Best Female Performance in a Film

Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Eleanor Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate

Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire. She has no peer.

Glenn Close as Alex.

I am going with Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under The Influence.

Julianne moore in safe. Going crazy in suburbia.

Cate Blanchett in Carol

Sally Field in Sybil

Patricia Neal in Hud

Vanessa Redgrave in The Devils.

Bette, All About Eve.

Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE.

Bette Davis in Jezebel

Lindsay Graham as a Heterosexual Conservative in The Senate

Isabella Adjani in Possession

Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter

Vivien Leigh in Waterloo bridge. Huge influence in many asian countries. Should get Oscar for it.

John Travolta in hairspray.

Bette Davis in Now, Voyager

Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive.

Fernanda Montenegro in Central Station.

Wow R20- She was my 3rd or...4th.....

It was her and Jessica Lange in Frances.

Great taste!!!!!

Jessica Lange in Sweet Dreams delivers a master class in film acting.

Kelly Preston as "beard" in The John Travolta Story

After much thought, if I had to pick only one....

Imelda Staunton in "Vera Drake".

I think it is an astonishingly good performance.

Maggie Smith is the creme de la creme as Miss Jean Brodie.

Agree with Watts in "Mulholland" and Moore in "Safe".

I'll add Shelley Duvall in "3 Women".

Julianne Moore in The Hours

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem For a Dream

Deborah Kerr in The Innocents

Sarah Michelle Gellar in I Know What You Did Last Summer

Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense

Leigh in Gone with the Wind.

Goop in Shakespeare in Love. (I’m voting Harvey’s proxy.)

Mary Tyler Moore in Ordinary People

Markene Dietrich in Stage Fright & Witness for the Prosecution, Touch of Evil, Blonde Venus, the Blue Angel

R31- Awesome choice. Not only the brilliant and moving car scene- but she just epitomizes a good mother who probably took a tough road in life. She seems so REAL. And when she says she is tired in her body and tired in her heart- you believe it. I really love her in that film.

Jane Fonda - Klute

Don't know why but I hate Toni Collette in everything I have seen her in. In fact, she ruins the whole film for me. Voice? Face? Delivery? Not sure, I just hate her in film.

Great performances, well done.

Joan Crawford, Mommie Dearest

Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe

Very close second, Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice

Holly Hunter, Raising Arizona

Toni Collette, Muriel’s Wedding

Pia Zadora in Butterfly.

Olivia in The Heiress

Charlize Theron, Monster

Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs

It's even worse on stage, R38. I wouldn't say I hate Collette, but there is something about her I just can't take to. I acknowledge she's a fine actress, and she certainly has that "real" quality R36 was talking about, but (as also with all of PJ Hogan's movies), I'm more repelled than charmed. I can explain what I dislike about Hogan's movies, including Muriel, but I can't explain my problem with Collette herself.

Judy Parfitt in Dolores Claiborne. She could have camped the hell out of that role and yet, in the campy moments (high riding bitch) she pulls it back and keeps the scene from going off the rails. Kathy Bates should have kissed Parfitt’s feet for making that movie better than it should have been.

Imelda’s best work was in Vera Drake. She’ll never be able to top that performance. When the police pay her a visit, the camera stays on her face for several seconds and you see exactly what she’s thinking. I’ve watched that scene several times and I still don’t know how she did it. I run hot and cold with her performances but that scene was brilliantly acted.

Allison Hayes The Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman.

Emily Watson, Breaking The Waves

Ellen Burstyn "The Exorcist".

Barbara Stanwyck, The Lady Eve

It isn't the lead, but it might as well have been.

Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers

[quote]Allison Hayes The Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman.

"Haaaaarry! HAAARRRRY!"

I was scrolling down to say Emily Watson in BTW too.

Another vote for Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution

Gong Li, Raise the Red Lantern, Coming Home

Simone Signoret, Madame Rosa

Giulietta Masina, La Strada

Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, La Pazza Gioia

11 year old Kirsten Dunst, Interview with the Vampire

Delphine Seyrig, "Jeanne Diehlman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles"

R51 me too I can’t believe someone beat me to it…I saw that 3 times in theaters and countless more at home

Kathy Bates - Misery

Ellen Burstyn - The Exorcist

Glenn Close - Fatal Attraction

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

Sharon Stone - Basic Instinct

Liv Ullman Face to Face (1976)

May Robson Lady For a Day. Of course she's fabulous too in Tom Sawyer and Bringing Up Baby.

Nicole Kidman - To Die For

Emily Blunt in "The Devil Wears Prada". I stand by my choice.

Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful

Frances McDormand (Fargo)

Diane Keaton in Annie Hall

While it was 'only' a tv-movie, I agree w/R7. Sally Field was amazing in Sybill.

Barbara Stanwyck in "Stella Dallas" (1937). You gotta see it if you never have.

Kim Stanley The Goddess (1958)

Diane Keaton, Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Sheryl Lee, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Danny Kate in The Court Jester.

Dianne Weist in Bullets Over Broadway. She grabs you from her first scene and never lets go.

R71, Diane Keaton wasn't even acting in Annie Hall, let alone giving the best performance on film. Her actual name is Diane Hall and she was playing herself.

Jessica Lange in 'Frances'.

Anjelica Huston in "The Grifters."

Vanessa Redgrave in The Bostonians

Bette Midler, Stella

Michelle Pfeiffer, Love Field

Gloria Swanson, Sunset Blvd

Maria Falconetti The Passion of Joan of Arc. Calling it best is an understatement. It is the greatest.

Bette - The Rose

Faye Dunaway in Chinatown rates pretty high. Keeping all those secrets to herself until the end.

Tilda Swinton in almost all of her roles, but "Julia" is a particular favorite.

Jeanne Tripplehorn in Basic Instinct

Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment

R96 Yes, the way she stood nearly motionless throughout the film was just incredible.

Shelley Hack in Troll

Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire. She also played a man in the film.

Uh, y'all just gonna ignore all my snot and tears?

Beyoncè in Obsessed.

Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard."

Greatest, archest, smartest, most self-lacerating (in the name of art) and sickly funniest performance by a woman ever. Period.

Much richer and deeper a performance than most of the sob sisters and "strong" characters mentioned here.

Vivian Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire

Diana Ross - Mahogany

You bitches are SLIPPING. And slipping hard.

Jodie Foster as Nell

R105 wins. Thread closed.

1st Meryl Streep in “Sophie’s Choice.”

2nd Vivien Leigh in “Gone With the Wind”

3rd Gena Riwlands in “A Woman Under the Influence”

Miss Kay Lenz in Breezy.

What Miss high and mighty R103 doesn't tell you is she is 93 years old and having her diaper changed in some Old Folks home in Buffalo.

What, R110?! Gloria Swanson died more than 30 years ago. What are you talking about?

Gloria Swanson wasn't acting. She was making faces. It's supposed to be blah blah blah. No silent film star had that kind of instinct or range to savagely portray that kind of character. Like Glenn Close's singing in the musical - Gloria makes half the audience laugh. It's an attempt at something - but she's mostly just being herself with a stiff neck and too much lipstick.

Why would Gloria Swanson suddenly become a GrrRRRREAT film actress 35 years into her career? And why was she never again? Hmm. Sunset Boulevard is Camp. And OLD OLD OLD gays love CAMP. Gloria Swanson delivered it in a pretty great movie. But hers is not a measurable performance. She creates a character that seems unreal and she behaves that way until the end. Gloria Swanson was not a good enough actress to even fathom what she was portraying. And that worked. But Billy Wilder knew how to play off her own ego and insecurities and make her glamorous enough to trick her into ALMOST what he was looking for.

Mae West would have probably been EVEN better in the role. She was the original choice. There is no recognizable human emotion from Swanson in SB, so Mae West might have given some of the scenes some more comedy, OOMPH, macabre realness and a real unexpected pathos. Gallantry. It's a drag queen performance, either way.

It's just dumb to think that Gloria Swanson gave one of the great film performances ever. She liked the wardrobe and refused to be made to look older. She knew it was a good part. But she's wasn't great in it. It's great on her.

Omg. Mae West couldn't act at all. She just knew how to deliver one liners.

I re-watched Vera Drake yesterday. Imelda Staunton really was excellent.

Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice

Marilia Perla in Pixote

Deborah Kerr The Innocents (1961) Nominated 6 times for Best Actress though not for The Innocents

Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were

R95 julia is a very strange and very underrated film. It should become a cult classic.

Magnani in Bellissima

Kirstin Dunst in Melancholia.

No one's mentioned Glenn in Dangerous Liaisons?

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie

r112's bizarrely ignorant screed against Gloria Swanson's singular and brilliant performance in Sunset Boulevard is pure nuttiness.

...and so much of it!

Kathleen Turner- Serial Mom

I recently watched SAFE for the first time in almost 20 years. Julianne was brilliant. I think I was even more impressed this time. I can’t imagine anyone being better in that role.

Moore is also excellent in another film directed by Todd Haynes

Thank you, R120. Bette Davis said Anna Magnani gave the best performance she'd ever seen.

Jane Fonda The Morning After (1986). The last scene closed the case.

Lillian Gish - The Wind

Ingrid Bergman, Notorious

Joanna Cassidy in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead

So, we are posting LEAD performances, right? I keep thinking of performances to post, but I haven’t because they are supporting roles. Maybe that’s another thread for another day….I’d hate to muddy the waters!

OP doesn't specify lead performance.

Olivia in Xanadu. You try playing a greek muse on roller skates. Astounding performance. Sissy robbed ONJ of an oscar. Anyone can play a hick from the mountains (ok. Anybody but Jodi Foster)

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth. She owned the role

r92 took mine.

R130- One of my favorites, and in my Top 10. Very lurid film that detracts from how brilliant Jane was in it.

I LOVE THAT LAST SCENE!!! (and frankly love the film!!)

Espcially love that first tracking shot with the credits!!! Its beautiful.

Great soundtrack too.

I agree with so many of these.

But the one that came to mind for me is Jane Darwell in “The Grapes of Wrath.”

She takes an almost archetypal role and fills it with humanity. She’s actually good in everything she did, but here she is sublime.

She won the Supporting Oscar, but she is really Fonda’s co-star.

Stupid question- no single performance is the “best”.

Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate seems to be winning. Rightly so!

Every actress in Nashville.

You guys are just naming your favorite performance. There is no one best performance. So many performances on this list could be said that it was the best performance. My personal favorite was Bette Davis in All About Eve. But I don't think it is the all-around best. There isn't one.

Patrick Swayze in “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar”…

Meryl Streep in The Hours and Adaptation

For sure Maria Falconetti in Joan of Arc has got to be close to the top. I do struggle to think of many modern performances. It’s also hard to know how much in film is down to the actor themselves rather than the director and editor.

R112 is on to something. Gloria Swanson in Sunset BLVD is fun to watch once. The movie is great. Swanson gives a very campy perfomance. There is no depth to it at all. She's not normal & never moving. Unintentionally funny.

R125 sounds like one of the ancient Gays, lost it the sauce.

Cate Blanchet and Judit Dench. Cate deserved the Oscar more than Jennifer Hudson

Cate Blanchet was gorgeously messy in Notes on A Scandal. Exactly as her character was meant to be. With her smudged eyeliner and casually beautiful body and disracted sensuality - a wan sense of motherhood and marriage. Amazing. Sheba. It's the most believable of situations and a beautiful performance. I can watch that film over and over. Judi Dench is a bit campy - in all the best ways. It's part of the the character. There is no better way to play Barbara. A malevolent sour sad beast. I love that movie.

Judi Dench in Stephen Frears Philomena

Pauline Kael felt The Morning After was a return to form for Jane Fonda after a decade of dull restricted performances.

R148 Gloria Swanson in Sunset BLVD is fun to watch once. The movie is great. Swanson gives a very campy perfomance. There is no depth to it at all. She's not normal & never moving. Unintentionally funny

R148 Isn't she supposed to be bizarre and eccentric like Princess Alexandra Del Lago in Sweet Bird of Youth and Baby Jane Hudson who are derivatives of Norma Desmond?

Carrie Snodgress Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)

Diary of a Mad Housewife ⬇️⬇️⬇️

R150 What? That whole movie is fucking ridic. "Her casually beautiful body"? Amazing. Sheba. What movie you watch?

R156 must be the odious "cinesnatch."

Wrong again.

Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves. Saw this movie when it first came out. Such a devastating performance and moving film

Charlize Theron in Monster.

No less than Roger Ebert called it “one of the greatest performances in the history of cinema.”

^You need Ebert’s approval for your choice?

Gene Tierney in Leave Her To Heaven

Garbo in Camille or Ninotchka.

Bette Davis in Dark Victory.

Natalie Portman in Black Swan and Jackie

Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice. Legendary performance. When the title of a film has become part of the vernacular and know what it’s about without seeing the movie

Shelley Winters in A Patch of Blue

Rosalind Russell - His Girl Friday

Giulietta Masina in La Strada and Nights of Cabiria

Meredith Baxter in A Woman Scorned.

Honestly, it's Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde. Her performance is the bridge between old and new Hollywood acting. She is not only the most beautiful creature I've ever seen - she plays Bonnie as a series of arias and duets and quartets in her own grand tragic comic romantic opera. She erases history of the real Bonnie. There is only Faye Dunaway. She is Bonnie Parker.

Emma Watson in ‘Real Life Cunt’

Meghna Markle in Horrible bosses.

Viola Davis in Doubt

Beatrice Straight in Network

Streep's performance in Sophie's Choise is mind blowing - but it still feels pieced together. It's a film edited around her tour de force display of talents, accents, hairtyles and weight fluctuations. But the different Sophies are episodic when it's meant to be a monumental WHOLE unravelling and crashing in of her tragic life. A look back at horror. She seems more innocent at the end, even with all the revelations and betrayals and loss. To look pretty on a bed with someone as innocuous as that Ally McBeal dude is not a suicide worthy of Sophie. It could be a bit more like the other "lifelike" elements of the film. The swelling theme music. Watch the movie twice in your life and you will weep both times - but the second time you will know why.

Sissy Spacek in Carrie

Gena Rowlands in "Opening Night"

Jill Clayburgh - An Unmarried Woman

Ann Wedgeworth-SWEET DREAMS.

(If we are including supporting performances now)

Shirley Booth in "Come Back, Little Sheba"

Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Edna Garrett in "The Facts of Life"

Shawnie Mendes in

"Shawn Mendes: In Wonder"

She is magnificent in this role.

^ OMG, yes, you can almost feel the heat from her pulsing, hungry bussy

Emma Thompson in Wit

Caitlyn Jenner in 'Can't Stop The Music'.

I cannot understand the Cult of Vivien except for films before 1942, and even then, recognizing her cold and calculating brilliance with toes in the dust of the music hall, the glint of a keen madness in her eyes undermines performance and makes most performances seem, partly, more personality than character embodied.

Giulietta Masina in anything.

Rena Owens in Once Were Warriors.