1951 (the nominees and the winner in alphabetical order):
Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen (Rose Sayer)
Vivien Leigh - A streetcar named Desire (Blanche DuBois) - WINNER
Eleanor Parker - Detective story (Mary McLeod)
Shelley Winters - A place in the sun (Alice Tripp)
Jane Wyman - The blue veil (Louise Mason)
1951 - my rankings:
1. Vivien Leigh - A streetcar named Desire
For me, this performance is equivalent to the other great one, Elizabeth Taylor's in Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf. The first thing that comes to my mind about this one is vulnerable. Vivien Leigh vas mesmerizing all the time with overwhelming dynamics, captivating sensitivity and perfect timing (for instance when she may cry or when it was unsuitable). Her character is well-built from the beginning: all mysteries are thrown off gradually, while her character is loosing her footing, becoming the prisoner of her fantasies forever. This is not acting performance any longer - Leigh was able to step out of herself and become one with her character. Very few actors are able to do so, making us forget that what we see is only acting. But this role was the reality for poor Vivien who kept repeating Blanche's monologue even in her later years before her stage performances (no matter what role she played that night). What she had done here brings about the most elementary catharsis in the audience, just like a Greek tragedy can. And the conception shown here is still relevant today: men and women with principles and ideas do not have a place in society; where only brutality, indifference, nonchalance and contempt are in fashion. So the weak Blanche DuBois must fall and fortunately we can watch it in the faultless performance of Vivien Leigh. This time I really think, she deserved that Oscar!
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2. Katharine Hepburn - The African Queen
My first impression of Miss Hepburn's performance was challenging: she was exposed to many physical aspects and impacts. The whole thing was very naturalistic - she had to be dirty, muddy, sweaty; her hairdo and clothes were not always perfect, because they were swept away by the water, the mud or the swarm of mosquitos. There were fine nuances in the performance that could be called remarkable; but I think the popularity of this movie was due to its well-written screenplay, the dialogues and the two lovable characters. Here I have to mention Humphrey Bogart, who was much better than Kate - he was hardly recognizable in this role. Hepburn was in full form here - no question about it - but this time she was not able to do more (that would have made this performance special). Nevertheless I put her in second place; because when Kate does less, it is even more than many others are capable of (no wonder she won 4 Oscars!)
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3. Jane Wyman - The blue veil
This is a very sentimental (but in the good sense) movie with Miss Wyman's clarified, fine performance. The story itself about a mother who loses her child then she dedicates her whole life to raise the children of others is extremely touching. This was not a loud, dynamic or powerful performance, but rather as light as a feather, cute and moving; working with nuances. I could emphasize three scenes as my favorites - the one when Louise tells Stephanie (played by a young Natalie Wood) that she cannot stay any longer and when the girl starts crying, she breaks down as well. The other one is her monologue at the end of the movie when she rightfully asks the question: who is the real mother of this child? The woman who gave it life or the woman who gave it love? And the last scene when she meets all of "her children". Maybe the theme of the film was more touching than the performance itself - which is hard to disregard - that's why I put her behind Hepburn.
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4. Eleanor Parker - Detective story
We can see a woman with a dark past here. When her secret comes to light, she is forced to tell everything to her beloved husband with mixed emotions of shame, confusion and repentance. These are very well-acted by Miss Parker - we know from the previous year that she was a terrific actress - but this role was a supporting one, no matter how hard it determined the main character (played by Kirk Douglas with aplomb). If Parker's character had been more emphasized, I would have put her even in front of Hepburn, but since this is the case I just couldn't. This was a bit part with a very small room for manoeuvre and not much chance to display a wide range of acting tools. She must have been nominated in the Supporting Role category; however in this case she wouldn't have been a match for Kim Hunter; moreover Lee Grant - nominated in the Supporting Role category, playing in the same movie - was much better than her.
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5. Shelley Winters - A place in the sun
The same as in Parker's case - this was a supporting role, destined for hindering the tender love affair of the two real main characters. It was an important role, because the character ruins every single pipe dream of the Eastman boy for a better future; but Winters also must have been nominated in the Supporting Role category or not been nominated at all. Winters played glamour roles before this one, so her change into a mouse of a woman was excellent, but this also prevented her to show diversified acting skills. However she has two extraordinary scenes - the one when she's begging for the doctor to help her getting rid of the unexpected child, but the doctor rejects her request. The other one is when she sits in the boat with Eastman and she continually soliloquize about their future together. The reason I put her behind Parker is while Parker was able to wheedle some emotions out of me, unfortunately Winter's character was irritating and wasn't able to arouse even the littlest of compassion.
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