1951--The Year in Review

Vincente Minnelli's boisterous cinematic adaptation of George Gershwin's An American in Paris is certainly one of the more florid Best Picture winners ever--a radically stylized flight of imagination, gorgeously filmed and performed with verve, its cast led by the magnificent team of Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. But, for me, as superb as it is, it's not even the best musical of the year (that position would go to Powell and Pressberger's nearly psychedelic adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's 1881 opera The Tales of Hoffmann). Instead, I hand the bulk of this year's citations to Elia Kazan's vibrant filming of Tennessee Williams' stage masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire--a work so stunning that it can be enjoyed again and again in all of its sweaty, battered glory. Kazan opens the play up perfectly to cinema standards (it's ridiculously splendid to look at, even if it takes place in sloppy surroundings--poverty has never looked so good). And he directed his cast to such towering heights that the movie came dangerously close to sweeping the acting awards in both my and the Academy's estimation (I left Karl Malden's wonderfully sheepish Mitch behind and instead lauded Peter Ustinov's odious but highly amusing Nero in Quo Vadis?, while the AMPAS foolishly left then-newcomer Marlon Brando waiting a few years for his first Oscar, choosing to instead make up for decades of Humphrey Bogart ignorance by giving the legendary actor a still justified nod for his terrific show as Charlie Allnut in John Huston's superb The African Queen; I'm happy Bogart finally won but he should have won years before, while Brando deserved the award in '51, even if he had played Stanley Kowalski hundreds of times before on stage). At least they knew they couldn't ignore Vivien Leigh's hypnotizing, graceful take on Blanche Dubois! Largely ignored by the Academy were three of the years greatest films: Billy Wilder's still-relevant takedown of media hype called Ace in the Hole (known as The Big Carnival in its original release), Alfred Hitchcock's incredibly taut thriller Strangers on a Train, and Yasujiro Ozu's magnificently elegant Early Summer. The Academy displayed much love for George Stevens' lavish tale of murder A Place in the Sun--and deservedly so--but there were at least 30 more movies this year worth singing about. 1951 was a particularly rich period. Again, with the short films, Warner Brothers and Bugs Bunny (this time famously paired with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd) illustrated that absolutely no filmmaking team in Hollywood was working at a higher level than those at Termite Terrace (it both kills and mystifies me that the Academy's board of animators--throughout this entire golden age at Warner Brothers--instead decided they loved the very blah Tom and Jerry cartoons--what the hell were they thinking?). And my choice for Best Song is one that wasn't even nominated, though, still today, the song has solidified its place in the popular culture. NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and are only occasionally reflective of the selections made by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscars). When available, the nominee that actually won the Oscar will be highlighted in bold. 

PICTURE: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (US, Elia Kazan)
(2nd: Strangers on a Train (US, Alfred Hitchcock), followed by:
Ace in the Hole (US, Billy Wilder)
A Place in the Sun (US, George Stevens)
The African Queen (UK, John Huston)
Early Summer (Japan, Yasujiro Ozu)
The Tales of Hoffmann (UK, Michael Powell)
An American in Paris (US, Vincente Minnelli)
The Lavender Hill Mob (UK, Charles Crichton)
The Diary of a Country Priest (France, Robert Bresson)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (US, Robert Wise)
On Dangerous Ground (US, Nicholas Ray)
The Red Badge of Courage (US, John Huston)
The River (India/UK, Jean Renoir)
The Tall Target (US, Anthony Mann)
Quo Vadis? (US, Mervyn Le Roy)
Europa ’51 (Italy, Roberto Rossellini)
Fourteen Hours (US, Henry Hathaway)
Detective Story (US, William Wyler)
The Man in the White Suit (UK, Alexander Mackendrick)
Decision Before Dawn (US, Anatole Litvak)
Alice in Wonderland (US, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson)
Royal Wedding (US, Stanley Donen)
A Christmas Carol (UK, Brian Desmond Hurst)
The Steel Helmet (US, Samuel Fuller)
Death of a Salesman (US, Laslo Benedek)
Miss Julie (Sweden, Alf Sjöberg)
The Thing (from Another World) (US, Christian Nyby)
M (US, Joseph Losey)
No Highway in the Sky (US, Henry Koster)
Fixed Bayonets! (US, Samuel Fuller)
The Browning Version (UK, Anthony Asquith)
Miracle in Milan (Italy, Vittorio de Sica)
The Racket (US, John Cromwell)
The Bullfighter and the Lady (US, Budd Boetticher)
Rhubarb (US, Arthur Lubin)
Along the Great Divide (US, Raoul Walsh)
When Worlds Collide (US, George Pal)
David and Bathsheba (US, Henry King))

ACTOR: Marlon Brando, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (2nd: Robert Walker, Strangers on a Train, followed by: Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole; Humphrey Bogart, The African Queen; Chishu Ryu, Early Summer; Alastair Sim, A Christmas Carol; Alec Guinness, The Lavender Hill Mob; Gene Kelly, An American in Paris; Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun; Fredric March, Death of a Salesman)

ACTRESS: Vivien Leigh, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (2nd: Setsuko Hara, Early Summer, followed by: Katharine Hepburn, The African Queen; Anita Björk, Miss Julie; Elizabeth Taylor, A Place in the Sun; Leslie Caron, An American in Paris; Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun; Ingrid Bergman, Europa ’51)



SUPPORTING ACTOR: Peter Ustinov, QUO VADIS? (2nd: Karl Malden, A Streetcar Named Desire, followed by: Kevin McCarthy, Death of a Salesman; Stanley Holloway, The Lavender Hill Mob; Gig Young, Come Fill the Cup; Leo Genn, Quo Vadis?; Porter Hall, Ace in the Hole; Joseph Wiseman, Detective Story) 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Kim Hunter, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (2nd: Lee Grant, Detective Story, followed by: Mildred Dunnock, Death of a Salesman; Barbara Bel Geddes, Fourteen Hours; Thelma Ritter, The Mating Season; Joan Greenwood, The Man in the White Suit; Agnes Moorehead, Fourteen Hours) 

 

DIRECTOR: Elia Kazan, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (2nd: Alfred Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train, followed by: Billy Wilder, Ace in the Hole; Yasujiro Ozu, Early Summer; George Stevens, A Place in the Sun; Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger, The Tales of Hoffmann; Vincente Minnelli, An American in Paris; Charles Crichton, The Lavender Hill Mob)



ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels, and Walter Newman, ACE IN THE HOLE (2nd: T.E.B. Clarke, The Lavender Hill Mob, followed by: Kogu Noda and Yasujiro Ozu, Early Summer; George Worthington Yates, Art Cohn and Daniel Mainwaring, The Tall Target; John Paxton and Joel Sayre, Fourteen Hours) 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Tennessee Williams and Oscar Saul, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (2nd: James Agee and John Huston, The African Queen, followed by: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, and Whitfield Cook, Strangers on a Train; Michael Wilson and Harry Brown, A Place in the Sun; Roger MacDougall, John Dighton, and Alexander Mackendrick, The Man in the White Suit) 



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: DAVID (UK…Paul Dickson); Merry Mavericks (Edward Bernds The Three Stooges); The Tooth Will Out (Edward Bernds The Three Stooges); Let's Go Crazy  (UK, Alan Cullimore)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM: RABBIT FIRE (Chuck Jones; Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck) (2nd: Cheese Chasers (Chuck Jones); Drip Along Daffy (Chuck Jones);  Rooty Toot Toot (John Hubley); Canned Feud (Friz Freleng; Sylvester); Daredevil Droopy (US…Tex Avery); Chow Hound (Chuck Jones); The Two Mousketeers (William Hanna and Joseph Barbera; Tom and Jerry))

BLACK-AND-WHITE CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robert Burks, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (2nd: William C. Mellor, A Place in the Sun, followed by: Harry Stradling, A Streetcar Named Desire; Harold Rosson, The Red Badge of Courage; Charles Lang, Ace in the Hole) 

COLOR CINEMATOGRAPHY: John Alton and Al Gilks, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (2nd: Claude Renoir, The River, followed by: Christopher Challis, The Tales of Hoffmann; Robert Surtees and William V. Skall, Quo Vadis?; Jack Cardiff, The African Queen) 

BLACK-AND-WHITE ART DIRECTION: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A Place in the Sun, Ace in the Hole, Fourteen Hours, The Day The Earth Stood Still

COLOR ART DIRECTION: THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, An American in Paris, Royal Wedding, Quo Vadis?, David and Bathsheba
 

BLACK-AND-WHITE COSTUME DESIGN: A PLACE IN THE SUN, A Streetcar Named Desire, Early Summer, A Christmas Carol, Ace in the Hole

COLOR COSTUME DESIGN: THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, Quo Vadis?, An American in Paris, The River, Royal Wedding 



FILM EDITING: STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, Ace in the Hole, A Streetcar Named Desire, A Place in the Sun, The Red Badge of Courage 

SOUND: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A Place in the Sun, Bright Victory, The Tales of Hoffmann, An American in Paris



ORIGINAL SCORE: Alex North, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (2nd: Bernard Herrmann,  The Day the Earth Stood Still, followed by: Franz Waxman, A Place in the Sun; Dimitri Tiomkin, Strangers on a Train; Miklós Rózsa, Quo Vadis?; Bronislau Kaper, The Red Badge of Courage) 

ADAPTED OR MUSICAL SCORE: Johnny Green and Saul Chaplin, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (2nd: Albert Sendrey, Royal Wedding, followed by: Thomas Beecham, The Tales of Hoffmann; Adolph Deutsch and Conrad Salinger, Show Boat; Oliver Wallace, Alice in Wonderland)



ORIGINAL SONG: "Happy Trails" from PALS OF THE GOLDEN WEST (Music and lyrics by Dale Evans) (2nd: "Silver Bells" from The Lemon Drop Kid (Music by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans), followed by: "In The Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" from Here Comes The Groom (Music by Hoagy Carmichael, lyrics by Johnny Mercer); "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" from The Strip (Music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby and Oscar Hammerstein II); "Too Late Now" from Royal Wedding (Music by Burton Lane, lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner))




SPECIAL EFFECTS: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Strangers on a Train 

MAKEUP: THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Thing (From Another World)

1939--The Year in Review

Famously, in 1939, the cinema floodgates opened wide, particularly in Hollywood. The quality is so high that the period would hence be known as an Everest for the movie industry. Indeed, when you look at the notable 1939 films from all over the world (even the ones I decline to mention), you are dumbfounded. How did all this happen in such confluence? Well, clearly by this time, the relatively new empire of motion pictures had gotten wholly into the swing of things from a production standpoint--the studio machines were finely run by savvy producers and execs willing to be both generous and strident with the wily talent they managed. Meanwhile, on the technical side, the visual and aural aspects of film had been sharpened to degrees both artists and audiences hadn't yet imagined possible, with new strides being made in editing, sound, special effects, makeup, and scoring. Colors and sounds were fully vibrant finally, and of course, it didn't hurt that the biggest, best-sellingest property to ever hit the movie business made its glorious screen debut in December '39, premiering in a big little city called Atlanta. Luckily, David O. Selznick's reluctant obsession ended up being as entertaining and popular as its many fussy, troubled makers wished it to be and it arguably still stands as the romantic historical epic against which all others should be measured (Titanic be damned). Some may balk and posit The Wizard of Oz as the more influential picture, and it's certainly referenced more often in culture than any other cinematic work (even including Star Wars). But I posit that its popular success lies more in the genius programming decision to give it yearly holiday airings on TV (beginning in 1956 on CBS) rather than what's intrinsically great in the film (of which there is much, ever if I personally can't take another viewing of it). For me, it's the wonderful Capra film, with its genuine patriotism and still resonant dark undercurrents, and its powerfully emotional lead performance (indeed, its superb cast all around) that gives Selznick a run for his considerable money. In fact, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington has more to say about life today than any other movie from 1939; it's a heart-pounding drama with real guts and it seems perpetually watchable and relevant for Americans and for a world hungering for truth and justice. As for those who would hold out for Renoir's The Rules of the Game as 1939's crown jewel? I recognize its importance, but I'm ashamed to say I'm still slightly bored by the film (France's heyday in cinema would arrive much later). However, I would hear arguments for John Ford's driving, massively influential western Stagecoach as being the best of this mightily impressive year. BONUS: In the shorts categories, The Three Stooges finally stumble to the head of the line!  NOTE: These are MY choices for each category, and they are in no way reflective of the choices made by the Oscars.

PICTURE: GONE WITH THE WIND (US, Victor Fleming, Sam Wood, George Cukor)
(2nd: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (US, Frank Capra), followed by:
The Wizard of Oz (US, Victor Fleming, King Vidor)
Stagecoach (US, John Ford)
Wuthering Heights (US, William Wyler)
The Women (US, George Cukor)
Young Mr Lincoln (US, John Ford)
Gunga Din (US, George Stevens)
The Rules of the Game (France, Jean Renoir)
Ninotchka (US. Ernst Lubitsch)
Only Angels Have Wings (US, Howard Hawks)
Babes in Arms (US, Busby Berkeley)
Goodbye Mr. Chips (UK, Sam Wood)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (US, William Dieterle)
Dark Victory (US, Edmund Goulding);
The Roaring Twenties (US, Anatole Litvak and Raoul Walsh)
Beau Geste (US, William A. Wellman)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (US, Alfred Werker)
Drums Along the Mohawk (US, John Ford)
The Four Feathers (UK, Zoltan Korda)
Intermezzo (US, Gregory Ratoff)
Love Affair (US, Leo McCarey)
The Rains Came (US, Clarence Brown)
Destry Rides Again (US, George Marshall)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (US, Sidney Lanfield)
The Man in the Iron Mask (US, James Whale)
The Little Princess (US, Walter Lang))

ACTOR: James Stewart, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (2nd: Clark Gable, Gone with the Wind, followed by: Robert Donat, Goodbye Mr. Chips; Charles Laughton, The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Laurence Olivier, Wuthering Heights; Mickey Rooney, Babes in Arms; Henry Fonda, Young Mr Lincoln; Basil Rathbone, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)



ACTRESS: Vivien Leigh, GONE WITH THE WIND (2nd: Greta Garbo, Ninotchka, followed by: Jean Arthur, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Ingrid Bergman, Intermezzo; Bette Davis, Dark Victory; Judy Garland, The Wizard of Oz; Merle Oberon, Wuthering Heights; Irene Dunne, Love Affair; Rosalind Russell, The Women; Marlene Dietrich, Destry Rides Again)

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Thomas Mitchell, STAGECOACH (as well as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Gone With the Wind and Only Angels Have Wings--one of the most productive years any actor has ever enjoyed) (2nd: Harry Carey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, followed by: Burt Lahr, The Wizard of Oz; Claude Rains, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Sam Jaffe, Gunga Din; Ray Bolger, The Wizard of Oz; C. Aubrey Smith, The Four Feathers; Brian Donlevy, Beau Geste)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Hattie McDaniel, GONE WITH THE WIND (2nd: Margaret Hamilton, The Wizard of Oz, followed by: Olivia de Havilland, Gone With the Wind; Geraldine Fitzgerald, Wuthering Heights; Maria Ouspenskaya, Love Affair; Billie Burke, The Wizard of Oz; Gale Sondergaard, The Cat and the Canary; Edna May Oliver, Drums Along the Mohawk) 

DIRECTOR: Victor Fleming, GONE WITH THE WIND (2nd: Frank Capra, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, followed by: John Ford, Stagecoach; Jean Renoir, The Rules of the Game; Victor Fleming and King Vidor, The Wizard of Oz; William Wyler, Wuthering Heights; Ernst Lubitsch, Ninotchka; George Cukor, The Women; Busby Berkeley, Babes in Arms)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Sidney Buchman and Lewis R. Foster, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (2nd: Dudley Nichols and Ernest Haycox, Stagecoach, followed by: Jean Renoir and Carl Koch, The Rules of the Game; Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, Walter Reisch and Melchior Lengyel, Ninochka; Marc Hellinger, Robert Rossen, Rixhard Macauley and Jerry Wald, The Roaring Twenties)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Sidney Howard, GONE WITH THE WIND (2nd: Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, The Women, followed by: Charles MacAuthur and Ben Hecht, Wuthering Heights; Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allen Woolf, The Wizard of Oz; Joel Sayre, Fred Guiol, Ben Hecht and Charles McArthur, Gunga Din)

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM: OILY TO BED, OILY TO RISE (Jules White; The Three Stooges) (2nd: The City (Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke), followed by: We Want Our Mummy (Del Lord; The Three Stooges); Radio Hams (Felix. E. Feist and Pete Smith))



ANIMATED SHORT FILM: THE UGLY DUCKLING (Jack Cutting and Walt Disney) (2nd: Detouring America (Tex Avery), followed by: The Pointer (Clyde Geronimi and Walt Disney); Thugs with Dirty Mugs (Tex Avery); A Day at the Zoo (Tex Avery))

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ernest Haller and Lee Garmes, GONE WITH THE WIND (2nd: Gregg Toland, Wuthering Heights, followed by: Bert Glennon, Stagecoach; Harold Rosson, The Wizard of Oz; Bert Glennon and Ray Rennahan, Drums Along the Mohawk) 

ART DIRECTION: THE WIZARD OF OZ, Gone With the Wind, Son of Frankenstein, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

COSTUME DESIGN: GONE WITH THE WIND, The Wizard of Oz, The Women, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Wuthering Heights



FILM EDITING: STAGECOACH, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Wizard of Oz, The Rains Came

SOUND: MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, Gone With The Wind, The Rains Came, The Wizard of Oz, Goodbye Mr. Chips

ORIGINAL SCORE: Max Steiner, GONE WITH THE WIND (2nd: Herbert Stothart, The Wizard of Oz, followed by: Dimitri Tiomkin, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Aaron Copland, Of Mice and Men; Erich Wolfgang Korngold, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex; Alfred Newman, Wuthering Heights; Miklós Rózsa, The Four Feathers; Max Steiner, Dark Victory; Victor Young, Gulliver's Travels)

ORIGINAL SONG: "Over the Rainbow" from THE WIZARD OF OZ (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harberg) (2nd: "Lydia The Tattooed Lady" from At The Circus (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harberg), followed by: "Ding Dong The Witch is Dead" from The Wizard of Oz (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harberg); "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz (music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E.Y. Harberg); "The Boys in the Back Room" from Destry Rides Again (music by Frederick Hollender, lyrics by Frank Loesser); "Wishing" from Love Affair (music and lyrics by Buddy da Sylva))

MAKEUP: THE WIZARD OF OZ, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Gone With the Wind

SPECIAL EFFECTS: THE RAINS CAME, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind 

My 20 Favorite Actresses

In taking Tony Dayoub of Cinema Viewfinder up on his invitation for me to join the 20 Favorite Actresses meme started by Nathaniel at Film Experience, I tried hard to balance my love of these ladies' acting ability equally with my adoration of their feminine wiles. I also attempted to make my list an appreciation of actresses from all different eras--from the 1920s to now. I think I've done quite well on both fronts. At any rate, here are my current favorites:

Emily Watson (key films: Breaking the Waves, Punch-Drunk Love, Synecdoche NY, Hillary and Jackie, Angela's Ashes, The Proposition, Gosford Park, The Boxer, War Horse. Cradle Will Rock, Corpse Bride, Anna Karinina, The Book Thief)

Meryl Streep (key films: Kramer Vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, Manhattan, A Cry in the Dark, The Devil Wears Prada, Silkwood, Julia, Adaptation, A Prairie Home Companion, Doubt, Ironweed, Defending Your Life, Mamma Mia, Julie and Julia, Out of Africa, One True Thing, The Bridges of Madison County, The Hours, Angels in America, Holocaust, The Deer Hunter, The Iron Lady, Hope Springs, August: Osage County, The Homesman, Into the Woods)

Grace Kelly (Key films: Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, High Society, High Noon, Dial M for Murder, Mogambo, The Country Girl, The Bridges at Toko-Ri)

Greta Garbo (Key films: Queen Christina, Ninochka, The Flesh and The Devil, Camille, Grand Hotel, The Painted Veil, Anna Christie, Anna Karinina, Mata Hari, Conquest)

Diane Keaton (Key films: Annie Hall, Reds, Manhattan, Play It Again Sam, The Godfather, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Interiors, Love and Death, Sleeper, Lovers and Other Strangers, The Godfather Part II, Shoot the Moon, The Good Mother, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Something's Gotta Give, Marvin's Room, Crimes of the Heart, Sister Mary Explains It All)

Vivian Leigh (key films: Gone With The Wind, That Hamilton Woman, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ship of Fools, Waterloo Bridge, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, A Yank at Oxford, Anna Karinena, Fire Over England)

Audrey Hepburn (key films: Funny Face, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Two for the Road, Wait Until Dark, Roman Holiday, The Nun's Story, Sabrina, Love in the Afternoon, They All Laughed, Robin and Marian, Always, The Children's Hour, Charade, How to Steal a Million, My Fair Lady)

Jean Arthur (key films: The More The Merrier, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Shane, The Talk of the Town, The Devil and Miss Jones, Only Angels Have Wings, Easy Living, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, The Plainsman, History is Made at Night)

Kirsten Dunst (key films: Bring It On, Little Women, Interview With A Vampire, Spiderman, Crazy/Beautiful, Levity, Marie Antoinette, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Cat's Meow, Spiderman II, Dick, The Virgin Suicides, Wag the Dog, Melancholia, Bachelorette, Fargo (TV))

Zooey Deschanel (key films: All The Real Girls, (500) Days of Summer, The Good Girl, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Tin Man, Live Free or Die, Almost Famous, Mumford, Elf, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, New Girl (TV))

Myrna Loy (key films: the Thin Man series, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Thin Man, After The Thin Man, The Mask of Fu Manchu, The Great Ziegfeld, Manhattan Melodrama, Another Thin Man, The Rains Came, The End, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, Cheaper by the Dozen, Shadow of the Thin Man, Lonleyhearts, Midnight Lace)

Helen Mirren (key films: O Lucky Man, The Tempest, Excalibur, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, Red, The Queen, The Mosquito Coast, Caligula, Gosford Park, The Madness of King George, Age of Consent, Cal, Prime Suspect, Elizabeth I, The Long Good Friday, Hitchcock, The Last Station, Phil Spector, The Hundred Foot Journey)

Ann-Margret (key films: Tommy, Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Swinger, Carnal Knowledge, The Cincinnati Kid, State Fair, The Villain, The Cheap Detective, Magic, Twice in a Lifetime, Kitten with a Whip, 52 Pick Up, Who Will Love My Children?, Pocketful of Miracles, The Train Robbers, Joseph Andrews, Grumpy Old Men, The Break-Up, Any Given Sunday)

Virginie Ledoyen (key films: A Single Girl, La Ceremonie, 8 Women, The Beach, Late August Early September, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries)

Greta Gerwig (Key films: Hannah Takes The Stairs, Baghead, The House of the Devil, Nights and Weekends, Greenberg, Arthur, Lola Versus, Damsels in Distress, To Rome With Love, Frances Ha, The Humbling, Eden, Mistress America, Lady Bird (as writer/director))

Diane Lane (key films: A Little Romance, Six Pack, Unfaithful, The Outsiders, A Walk on the Moon, Streets of Fire, Touched by Love, Secretariat, Cinema Verite, Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains, Rumblefish, The Cotton Club, Wild Bill, My Dog Skip, Virtuosity, Hollywoodland)

Marisa Tomei (key films: My Cousin Vinny, The Wrestler, Oscar, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, In The Bedroom, Untamed Heart, Factotum, Cyrus, Happy Accidents, The Slums of Beverly Hills, Crazy Stupid Love, The Ides of March, Love is Strange)

Chantal Goya (key film: Masculin/Feminin)

Catherine Deneuve (key films: Repulsion, Belle De Jour, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Indochine, 8 Women, Dancer in the Dark, The Young Girls of Roquefort, Hustle, The Last Metro, The Hunger, A Christmas Tale, East-West, Scene of the Crime, Persepolis, A Christmas Tale, On My Way)

Amy Adams (key films: Junebug, The Fighter, Catch Me If You Can, Enchanted, Doubt, Charlie Wilson's War, Sunshine Cleaners, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Psycho Beach Party, The Master, Her, American Hustle, Big Eyes. Arrival)

There are so many actresses I painfully had to leave out. So MY 20 RUNNERS-UP are Jill Clayburgh, Ingrid Bergman, Thelma Ritter, Julianne Moore, Liv Ullmann, Veronica Lake, Natalie Wood, Michelle Williams, Ruth Gordon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Charlotte Rampling, Scarlett Johansson, Naomi Watts, Elizabeth Taylor, Isabelle Huppert, Maria Falconetti, Lili Taylor, Sissy Spacek, and Jessica Harper.