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. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
8. Geraldine Page in The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
9. Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991)
10. Edith Evans in The Whisperers (1967)

11. Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette (1938)
12. Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939)
13. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
14. Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth (1998)
15. Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
16. Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941)
17. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
18. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame (1958)
19. Glenda Jackson in Women in Love (1970)
20. Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

21. Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959)
22. Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire (1941)
23. Julie Christie in Away from Her (2007)
24. Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun (1951)
25. Audrey Hepburn in Wait until Dark (1967)
26. Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
27. Anne Baxter in All about Eve (1950)
28. Judi Dench in Mrs. Brown (1997)
29. Jane Fonda in Coming Home (1978)
30. Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

31. Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959)
32. Meryl Streep in One True Thing (1998)
33. Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity (1953)
34. Katharine Hepburn in Guess who’s coming to dinner (1967)
35. Marsha Mason in Chapter Two (1979)
36. Jane Wyman in The Yearling (1946)
37. Teresa Wright in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) 
38. Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945)
39. Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year (1978)
40. Susan Hayward in My Foolish Heart (1949)

41. Vanessa Redgrave in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
42. Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room (1996)
43. Loretta Young in Come to the Stable (1949)  
44. Mary Pickford in Coquette (1928-29)
45. Sissy Spacek in The River (1984)
46. Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977)
47. Irene Dunne in Cimarron (1930-1931)
48. Ruth Chatterton in Madame X (1928-29)
48. Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade (1932-1933)

Ruth Chatterton as Jacqueline Floriot in Madame X

The second Best Actress race in Oscar history is so infamous for its infamous winner that the other nominees basically seem to have disappeared. Okay, I’ll admit that movies from 1929 are in general not too much talked about anymore…what I mean is that the focus on Mary Pickford’s “bad” performance is so strong that rarely anyone questions the qualities of her co-nominees. As you can see from my ranking, I don’t consider Mary Pickford the worst nominee ever – and I don’t even consider her the worst nominee that year.

Ruth Chatterton is certainly an interesting case. Everything about her acting style in movies screamed “RESPECT THE THESPIAN!”. Hers was the kind of acting that, especially in the early years of the talkies, must have seemed like a revelation to many – she used her voice truly like an instrument, playing high and low notes often in the same sentence or slowly losing an accent over the course of a story. Yes, even without knowing too much about her, you just feel that you are supposed to admire her dedication and I think that if it had not been for the star power of Mary Pickford and Norma Shearer, Ruth Chatterton probably would have won an Oscar for one of her two nominated performances.

Okay, getting that out of the way – wow, has time not been kind to her. What I imagine must have seemed impressive in 1929 appears sometimes almost to be a parody. I get that Mary Pickford’s work is not exactly a timeless product of elegance and grace but at least she possessed the star power to overcome her acting style. Ruth Chatterton unfortunately lacks this and everything she can offer is this fake aura of “importance” that ruins her work almost from start to finish. Ruth Chatterton’s work appears to be the product of a clash of the worst tendencies of melodramatic acting choices with an early “method” that existed only for its own sake and not in relation to the story or the character. Her vocal work seems to be the best example for this – at the beginning, she talks with a high-pitched voice that is often uncomfortable to listen to and then, during her life’s journey, lowers it down to an almost James Earl Jones-level. But this does not mean that this symbolizes her aging process because at the end, she is back to that high-pitched voice, so the question is – which is her real voice and who in the world changes it so drastically all the time?

Most of all, Ruth Chatterton’s acting style suffers from an extreme tendency for theatrical posing combined with total lack of energy and life – but to be fair, not in all moments. She has some moments (of which I will talk about later) where she suddenly finds the right tone and voice and which prevented her from the overall last position in my ranking. Ruther Chatterton has lower lows than Diana Wynyard but she has some heights and at least manages to be the driving force of the story while Diana Wynyard also has an outdated acting style but never manages to become at least interesting or engaging.

Ruth Chatterton’s first big scene in Madame X might display some of the worst acting ever by a Best Actress nominee – after Jacqueline has left her husband for another man, she is an outcast in his life and that of her little son whom she only watches occasionally when he is out for a walk with his nanny. When she hears that he is seriously ill, she visits her former husband’s home and begs him to let her see her son – a plea which he denies. In this scene, Ruth Chatterton is not able to display a single genuine emotion. She moves in front of the camera for the right angle, she delivers lines as if she is reading them for a script and acts her worries and desperation in such a theatrical manner that would not even have been allowed on the stage. When she learns that her husband told their son that she is dead, she gasps noticeable, turns her head to him, whispers dramatically “You told him…”, shakes her head and then whispers “that?” I’m not sure if it so bad it’s funny or just plain bad but I don’t think that any other categories are possible. She also speaks with a too affected voice, pronouncing words such as “cruel” as “cuelle” and when she is finally turned away, she dramatically walks to a wall, puts her arm dramatically against it, puts her head dramatically against her arm and cries dramatically. Of course, Madame X is a horrible movie with a horrible script but this single scene is almost an insult to professional movie acting.

Strangely enough, what might be her best scene in the movie follows right after. After she is denied to see her son, Jacqueline becomes a world-travelling prostitute (because what else can one do?). In her next scene, she apparently enjoys a high position in some exotic country and is courted by a young sailor. In this moment, she lowered her voice to what might even be Ruth Chatterton’s real voice and appears strangely relaxed, even a bit modern in her amused way of rejecting the advances of this young man (even though she’s doing too much winking with her eyes) and this is one of those moments where I get the feeling that Ruth Chatterton might have been an intriguing screen presence if she had just stuck to a more natural acting style which she apparently was capable of. Alas…

She then becomes more theatrical again as she displays how Jacqueline sinks lower and lower, turning into a miserable drunk where she again has some moments that manage to captivate even if she fails to create any excitement about her acting. Her most famous scene is probably when she shoots a man who knows about her past to save the reputation of her husband and her son (of course she does) – she displays the anger at him and her despair for once in a rather believable manner and the way her body shakes after she committed the murder again feels surprisingly modern. Another highlight (in a positive meaning) is her scene in court when the lawyer who defends her turns out to be her son (of course he does) and she tells her story to the court but always insisting that she will not say any names. Her voice is again rather high-pitched but she finally manages to be moving without overwhelming you with her acting style.

So, this is a performance that really reaches lows that most likely few others in this category have seen but there were enough interesting moments to prevent her from being dead-last in this ranking. But only by a hair…

And as previously voted on, the next winning performance to be discussed will be:

Best Actress Ranking - Update

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

1. Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind (1939)
2. Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
3. Olivia de Havilland in The Heiress (1949)
4. Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)
5. Janet Gaynor in Seventh Heaven (1927-1928)   
6. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
7. Edith Evans in The Whisperers (1967)
8. Norma Shearer in Marie Antoinette (1938)
9. Greta Garbo in Ninotchka (1939)
10. Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

11. Bette Davis in The Little Foxes (1941)
12. Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
13. Glenda Jackson in Women in Love (1970)
14. Barbara Stanwyck in Ball of Fire (1941)
15. Shelley Winters in A Place in the Sun (1951)
16. Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945)
17. Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
18. Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959)
19. Meryl Streep in One True Thing (1998)
20. Katharine Hepburn in Guess who’s coming to dinner (1967)

21. Teresa Wright in The Pride of the Yankees (1942) 
22. Jennifer Jones in Love Letters (1945)
23. Ellen Burstyn in Same Time, Next Year (1978)
24. Susan Hayward in My Foolish Heart (1949)
25. Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room (1996)
26. Loretta Young in Come to the Stable (1949)  
27. Mary Pickford in Coquette (1928-29)
28. Shirley MacLaine in The Turning Point (1977)
29. Irene Dunne in Cimarron (1930-1931)
30. Diana Wynyard in Cavalcade (1932-1933)


Mary Pickford as Norma Besant in Coquette

Oh boy, I know that I need to defend myself right away. Mary Pickford’s performance in Coquette is most likely the most infamous winner (and maybe even nominee) in Oscar history because she is the poster child for “bad acting” and everyone who knows a little bit about the Oscars is aware of that. Even people who did not see Coquette know that Mary Pickford is the ultimate symbol for hammy and outdated overacting who was only honored by the Academy due to her legendary status as the most famous movie actress in the world and her involvement in the founding of the Academy itself.

So, how is Mary Pickford not last? To be honest, I actually decided to rank Mary Pickford now because I wanted a performance that would be easy to place and I thought that her position at the bottom would be a fairly easy task. But to my surprise I actually did not put her at the bottom…so what happened?

As you can see from my ranking, I surely do not consider Mary Pickford’s performance an artistic highlight. And from a purely neutral standpoint it would probably be fair to consider her the worst Best Actress nominee ever (although I cannot comment on this yet). But after all, nothing about this is neutral or objective – and when I rank the performances, there are other factors that come into play for me. And even if Mary Pickford is very often dreadful in Coquette, she always remains watchable – and that is a big plus for me.

Coquette is certainly a horrible movie – surely one of the worst to ever feature an Oscar-nominated performance. The script always changes between laughable and insulting and the whole cast is awful (apart from the actor who plays Stanley – he is actually quite good simply because he remains very understated during it all). All of this makes it easy for Mary Pickford to stand out – she is the clear center of attention, she is on-screen almost all the time and, like it or not, her character immediately draws attention. There is a reason why Mary Pickford chose this project as her big prestige movie – the role of Norma is a natural show-stealer, a flirty Southern Belle who loves a man against her father’s wishes. It’s a part with many big moments, from fearing about her lover to witnessing his death to defending her father in court. But of course, big showy moments do not make a great performance.

What is noticeable in Coquette right away is one thing – the star power of Mary Pickford. I know absolutely nothing about her apart from Coquette but I can believe that this actress was once the most famous woman in the world. There is something about her that draws you to her even when her acting pushes you away. I also don’t mind the fact that she was much older than her character – Mary Pickford spent her whole life playing children and teenagers so I can buy her as a young, flirty girl, especially since her delicate features help to strengthen this impression.

So, what does this all mean? On the one hand, yes, Mary Pickford has various awful moments. Most of the time it is stated that her acting seems to come from a silent movie – and that is very often true. She has a tendency to over-use her body, if that makes any sense, bending forward and backwards in agony, sliding away on a chair in court, grabbing her hair in desperation or shaking her arms in the air as she runs to the deathbed of her lover. Some of these moments might actually work in a silent movie (but even then they would be too much) but when she supports these gestures with her hectic and high-pitched voice, the effect is often rather grotesque. And der idea to show the flirting of Norma by putting her index-finger next to her mouth and forming some sort of puckered lips while uttering the word “adorable” looks absolutely ridiculous and does not do her performance any favors. Most of all, her work very often feels too forced – Mary Pickford projects every emotion in her performance 1000%, overstating basically every gesture, shaking her head too hard, flirting too hard, looking surprised too hard, even running too hard and crying too hard. It just becomes too much and this mostly contributes to the fact that her work feels so dated today.

There are also other things working against her. For example, the editor of the movie should have been shot at some point, always switching to unflattering close-ups at the most inappropriate times and even Mary Pickford’s expressive face cannot always save those. Also, what is up with the costume design in this movie? Apparently Mary Pickford wanted to do Coquette because she wanted to “wear smart cloths and play the lover”. But most of the time, Mary Pickford’s cloths make her look completely unattractive and homely without any truly redeeming features.

Well, so much on the negative side. But what is it that I like about her performance? Do I actually like something? As shocking as it sounds – yes. There is the aforementioned star power that, despite all the setbacks, makes me believe in Mary Pickford’s Norma. Yes, I can actually believe that a woman like this would exist, that she would be as shallow but also sometimes as true and she also works well with her cast members as I believe her to be a bigger sister, a faithful lover and a devoted daughter. And so she somehow pulls me right into her personal misery – at the end, I actually feel for her, I feel sad when she witnesses her lover die even if Mary Pickford again adds too many bizarre acting choices and I feel personally engaged in her story. I care more about Norma than I do about Diana Wynyard’s Jane, Irene Dunne’s Sabra or Shirley MacLaine’s Deedee. And as I also mentioned: Mary Pickford always remains watchable. Even when she is bad I like to see her. She adds energy into her performance that the other three actresses lacked – her scenes of sorrow and grief might be overdone but they still keep me interested. Watching her performance is like watching a bad painting – it might be bad but it still makes you look. The performances of Diana Wynyard, Irene Dunne and Shirley MacLaine on the other hand are rather like watching paint dry. These performance might be better acted (though in the case of Diana Wynyard I might actually disagree – just because her outdated acting is quieter than that of Mary Pickford it doesn’t mean that it is better) but I just don’t care about their characters. And for me, this is also a factor in my ranking.

Of course, my appreciation of Mary Pickford’s performance has limits. Just because she is not the last in my ranking does not mean that she is great. Her badness is certainly as bad as legend has it but she also has moments that make up for it. The aforementioned energy is one thing and very often she can suddenly inject really powerful or touching moments, very often just right after or before a good moment. The scene at the deathbed of her lover is an example: her delivery of lines like “Why, don’t you know me” or “Michael, don’t leave me” are incredible touching while her lines “You look almost like you’re dead” or “Maybe you’re only sleeping” are almost laughable. Her intensity when she learns about Michael’s fate from Stanley can be quite overwhelming but then she again resorts to some strange grimaces and overacting. And when she says “I don’t care” and refuses to help her father, she achieves maybe her best acting moment as she is suddenly completely honest and finds a rather quiet outlet for her anger – only to do an over-the-top breakdown a few seconds later. Her overall best scene might be at the end in court – even if she again uses her body too much and slides around the chair manically like a frightened deer, she is still rather touching.

So, the performance is certainly not great, not good, not OK – yes, many parts are bad but personally I can find some moments that compensate for it and Mary Pickford still possesses enough charisma and energy to keep me watching. And so I decided to not put her at the bottom of my ranking as I would rather watch her Norma than Diana's Jane, Irene's Sabra or Shirley's Deedee.