice charlize theron- monster hilary swank-boys don't cry angela bassett- what's love got to do with it

• Jessica Lange - 'Francis' Diana Ross - 'Lady Sings The Blues' Meryl Streep - 'Sophie's Choice' Shirley MacLaine - 'Terms Of Endearment' Kim Stanley - 'The Goddess' Judy Garland - 'A Star Is Born' (Take out the musical numbers, and it's still a brilliant performance)

• Sophie's Choice is unbeatable. Agree with the person who said it is the pinnacle of film acting. I love many other performances, from Bette, Blanchett, Mc Dormand, Hunter, Davis, Cotillard, etc., but no one sustains the way Meryl can, or has the technical ability. It's a performance that can't be explained away with superlatives. There won't be another like it.

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• Gong Li - Raise The Red Lantern Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry Rooney Mara - Dragon Tattoo Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons Michelle Pfeiffer

• Anyone mention Liza Minelli -- for me in "The Sterile Cuckoo" but also "Cabaret", of course. It's weird, sometimes feels like even in the gay community, we forget that she was once a truly great actress. So good that "Lady Sings the Blues" finally got a nice release on DVD a couple years back so folks can see how amazing Diana Ross really was. If they had held the film back even one year, she'd have been the first black woman to win Best Actress (not Halle almost 20 years later). As is, she was destined to lose to... Liza, of course.

• Faye Dunaway - Network Ellen Burstyn - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Jessica Lange - Frances Cher - Mask Meryl Streep - Silkwood Gena Rowlands - Gloria Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf

• Yeah, Liza in 'Sterile Cuckoo' was pretty amazing. Liza, actress, before she was "LIZA". She really captured that borderline personality edge, where they're calm one minute, and screaming the next, cause something sets them off. And why they're always alone, because they are exhusting. Her scene on the phone, on why she didn't go home for vacation, breaks your heart.

• I forgot to list Liza in Cabaret on my list. Truly great performance. Judy in Oz is like GWTW--it's greatness puts it in a bubble of its own.

• Ann-Margret in Carnal Knowledge. One of the most painful, heartbreaking characters in film. Faye Dunaway's performances in both Network and Chinatown were near perfect and haunting.I also loved Vannessa Redgrave as the deformed nun in The Devils.

• Brilliant choice, Ann-Margret... but you also brought up another one, the one that beat her for the Oscar (man, they were true competition back then, one classic performance against another against another): Cloris Leachman in "The Last Picture Show." That shot of her alone on the bed, stood up like a jilted bride, broke my heart then and still does. Ditto, the ending.

• Damn, you bitches are good. You've managed to name nearly all my favourites. I'll add one more though. . . Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons.

• Agnes Moorehead was a damn fine actress. I just watched TMA on TCM and was floored by what a great movie it is, despite that stupid ending the studio filmed and tacked on without the consent of Orson Welles.

• Agnes was brilliant. Is it me but it seems like the real golden age for women was the 70s? The performers like Burstyn, Fonda, Dunaway etc were able to play their roles without tons of makeup to alter their appearence or fake-sounding accents that Streep seems to rely on. Even in lesser films like Cinderella Liberty or A Touch Of Class with Mason and Jackson-those actresses were fantastic compared to today's leading ladies!

• I agree r107 - actresses in the 50s, 60s and 70s were a lot more daring and adventurous than today's bland lot - who is impressed by the winning performances of Bullock, Hunt, Reece, Julia et al - it seems they all win in turn, and don't get me started on Kate Winslet !

• ITA R106. RKO's deliberate sabotage of that film almost makes it more amazing in my opinion, because it still manages to outshine any number of "great" films. I even enjoy it more than Citizen Kane. And for the hell of it, I'll add one more: Jean Arthur in anything. Great comedic timing, but able to bring such humanity to the quiet, small stuff too. She's so overlooked. Love her performances in Easy Living, The More the Merrier (her only Oscar nod, sadly), and the long forgotten History is Made At Night.

• Jane Fonda was totally stunning in They Shoot Horses, and Klute ... Vanessa Redgrave - Isadora Sophia Loren - Two Women, Marriage Italian Style, A Special Day Genevieve Bujold - Obsession Isabelle Adjani - History of Adele H - one of the most amazing debuts ever. Simone Signoret - Room at the Top Olivia De Havilland - The Heiress Vivien Leigh - Streetcar Patricia Neal - Hud, a small role but she totally ran with it and was tremendous. Setsuko Hara - Tokyo Story.

• I am, frankly, astionished that not one person on this thread has singled out what is, inarguably, the greatest female performance in film history - Shirley Booth in Come Back, Little Sheba. Audiences had never seen such an honest, raw and heartbreaking depiction on the screen before. As was Brando in Streetcar, it was a benchmark moment in film and has never been equaled.

• More fearless performances: Glenda Jackson in The Music Lovers Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata, and her last role as Golda Meir for tv - she wore a false nose and let herself look plain and ugly and she was dying and knew it was her last time before a camera and she is totally mesermising. She also dug into herself in Autumn Sonata to bring up the unlikeable part of herself. Sophia Loren - not only the first actress to win the best actress oscar in a foreign language but in Two Women at 25 she was playing the mother of a teenage girl -- she also played the mother a teenage boy in The Black Orchid in '58 where she was 23, with just a bit of grey in her hair and was totally convincing. Vanessa of course in most things, even those bit parts she does now. I am looking forward to seeing her in Coriolanus. Dench - incredible in Notes On A Scandal, and even in the silly Ladies in Lavender she does it all with her eyes, creating a whole world in front of you. Emma Thompson - I love her final scene in Sense & Sensibility (which she also wrote for the screen) when she finally gets her marriage proposal - and she is stunning too in Wit, dying of cancer, and even in Love Actually.

• Booth was great in that film...........too bad Hollywood didn't know what to do with her. Worst performance ever-Dyan Cannon in The Love Machine. Even worse than Patty Duke in Valley of The Dolls.

• Generally Geraldine Page and Anne Bancroft and Gena Rowlands in anything. Julie Harris - I love her Abra in East of Eden (where according to Kazan she helped Dean a lot, she was just 5 years older than him), and her Sally Bowles in I Am A Camera. Liza, as mentioned, in The Sterile Cuckoo and Cabaret. Jane Fonda's Bree in Klute and Gloria in They Shoot Horses. Beryl Reid was terrific in The Killing of Sister George, the film of her stage success - imagine the ham Bette Davis would have made of it if she had got the part, as she had wanted it. Maggie Smith in her early roles like in The VIPs and of course Miss Brodie, one of the greatest performances ever, up there with Vivien Leigh. Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter and This Happy Breed. Wendy Hiller in I Know Where I'm Going Deborah Kerr's pair of nuns: at 26 as Sister Clodagh in Black Narcissus, in '47 (Kathleen Byron is stunning here too, that amazing climax..), and Deb's much more simple Irish nun a decade later in Heaven Knows Mr Allison. Also, Kerr's governess in The Innocents, 1961; her Hannah Jelkes in Huston's Night of the Iguana in 64. She is also tremendous in The Sundowners in 1960, when she really should have won the oscar (along with Jean Simmons for Elmer Gantry - who was not even nominated), but of course Liz Taylor got sick. Judy Garland for A Star Is Born. I finally saw The Country Girl a while ago and was not impressed with Grace here at all, though like her in her few other films. The wrong Hepburn won in 1967 - it should have been Audrey for Two For The Road, a terrific performance by her, but they were so pleased to see Kate back ... she deserved it though the next year for The Lion in Winter. Romy Schneider is stunning in the 1980 Death Watch, as a woman dying being filmed for a tv reality series (how advanced that was...) just 2 years before Schneider herself died in 1982.

• What, no love for me? You in danger, gurls.

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• Lee Remick for Days of Wine and Roses - it was a great year in 1962 but she is my choice. Gloria Swanson for Sunset Boulevard, its a real leading role - Bette's in All About Eve isn't as she is sharing screen time with Baxter and Holm as all 3 roles are about the same size. Olivia may have been too pretty for The Heiress but she really nailed it. It needed an actress who looked like the great Eileen Atkins, a plain beauty. Susan Hayward too for her 2 acclaimed roles in Ill Cry Tomorrow and I Want to Live.

• I used to want to get an MA in Film History just for fun....I feel like I've got it by reading the DL!

• I forgot about Maggie Smith in Jean Brodie! That was a flawless, perfect performance.Wow-that film is almost forgotten today. Way too literate for today's movie-goers. Anyone remember Tuesday Weld in Play it as it lays????

• Cloris Leachman was shockingly good, especially sine I only knew her as a comedic actress from MTM and Mel Brooks movies when I saw Last Picture Show.

• Julie Christie in Away From Her. It would have been tremendous if she had won best actress again 40 plus years after her Darling win in 1965 when she was just young and beautiful. Faye Dunaway for Chinatown - for me its as much her film as Jack's. Vivien is also mesmerising in The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (its just the film isnt good enough to be really great), and even in her final appearance in Ship of Fools in 1965, where Simone Signoret is also tremendous as usual.

• An off the wall choice-Georgina Spelvin in The Devil In Miss Jones. Great acting even in a porn film. Georgina was so good it was scary plus the sexual chemistry she had with Harry Reems was beyond hot!

• Jean Hagen - Singin' In The Rain Angela Lansbury - The Manchurian Candidate Katherine Ross - The Stepford Wives Bette Davis - The Letter Diahann Carroll - Claudine Deborah Kerr - The Innocents Olivia DeHavilland - The Heiress Catherine Deneuve - Repulsion Diana Ross - Lady Sings The Blues Andie MacDowell - sex, lies and videotape Mia Farrow - Rosemary's Baby Diane Lane - Unfaithful

• Cheers for the mentions of Gish, Moorehead, Lee Remick, Maggie Smith's Brodie, Glenda, Vanessa, and Julie Christie, and Faye's Evelyn Mulwray in Chinatown, and Ingrid in Autumn Sonata - where Liv Ullmann is also tremendous - I'd say Ingrid and Liv are the best double act in the movies, and if there was any justice should have jointly won that year, 1978. Love that comment: the wrong Hepburn won in 1967. I can now compile a top 20 greatest female performances. If anyone is doing best male performances I want James Mason (A Star is Born), Peter Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday) and Dirk Bogarde (The Servant or Death in Venice) in the top 10!

• Good to see Deborah Kerr appreciated too ... so many great roles.

• I know there is often a very indistinct line between a lead and supporting role, but I believe both Ann Margret in CARNAL KNOWLEDGE and Cloris Leachman in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW were considered supporting roles. Rosalind Russell made the mistake of campaigning for a Best Actress nom for PICNIC, when that was a supporting role. Which, by the way, she was fabulous in. All the mentions of the great Anne Bancroft are for Mrs. Robinson, but I think her greatest performance is as Annie Sullivan in THE MIRACLE WORKER. Love this thread-keep 'em coming! (Audrey in TWO FOR THE ROAD is a great choice!)

• I cannot believe that Andie MacDowell's name has been mentioned in a thread about great acting performances! Seriously, Andie MacDowell? Jesus, how low are we setting the bar for good acting?

• Thanks, R89, for mentioning Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier (she just barely beats out Irene Dunne for my favorite screwball actress). And, R114, I think I love you; I agree with every syllable of your post.

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• Andie gave a good performance in sex, lies and videotape for a former model that is.

• R90 in "I Eat Shit"

• Bibi Andersson, "Persona"- fascinating portrayl of a young nurse whose personality is eaten vampirifically out of her by a patient in her charge who refuses to speak. The scene in particular where she relates a story about having group sex with some boys on the beach is astounding.

• Kelly Clarkson, "From Justin to Kelly."

• Maggie Smith - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Katharine Hepburn - The Lion In Winter Audrey Hepburn - Wait Until Dark Rosalind Russell - Auntie Mame Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada Bette Davis - All About Eve Elizabeth Ashley - Coma Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

• Vivien Leigh, GONE WITH THE WIND

• Has anyone considered Vivian Leigh for GWTW?

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• Vivien leigh GWTW agree it is in a bubble though Bette Davis All about Eve Meryl Streep Sophie's Choice Katherine Hepburn Lion in Winter

• "I'd say Ingrid and Liv are the best double act in the movies, and if there was any justice should have jointly won that year, 1978." Agreed. Never have two great actresses played opposite each other on screen to such effect before or since, let alone two who also happened to be that rare thing, true movie stars. Watching Bergman and Ullmann's inimitable talents together is unlike anything else.

• My 10 favorite female performances in chronological order! Jane Fonda - Klute (1971) Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence (1974) Liv Ullmann - Face to Face (1976) Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) Jessica Lange - Frances (1982) Jennifer Jason Leigh - Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) Holly Hunter - The Piano (1993) Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher (2001) Miranda Richardson - Spider (2002) Laura Dern - Inland Empire (2006)

• U do all know that Patty Duke was the original choice to play the lead in the Sterile Cuckoo?

• Did NOT know that, R138. Much as I love her in "Miracle Worker" (one for this list big time), I'm glad it worked out the way it did. There is only Liza as Pookie Adams. Not to pick a sore wound but why are the names on this list so much more exciting than modern day actresses? I just tried to watch Michele Williams in "Blue Valentine" and, sorry, don't get her, no charisma, a wan energy. It's the opposite of what Liza and almost every other actor on this thread brought to the screen -- honesty but a major star quality too. Right? Such a friggin' cliche but true... we had stars then.

• It's the pictures that got small. (and the stars too)

  Norma

• Charlotte Rampling in "Under the Sand" and Kristin Scott Thomas in "I've loved you so long" - both powerful, beautifully underplayed performances. Heartbreaking and profoundly sad, both are such memorable performances.

• Ingrid Bergman, Autumn Sonata (If that damn Academy hadn't given her an award for Orient Express she might have triumphed over turgid Jane Fonda in Coming Home, her worst performance.) Jane Fonda, Klute Katharine Hepburn, Long Day's Journey Vivien Leigh in GWTW and Streep in Sophie's Choice are in a category by themselves.

• Vanessa Redgrave was pretty spectacular in the six or seven minutes of screen time that she had in "Atonement".

• Good call on Miranda Richardson, everyone. Fantastic work in Damage, Dance with a Stranger, Tom & Viv and Spider among others. She's great. Agree with R141 on Charlotte Rampling in Under the Sand and Kristin Scott Thomas in I've Loved You So Long - yes! Beautiful double bill of low-key continental diva grief. Add in Juliette Binoche in Three Colors Blue. Glenda Jackson - Women in Love Judy Davis – Husbands and Wives Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive Helena Bonham Carter - The Wings of the Dove (seriously - she should have won 1997's Best Actress Oscar for this; I'd forgotten that she was considered an early fave after winning the LA Film Critics and National Board of Review awards)

• the hollywood stars of today are not good enough to lick the icons of yesteryears boots.

• Gale Sondergaard - The Letter

• Miranda Richardson is also good in Dance with a Stranger

• I have to say that Miranda Richardson in Damage was incredible. Ripped your heart out. Giulietta Masina in La Strada, an amazing performance. Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice, Kramer vs. Kramer, Devil/Prada all amazing. But really, I thought Glenn Close's Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction was riveting, and she left me speechless. I am not throwing her name in the pot to start some silliness about Meryl, etc. I just thought Glenn was a huge surprise in that role. A complete departure from anything she'd ever done and she was amazing, terrifying, and the characterization is iconic.

• Speaking of terrifying villainesses, check out Béatrice Dalle as a scissor-wielding psycho terrorizing a pregnant woman in the French horror film Inside (or À l' intérieur) - one of the scariest performances I've ever seen.

• Abbie Cornish in "Bright Star"

• I was blown away by Glenn in Dangerous Liaisons. 2 more europeans: Jeanne Moreau in Bay of Angels in '63 where she is a blond gambling obsessive, its a brilliant film by Jacques Demy, and Moreau is fully "the french Bette Davis" here (a label she hated). Alida Valli - stunning back in Italy for Visconti in Senso (or The Wanton Countess) in 1954 as the married countess falling for wastrel Farley Granger, its a stunning hypnotic movie, maybe Visconti's best. The best performance of 1954 along with Garland in A Star is Born !

• Streep in SOPHIE'S CHOICE.

• Good choices r137 - but have you not seen any great performances before 1971 ? Those late 50s and early 60s years had sensational acting too, even if you are too young to remember, do check them out ...

• Judy Garland in JUDGEMENT AT NUREMBERG is a pretty raw performance. By this, I mean it is so painful to watch her character forced to relive her experiences that you squirm… making you forget that she is "judy Garland the Musical Star".

• I liked Streep in The French Lieutenant's Woman, but prefer her in comedy (no interest in seeing Out of Africa, Sophie's Choice etc), like her in Devil Wears Prada and Postcards From The Edge, but still won't be seeing The Iron Lady. Another call for Julie Christie in Away From Her.

• Would you queens SHUT THE FUCK UP about Meryl in Sophie's Choice already.

  She%20was%20better%20in%20Silkwood%20anyway

• Sophia Loren is tremendous in Two Women - no wonder she got the best actress award, the first for a foreign language film. She was only 25 or 26. I hated Anna Magnana in The Rose Tattoo when I finally saw it recently, such ham and so over the top, but I love her in Wild is The Wind, for Cukor, in '57, where he reins in her excesses, and she is splendid. Loren was also great in Marriage Italian Style, and A Special Day in '77.

• There are five for me: Jessica Lange - Blue Sky Diane Keaton- Shoot The Moon Fernando Montenegro- Central Station Gena Rowlands- A Woman Under The Influence Ellen Burstyn- Requiem For A Dream

• [quote]Katherine Ross - The Stepford Wives Nah. Paula Prentiss- "The Stepford Wives." She made that film. Do either one belong in this thread? Not really. But, Paula Prentiss set quite the standard for unique comedic roles and no one caught up with her until Geena Davis did "The Accidental Tourist." Paula Prentiss has a well earned place within the history of cinema in terms of comedy. She also was one of the few actresses of her time to have gone from being a contract player to doing independent films and most everything in between. She just retired at far too young an age is all she did. Thank you.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DD8HERyQwMO4

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• Patricia Neal is staggeringly good in Hud, its a supporting role really, but as the only female in the movie she was nominated as best actress and won - there can't have been too much competition in 1963, unlike 1960, 61 and 62. More on Autumn Sonata in '78: that long scene at the piano where Ingrid Bergman watches Liv Ullmann playing her daughter badly playing the piano is a masterclass in screen acting - every emotion flickers across Bergman's face ... I love Lee Remick's performance as the alcoholic who can't give up the bottle in Days of Wine and Roses, its great screen acting. Anne Bancroft in The Pumpkin Eater, is the equal of her role in The Miracle Worker or The Graduate.

• r157 Magnana - oh dear.

• Paula Prentiss is indeed terrific, from stuff like Where The Boys Are to The Parralax View, and highly comic in Whats New Pussycat, and of course she gets The Stepford Wives just right - she is also a great Hawks heroine opposite Hudson in Mans Favourite Sport.

  We%20love%20Paula

• [quote]Good choices [R137] - but have you not seen any great performances before 1971 ? Those late 50s and early 60s years had sensational acting too, even if you are too young to remember, do check them out ... Ha thanks, I'm a film studies postgrad working on post-classical/New Hollywood cinema so that's mainly what I know! Give me some recommendations for raw, intense performances in the 50s/60s? I really liked Anna Magnani in The Rose Tattoo, Carroll Baker in Baby Doll, Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun, Piper Laurie in The Hustler, Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind, and Kim Stanley in The Goddess and Séance on a Wet Afternoon...

  R137

• Let me add all 3 actresses of "Cries and Whispers" by Mr. Bergman.

  R158

• Another great double act I never tire of is Ava Gardner's Maxine and Deborah Kerr's Hannah in Huston's 1964 film of The Night of the Iguana, one for every gay's collection. Geraldine Page in Sweet Bird of Youth. Vivien Leigh's Roman Spring of Mrs Stone and Ship of Fools complete her quartet of great screen roles. Katharine Hepburn in Long Days Journey into Night in 1962, along with her Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter.

• Ingmar Bergman's movies are indeed full of great roles for the likes of Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson - Cries & Whispers, Persona, The Silence, Wild Strawberries, Autumn Sonata, Through A Glass Darkly, Summer with Monika.

• Brenda Blethyn - Secrets & Lies

• r137 - there's also Susan Hayward in I Want To Live in '58, Lee Remick in Days of Wine and Roses in 62, Sophia Loren in Two Women in '61, Simone Signoret in Room At The Top, Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, and so many others.

• What's the matter with all the people who don't have the ability to post the name of one actress? Instead they post a long list of names. Showoffs? Desire to derail the thread? Can't stand restrictions? Jealous of an OP who posts an interesting idea? Hate rules? Cuntiness? Stupidity? Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee? Fuck you OP? If that bitch can post five names, I'll post six? Jealous of Best Actress Oscar winners?

• Okay fucker, # 169. Jessica Lange- Blue Sky.

• Julianne Moore - Safe

• Elisabeth Shue gave a one-off brilliant performance in Leaving Las Vegas. Everyone knew her as the lightweight 80s girlfriend from Karate Kid, Cocktail, Back to the Future II and III (though Adventures in Babysitting was good fun), but in LLV she acted with a harrowing honesty that reminded me of Jane Fonda in Klute. She's had a crap career otherwise so 1995's Best Actress Oscar would probably seem wasted on her if she had won, but purely in terms of merit, Shue gave the best nominated performance that year.

• My top ten in order of greatness: 10) Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada 9) Faye Dunaway - Chinatown 8) Ingrid Thulin - The Silence 7) Glenn Close - Dangerous Liaisons 6) Juliette Binoche - Blue 5) Isabelle Huppert - The Piano Teacher 4) Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive 3) Isabelle Adjani - Camille Claudel 2) Meryl Streep - A Cry in the Dark 1) Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice

  You%27re%20welcome.

• Good call on Isabelle Adjani in Camille Claudel! Wonderful. I would add Isabelle Adjani in The Story of Adele H (should have won 1975's Best Actress Oscar over Louise Fletcher), and also her demented performance in Possession.

• I third the Isabel Adjani in Camile Claudel--brilliant choice.

• Shelley Winters - Lolita Shelley Winters - The Diary of Anne Frank Shelley Winters - A Patch of Blue Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun Shelley Winters - The Night of the Hunter Shelley Winters - The Poseidon Adventure Shelley Winters - Alfie Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction

• yeah! Linda Fiorentio in The Last Seduction!

• [quote]and also her demented performance in Possession. That performance IS one of the bravest things I have ever seen in a film. But how many DLers have even see this film?

• Keep listing I want to see 169's head explode. Then I will list it as my favorite single performance by an actress.

• Ellen Burstyn- Requiem For A Dream I finally was Requiem for a Dream. Ellen Burstyn, well what can one say. The mind boggled. Actually, the full force of her performance hit a day later when I woke up crying. I was becoming conscience and thinking about her on the train headed for the TV studio. ow THAT’S a great screen performance.

  One%20more%20gut-wrenching%20film%20I%20can%20never%20watch%20again....

• No love for Anjelica Huston in The Grifters? Amazing. I also love several actresses who have done a lot of great work without having just one really career-defining performance - Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, Tilda Swinton, Hanna Schygulla, Miranda Richardson, Judy Davis, Mia Farrow, Kathleen Turner, Laura Dern, Romy Schneider, Genevieve Bujold, Charlotte Rampling, Jennifer Jason Leigh.

• I did love Angelica in The Grifters!

• Tilda is someone who is always good, it's not just one role.

• She's amazing in Possession!! Actually, # 3 should be a tie between her in CC and Possession. Adele H. is good, but not as timeless as those other two performances. She really needs to get her act together, and go for a big role again. The film world is missing her!

• Romy Schneider was great in so many films.

• Romy Schneider was mentioned twice, including her role in the 1980 sci-fi Death Watch. She also gave a stunningly intense performance as a depressed junkie porn actress trying to go legit doing a Shakespeare play in a wonderful 1975 film "L'important c'est d'aimer," also known as "The Most Important Thing is Love." It's by the insane Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski, who later directed Isabelle Adjani to hysterical perfection in Possession. It's a masterclass in female screen acting, and one of the roles Almodovar dedicates All About My Mother to in the closing credits. She won the first ever César award for Best Actress (France's Oscar), a feat she repeated a few years later with Claude Sautet's "A Simple Story."

• Two wonderfully sensitive performances in forgotten 80s films about teenage girls coming of age: Rosanna Arquette - Baby It's You Laura Dern - Smooth Talk And the cinema's textbook portrayal of tortured, hormonal female adolescence: Natalie Wood - Splendor in the Grass

• Angelica Huston in Crimes and Misdemeanors.

• Jane Fonda in KLUTE. If I were forced to pick just one. Which is an absurd challenge, but there you are - that's what jumped into my head first. As for all you focacta motherfuckers who mentioned Vivien Leigh: Jesus. Watch STREETCAR again, if you dare. She ruins the thing. If not for Brando, the movie would be undendurable, mostly because of Leigh's terrible, stagey, declamatory, over-the-top, aggressively 1940s-film-actressy performance. She's awful in the movie.

• And Jesus Fucking H. Christ, what is wrong with you cracker motherfuckers who like GONE WITH THE WIND? GONE WITH THE WIND is second only to BIRTH OF A NATION in its appalling racism. It's a lie from beginning to end, that movie. A vile and dangerous and criminal lie. The sentimental bullshit about The Old Plantation and the ever-faithful Negro retainers, ugh, god. Malcolm X reports wanting to crawl under his seat in the movie theater when he saw that film - from humiliation and anger and shame and incredulity. It's the worst kind of white supremacist anti-black racist propaganda. Heaven help poor Hattie McDaniel for being unable to get cast as anything but maids. McDaniel is the genius in WIND, and if anything makes the movie worth discussing, it's McDaniel's ability to allow her beauty and her genius and her gorgeous comic timing to shine through that criminally condescending and demeaning role. Stop praising GONE WITH THE WIND. Every print of the thing should be destroyed.

• Judy Garland – A Star is Born Diana Ross – Lady Sings the Blues Frances McDormand – Fargo Sally Hawkins – Happy Go Lucky Mary McDonnell – Passion Fish Holly Hunter – Broadcast News, The Piano Bette Midler – The Rose Whoopi Goldberg – The Color Purple Dianne Wiest – Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway

• Juliette Binoche – The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Three Colors Blue Irene Jacob - The Double Life of Véronique Danielle Darrieux - The Earrings of Madame De Audrey Hepburn - Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Nun's Story, Two for the Road

• Let's not forget great supporting performances too! Thelma Ritter – Pickup on South Street Agnes Moorehead – The Magnificent Ambersons Gale Sondegaard – The Letter Piper Laurie - Carrie

• Vera Clouzot - Diabolique, her terror and anxiety seems so REAL.

• Deborah Kerr in "Black Narcissus," "The Sundowners," "The Innocents," "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" - such a radiant, classy actress.

• Toni Collette in MURIEL'S WEDDING! Loved her.

• While we're veering back to Supporting performances again: I love Jodie Foster's Iris in "Taxi Driver" more now than I did even then. Feels positively radical now in this day and age.

• [quote]No love for Anjelica Huston in The Grifters? Amazing. She was also great in The Dead.

• Ingrid Bergman's two best performances were Notorious and Autumn Sonata, but she was also stunning in Gaslight, Anastasia, Spellbound, Casablanca and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.

• Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore were brilliant in Douglas Sirk’s “Imitation of Life” (1959)

• Ronee Blakley is astonishingly good in NASHVILLE. So fragile, raw and honest. Her onstage breakdown is painful to watch.

• Could people stop saying someone's performance was a "master class" in film acting!? It's so annoying. Has anyone here ever actually been to a master class? Thanks.

• This is obscure BUT I love Lily Tomlin in The Late Show.

• IMO these are the best supporting performances: Ann-Margret - Carnal Knowledge Cloris Leachman - The Last Picture Show Sandy Dennis - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Karen Black - Five Easy Pieces Ronee Blakley AND Lily Tomlin - Nashville Gloria Grahame - The Big Heat Angela Lansbury - The Manchurian Candidate Valentina Cortese - Day for Night Anne Bancroft - The Graduate Linda Hunt - The Year of Living Dangerously Joan Allen - Nixon Chloë Sevigny – Boys Don't Cry

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• I have been to masterclasses

• R202 could teach a master class in being a whiny bitch.

• There is absolutely no competition here. The single best performance by an actress, the single most memorable female character I've had the pleasure of experiencing in cinema is... SHELLEY DUVALL as Millie Lammoreaux in Robert Altman's 3 WOMEN (1977)

• Another vote for Gena Rowlands in 'A Woman Under the Influence.' I've never seen anything like it on film or in the theatre.

• Fantastic choice # 207. Such and amazing and one of a kind film. She was outstanding.

• Go jump off a bridge R190. Do me a fucking favor.

• This is a very, very difficult request, OP. Picking just one actress is obviously for Mensa people not DLers. In addition to R191's list for [bold]a[/bold] best actress, I can't make up my mind between Jessica Alba, Jane Alexander, Joan Allen, June Allyson, Gillian Anderson, Jennifer Aniston, Susan Anton, Beverly Archer, Jean Arthur, Elizabeth Ashley, Lauren Macall, Catherine Bach, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Barkin, Priscilla Barnes, Ethel Barrymore, Anne Baxter, Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Mary Boland, Kate Bosworth, Clara Bow, Eileen Brennan, Abigail Breslin, Geraldine Brooks, Billie Burke and Amanda Bynes. Of course, R192, there's also Dyan Cannon, Kate Capshaw, Barbara Carrera, Diahann Carroll, Stockard Channing, Jill Clayburgh, Claudette Colbert, Jeanne Crain, Joan Cusack, and Dorothy Dandridge. R137, perhaps I should eliminate Claire Danes, Blythe Danner, Bette Davis, Geena Davis, Doris Day, Yvonne De Carlo, Ruby Dee, Angie Dickinson, Marlena Dietrich, Hilary Duff, Olympia Dukakis, Patty Duke, Faye Dunaway. Irene Dunne, or Kirsten Dunst. Interesting list of [bold]a[/bold] best actress, r144. Of course one could always consider, Barbara Eden, Linda Evans, Angie Everhart, Morgan Fairchild, Mia Farrow, Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Joan Fontaine, and Ava Gardiner. R160 your list for [bold]the[/bold] best actress is nice, but you ignored Greer Garson, Janet Gaynor, Gina Gershon, the Gish sisters, Paulette Goddard, Ruth Gordon, Lee Grant, Virginia Grey, Linda Hamilton, Jean Harlow, Helen Hayes, Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, Tippi Hedren, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holiday, Linda Hunt, and Anjelica Huson. [bold]I WIN!!!!!!![/bold] Thread closed!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Thanks r186 for the Romy Schneider comments. She is wonderful in those Claude Sautet films like THE THINGS OF LIFE and MAX AND THE JUNKMEN, and a great movie with Montand CESAR & ROSALIE. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS LOVE is a tough one to watch. She was so prolific during the 60s and 70s in both French, English and American films. I like her too in Visconti's 1972 LUDWIG where she returns to her teen role as Sissi, Empress of Austria, but here she is a more mature Sissi and brings a lot of humour and insight to the role. Julie Christie has been so marvellous too, Away From Her was probably her last main role though.

• Marlene Dietrich - Shanghai Express Madonna - Shanghai Surprise

• Not nearly enough respect for Barbara Stanwyck here. She was as good an actress as ever came out of Hollywood – Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, The Lady Eve, Baby Face, Double Indemnity, Sorry Wrong Number, Meet John Doe, The Bitter Tea of General Yen... RESPECT!

• A trio of mad/horny nuns! Kathleen Byron - Black Narcissus Vanessa Redgrave - The Devils Lucyna Winnicka - Mother Joan of the Angels

• Brigitte Mira as the old German cleaning woman who finds new happiness with young black dick in ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL.

• Greta Garbo staring into the sea at the end of Queen Christina is the best performance by an actress in a movie ever (and yes she was also sublime in Anna Karenina, Anna Christie, Camille, Ninotchka, Grand Hotel, Romance and Two-Faced Woman).

  http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DnFFtj4N9rfw

• Maggie Smith in "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne"

• Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station

• [quote]Brigitte Mira as the old German cleaning woman who finds new happiness with young black dick in ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL. Lol

• Pam Grier in JACKIE BROWN!

• I have to agree with others, Jessica Lange in Frances!

  derwood

• yes, Pam Grier in Jackie Brown!

• Judy Davis – High Tide (1987) Brilliant, astounding performance in a little-seen Australian gem of a movie. Post more great female performances, you bitches! This thread died too soon.

• genevieve bujold - king of hearts

• Liv in Ullmann in _Face to Face_, little seen film from the '70s in which she plays a psychiatrist who's losing her mind. It's been re-released on DVD, but apparently the image is poor quality. Saw it once in a movie theatre and it has haunted me ever since.

• Not a movie, but Streep in Angels in America was amazing.

• There's nothing more tedious than some arrogant, old, queeny cineaste who proclaims that some nobody foreign actress who no one ever heard of or cared about gave the best film performances. If they were so damn good, Hollywood would have snapped them up, ala Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman, and we might actually give a shit about them today.

• I loved Isabel Adjani in Camille Claudel. She was brilliant and I was happy to see her named. But honestly, Marion Cotillard's searing performance as Edith Piaf, was a once in a lifetime experience. It was remarkable. Brilliant. There is nothing to compare. Many fine actresses, many brilliant performances mentioned in this thread, but nothing comes close, IMO, to what she did with Edith Piaf.

• [quote]There's nothing more tedious than some arrogant, old, queeny cineaste who proclaims that some nobody foreign actress who no one ever heard of or cared about gave the best film performances. If they were so damn good, Hollywood would have snapped them up, ala Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman, and we might actually give a shit about them today. You simply haven't lived until you've experienced the work of Anita Bjork - Miss Julie Oksana Akinshina - Lilya 4-Ever Barbara Sukowa - Lola Ida Kaminska - The Shop on Main Street Nina Pens Rode - Gertrud Lena Endre - Faithless Delphine Seyrig - Jeanne Dielman Alida Valli - Senso

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• "If they were so damn good, Hollywood would have snapped them up, ala Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman, and we might actually give a shit about them today." Oh, that makes sense. First of all it assumes, that everyone wants to work in the U.S. as if the rest of the world cinema is simply second rate. Second, it fails to consider that so often Hollywood fails to embrace (or seriously undervalues) even some of the greatest American actresses: Uta Hagen Cherry Jones Laurette Taylor Jayne Atkinson Elizabeth McGovern Marian Seldes Angela Bassett Barbara Harris Ruby Dee Stockard Channing Maureen Stapleton Margaret Sullavan (who did give a world class film performance in an American movie, The Shop Around the Corner, but only made a handful of movies) Julie Harris (the first lady of the American theater's film performances have been rare) Helen Hayes (who rarely made any movies between her first oscar as a young woman and her second as a very old one)

• R228 should just admit that she feels ignorant about foreign film.

• Kinuyo Tanaka, "The Life of Oharu" Anyone else see this Kenji Mizoguchi film from the 1950's? A wonderful film about an upper-class woman in feudal Japan who is variously banished, sold into prostitution, made a royal concubine, and finally ending up a destitute beggar in old age.

• Apples and oranges. So many great ones. But some of my favs - vivien leigh "gone with the wind" jessica lange "frances" liz taylor and sandy dennis "virginia woolf" meryl streep "sophies choice" kate hepburn "lion in winter" etc !

• Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon Rosalind Russell, Gypsy Anne Bancroft, The Graduate Whoopie Goldberg, Color Purple Oprah Winfrey, Color Purple Angelina Jolie, Gia Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge Charlize Theron, Monster

  Anonymous

• Vivien Leigh - GWTW Victoire Thivisol - Ponette Jeon Do-Yeon - Secret Sunshine

• Kathleen Turner needs more love, people! Terrific actress who never gets the respect she deserves. She made a sensational debut as the very Stanwyck femme fatale in Body Heat, gave a particularly daring performance as the prostitute China Blue in Crimes of Passion, was charming and sympathetic heroine in Romancing the Stone and Peggy Sue Got Married (I can't believe this was her only Oscar nomination), a real gift for black comedy in Prizzi's Honor, Serial Mom and especially The War of the Roses. I think she was born a few decades too late because she would have easily become a superstar in the classical studio era.

• Victoire Thivisol - Ponette Yeah!

• What about Laura Dern in Inland Empire, Citizen Ruth, We Don't Live Here Anymore, Smooth Talk, Rambling Rose, Wild at Heart? Love that bitch.

• Sandrine Bonnaire & Isabelle Huppert - La Ceremonie Jennifer Jones - Duel in the Sun Wendy Hiller - Pygmalion Alida Valli - Senso Teresa Wright - Shadow of a Doubt Maggie Cheung - In the Mood for Love Jean Simmons - Elmer Gantry Dorothy Dandridge - Carmen Jones Gena Rowlands - Love Streams, Gloria, A Woman Under the Influence Joanne Woodward - Rachel, Rachel Joan Bennett - Scarlet Street Dorothy Malone - The Tarnished Angels, Written on the Wind Ruth Gordon - Harold & Maude Everything by Ingmar Bergman's women: Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Ingrid Bergman (in Autumn Sonata)

  Aging%20sissy

• Ruth Chatterton in "Dodsworth." I don't know if it really belongs on the same list as the stuff mentioned above, but the performance has always stuck in my mind. A very brave portrayal of a woman unwilling to face middle age, by an actress basically facing the same situation in real life.

  Enid Nelson

• Barbara Stanwyck, "The Lady Eve"

• Barbara Stanwyck, "Double Indemnity" Olivia d'Haviland, "The Heiress" Mary Tyler Moore, "Ordinary People" Judi Dench, "Mrs. Brown" Cate Blanchett, "Elizabeth" Meryl Streep, "Sophie's Choice" Katherine Hepburn, "The Lion In Winter" Jean Hagen, "Singin' In The Rain"

• Meryl Streep – Sophie’s Choice Bette Davis – All About Eve, What Ever Happended to Baby Jane Liza Minnelli – Sterile Cuckoo, Tell me That you Love me, Junie Moon, Cabaret Judy Garland – A Star is Born, Shirley MacLaine - 'Terms Of Endearment' Sophia Loren - Two Women Gong Li - Raise The Red Lantern Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose Whoopi Goldberg – The Color Purple Genevieve Bujold – Obsession Faye Dunaway – Chinatown Fernanda Motenegro – Central Satation

• First the runners-up, then the winner: 20-11. (Honorable Mentions). Jessica Lange in "Blue Sky." She takes over this film. Also Liv Tyler in "Armageddon," and Jennifer Lopez in "Money Train" deserve mentions, as does Faye Dunaway in "Network.: Some obscure ones: Jenna Dewan-Tatum in "Tamara," and Melissa R. Martin in "The Surge." I'm also partial to Jessica Simpson in "Private Valentine," an otherwise awful film that she made watchable. Let's also add Courtney Love for "Man On The Moon" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt." Now for the top ten: 10. Cate Blanchett in "Veronica Guerin." Great performance from start to finish. Brought the dead character to life amazingly well. Flawless and brilliant. 9. Sharon Stone in "Casino." Easily her best performance ever. It would have been so easy to go over the top with her, but Stone always reeled her in just in time. A fine balancing act. 8. Diane Keaton in "Something’s Gotta Give." One of the best dialogue-driven films of the past decade, and she plays brilliantly against Jack Nicholson. 7. Donna Pescow in "Saturday Night Fever." Her understated brilliance made John Travolta believable as a heterosexual nightclub dance king. 6. "Talia Shire" in Rocky. You think Stallone made it the best picture? She should have taken Best Actress, but it was a tough year. 5. Diane Lane in Judge Dredd. No actress has ever made Stallone look better, not even Shire. She humanized him in a way few could, while softening her normal shrewish performance just enough to bring out the best in Sly, in a fascinating film about alternate judicial systems in a civilized society. 4. Neve Campbell in Scream. This film dies quicker than Drew Barrymore in the opening credits without Campbell's brilliant leadership. She made C. Cox watchable! 3. Marisa Tormei in My Cousin Vinny. Easily a well-deserved Oscar for a role that most actresses would have butchered. 2. Margot Kidder in Superman. Lois Lane is not an easy character to play, yet she made it look effortless. And the winner is... 1. Erika Eleniak in Under Seige! I give her the win because this former Playboy Playmate (Miss July, 1989) had relatively little acting experience, and was cast as "Miss July 1989," in what was supposed to be a bit part, yet she consistently takes over this suprise hit of a film, making Steven Seagal look better than he ever could. She has several great lines in this film, including "the safest place on this ship is right behind you!," but her performance is also incredibly nuanced. Her character evolves from vapid party girl into a full-fledged soldier saving her country, as she displays more courage than everyone but Seagal. In the final scene she is dressed in full Navy garb, saluting the dead, with a look of seriousness that should have won her Demi Moore's role in G.I. Jane.

• Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice

• Leigh in STREETCAR Maggie Smith in MISS JEAN BRODIE and JUDITH HEARN Olivia de Havilland in THE HEIRESS Judy Davis in HUSBANDS AND WIVES Bibi Andersson in PERSONA Katharine Hepburn in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT Judi Dench in IRIS and NOTES ON A SCANDAL With Vanessa Redgrave and Meryl Streep - the two greatest living English-speaking actresses - it's too hard to choose. Some of Redgrave's teeny performances (ATONEMENT, CORIOLANUS) are absolutely amazing. Miss Bette Davis was a greatness; again, too hard to choose one performance.

• Lol @ R245. And would everyone please, please, please shut the fuck up about Meryl Streep in "Sophie's Choice." She wasn't even the best performance that year (that would be Jessica Lange in "Frances," obviously), let alone of all time, and I get the distinct impression that a lot of these queens who keep repeating "Streep in Sophie's Choice" are just jumping on the Queen Meryl bandwagon without particularly giving a shit about her performance.

• Forget those whores. Patricia Neal in HUD gave one of the best performances to win the Best Actress Oscar. Raw, natural, earthy, and just real. She also won the BAFTA, New York Film Critics and National Board of Review awards, yet it's a performance that rarely gets mentioned these days. Anna Magnani in THE ROSE TATTOO is another great forgotten Oscar winner of that era.

• madonna- who's that girl?

• Audrey Hepburn in ''The Children's Hour'' Audrey's is one of the best performances a woman have ever giver for a role.

  Anonymous

• Audrey Hepburn in 'The Children's Hour' Audrey's is one of the best performances a woman has ever given for a role.

  Anonymous.%20I%20corrected%20my%20speed%20error%21

• Maria Falconetti in Passion of Joan of Arc. Simply wipes out every choice and would probably be the consensus pick of film critics for greatest performance.

• Maureen O'Hara The Quiet Man

• Irene Dunne- The Awful Truth and Judy Holliday- Born Yesterday Both incredibly original.

• who's afraid of virginia wolf , elizabeth taylor

• [quote]Judy Garland for A Star Is Born. I finally saw The Country Girl a while ago and was not impressed with Grace here at all, though like her in her few other films. The funny thing is, Judy Garland would have been sensational as Georgie in "The Country Girl". With a simple, straight forward, black and white melodrama with a small cast, I don't know why she wasn't offered it as well. They could have had it released in 1953, and Judy might have won two years in a row. Look at every scene Grace Kelly is in, and tell me you cannot imagine how brilliant Judy would have been in the same role, in which she would have been perfectly cast. Georgie is supposed to be a fairly young woman who seems aged and worn down by her sadness married to an alcoholic!

  First%20Night%20Fanny

• I agree with this previously mentioned entry: Maggie Smith in "The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne" But for sheer entertainment value I can never get enough of Elizabeth Taylor in "Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf", Bette Davis in "All About Eve", or Vivien Leigh in "Streetcar Named Desire"

• I second Anne Bancroft for "The Miracle Worker"..just fabulous!

• Angela Bassett in the Tina Turner biopic. Case closed.

• Alice Faye... in EVERYTHING!

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• Lana Turner in ''The Bad and the Beautiful''

  http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/.a/6a00e5523026f588340147e223876a970b-pi

  Anonymous

• Julianne Moore..Far From Heaven. Still can't believe she lost to Nicole Kidman's fake nose. Kidman WAS great in To Die For. Other recent great performances: Penelope Cruz in Volver, Amy Adams in Junebug, Julianne, again, in Boogie Nights. Classics..Irene Dunne in The Awful Truth, Joan Fontaine in Rebecca, Kim Stanley in The Goddess, Tuesday Weld in Pretty Poison. Leigh, Streep, Davis...in a category of their own.

• Jane Fonda in Klute and Bette Davis in All About Eve. The best performances by actresses ever.

  Lea

• i really do not understand the hype about meryl streep's performance in sophie's choice. it simply did not move me. there are far better performances than that. in my opinion, the best performance ever by an actress was by Jane Fonda in Klute, followed by Bette Davis in All About Eve.

  Anonymous

• Jill Clayburgh - An Unmarried Woman

• Barbara Stanwyck, Double Indemnity

• Imelda Staunton "Vera Drake" Rosalind Russell "Auntie Mame"

  Delman

• It's still Meryl Streep in 'Sophie's Choice'. Nobody was as good before or after that. Nor will anyone ever reach that kind of level in acting again. End of story.

  The%20Streep%20troll%20%28tm%29

• It's not a movie but this you tube will convince even her biggest haters that she is ADORBS!

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFZCml2C5Hs