1952 (the nominees and the winner in alphabetical order):
Shirley Booth – Come back, little Sheba (Lola Delaney) - WINNER
Joan Crawford – Sudden fear (Myra Hudson)
Bette Davis – The star (Margaret Elliott)
Julie Harris – The member of the wedding (Frances ‘Frankie’ Addams)
Susan Hayward – With a song in my heart (Jane Froman)
1952 – My rankings:
1. Shirley Booth – Come back, little Sheba
Well, this was the most enchanting and cutest performance I’ve ever seen! Booth says the most ordinary sentences and yet they have some incomprehensible charm, simplicity and honesty. The American happy family living in the suburbs in the 50’s is only an illusion as the lost dog, Lola is waiting for to come back! And this allegory is so sad. The character of Lola was presented here in a poignant and touching manner – all through the first half of the movie you just can’t stop smiling at her. The high-pitched voice, the clumsy movements of the aging woman who had long lost her juvenile appeal and the tender sentimentalism of the wife whose love for her husband is so strong, that no matter what comes in their lives, she will hang on, were all great and refreshing to watch. And when her husband starts drinking again, the character is able to descend into dramatic depths as well. At the end – instead of leaving the man – she is waiting for him as a completely changed woman. It is always a rewarding challenge to play a dramatic role on the screen that was originally written for the stage and this proved to be an extraordinary performance from beginning to end! I completely agree with the Academy's choice. Bravo!
Download links:
http://uploaded.net/file/su0dxd8a/Come_Back_Little_Sheba_1952.avi
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2. Bette Davis – The star
The forgotten movie actress who doesn’t get roles anymore and doesn’t know what to do with her life. Cluster of clichés and yet without Davis, this portrait would not have been so impressive. Though this characterization was not as captivating as Margo Channing (played by her) or Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson), Davis was not a disappointment here at all. Probably the weakness of the screenplay is to blame for the weakness of her character, so it was not her fault entirely. Her outburst scene in connection with her character’s parasitical, blood-sucking relatives or when she gives the customers a good dressing down in the store, were genuine, powerful, almost cathartic. She was gentle as a mother and pitiable as the ‘star’ finding solace in self-pity and self-deception. I was not satisfied with her voice and manner of speech – she was not able to change this, or show something new in this field. I put her in front of Crawford, because there wasn’t that much diversity and color in Crawford’s performance.
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3. Joan Crawford – Sudden fear
Miss Crawford plays a playwright here, but her difficult love affair stands in the middle of the story. Though this story is full of unrealistic coincidences; Crawford is very believable in the character of a defenseless, cornered woman (that would culminate later in What ever happened to Baby Jane). The story and the performance start to get interesting from where the rich playwright, Myra learns what his fortune-hunter husband and his recently turned up old lover are contemplating against her. Crawford’s performance is mesmerizing in this particular scene (as she listens to the accidentally recorded conversation of the lovers) – she doesn’t say a single word, only her facial expressions speak for themselves: surprise, confusion, fear, desperation, helplessness. After this, she goes on playing the loving wife for her husband, while she is plotting a perfect revenge. During the execution of the plan, her character managed to create tension: her forehead is beaded with sweat, she is trembling with fear; arousing sympathy in the audience. The reason I place Crawford in this position is that there was nothing original in her performance, there was no flavor and thus giving the impression of old-fashioned acting (after those performances that could add some extra to screen acting in the previous years: Bette Davis, Vivien Leigh, Shirley Booth). This performance was good, but it could not reach perfection and catharsis.
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4. Susan Hayward – With a song in my heart
It is always difficult, but at the same time rewarding task to play an existing person on the big screen; and Miss Hayward can cope with it very well, though – let’s add – there was not much here to play. The movie showing Jane Froman’s life was like an endless record of her best hits instead of being concentrated on Froman’s war wounds and how she managed to struggle with it afterwards. With these scenes Miss Hayward would have been wonderful – I’m sure, knowing that she’s not short of any acting abilities – but without them, Hayward had nothing left to do but lip-synching to the playbacks. There were one or two delicate scenes (the one when Jane confesses to her nurse that she’s in love with the officer, two scenes when she sings for the same young soldier and the medley at the end of the movie), but these are not enough to rank Hayward into a better position.
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5. Julie Harris – The member of the wedding
This was a very powerful and – in comparison with the spirit of the age – a very modern performance, but neither the role nor the performance was believable to me. I think it was a great mistake to choose a 25 year old young woman to play a 12! year old kiddo. Though Harris didn’t look like a woman at all (she was quite ugly and undeveloped) – wasn’t there a gifted child actor around?! Moreover this role is the most stupidly, the most wretchedly written one I’ve ever seen in a movie or on stage – not believable, not lifelike, just bad as it could be. It was a waste of money making this movie and a waste of time watching it! (I can’t help my brusqueness, sorry!)
Download links (my own upload):
http://www.filefactory.com/file/29qdnw4sgl4d/Member%20of%20the%20Wedding%201952%20Julie%20Harris.avi
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