-One of the age-old claims concerning film has been that there are very little substantial roles for women. This is a claim that has been goin on since the early days of contract players from Hollywood's golden age. Yet each year, more and more female actresses seem to defy the notion by appearing in roles which go against the typical female prototype. For example, stars such as Meryl Streep and Hilary Swank rely on their cameleon-like abilities to transform themselves into a bevy of characters thereby avoiding typecasting. Others such as Barbra Streisand and Jane Fonda take a more active role as producers and directors to ensure that they play only parts of quality while some, like Jodie Foster primarily take on roles originally written for men. In spite of these actresses' valiant efforts, some have felt the roles for women seem remain stuck in limbo; falling in between the neurotic, hard businesswoman and the poor girl who needs rescuing with very little variety in between. This year's collection of actresses nominated for Oscars all contain roles which point to just the opposite showing just how far the standards for women are changing and where they are headed. In celebration of this, I've decided to pay tribute to some of the great Oscar-nominated female performances given over the years; all of which should have taken home the gold.
1940s:
Barbara Stanwyck- Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)- lost to Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda
-Stanwyck received her fourth and final nomination for her work in this gripping mystery playing a wealthy bedridden woman who, thanks to crossed wires, overhears two men plotting a murder over the telephone. An actress known for her tough as nails characters, the part was a quintessential Stanwyck role in which the actress portrayed fear, anger, romance, resentment, and regret. Never before has Stanwyck been asked to deliver so much on screen than here and she does so magnificently. While some of the films she did after this vaired with regrads to importance, Sorry, Wrong Number remains not just a brilliant film noir, but a classic example of Stanwyck at her best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Sm7jLNtmU&feature=related
(please watch up to 5:00)
1950s:
Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables (1958)- lost to Susan Hayward for I Want to Live!
-Before Kate Winselt became known as that superb Brit who never took home an Oscar, Kerr had already garnered 6 Oscar nominations without a single win. In Separate Tables, her fifth nomination, Kerr portrays a woman who is bound to her overbearing mother, but who is also curiously attracted to a child molesting Major (Niven). Its perhaps one of Kerr's most heartbreaking roles in which she must project emotional fragility and social awkwardness throughout the film. Kerr made her name with dramatically charged roles and here she found what is perhaps her most compelling and despite the fact that Separate Tables is an ensemble film, Kerr's character manages to stand out the most.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ZEhiiYFpc
1960s:
Audrey Hepburn for Wait Until Dark (1967)- lost to Katherine Hepburn for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
-Film lovers typically think of Audrey Hepburn playing charming roles in whimsical films, yet the actress did some of her best work in this underrated thriller based on the play by Frederick Knott. Hepburn plays a recently-blinded woman who, unbeknownst to her, has come into the possession of a child's doll containing drugs and is being stalked by three men out to retrieve the object. This film offers one of the few glances at Hepburn in peril (an excruciating experience for the audience who always felt protective of the actress). In what could have otherwise been an empty role, Hepburn plays her character as a real person rather than a stock character used as a plot device. While she may have been one of cinema's most sprightly and carefree actresses, here Hepburn gives a terror-filled performance unlike any seen before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogGKBiMX8KU
1970s:
Faye Dunaway for Chinatown (1974)- lost to Ellen Burstyn for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
-Not many actresses can claim to have as many classics attached to their name quite like Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde, Network, The Towering Inferno, Three Days of The Condor, The Thomas Crown Affair, to name a few...). In Polanski's Chinatown, the ultimate neo-noir, Dunaway gave a new image to the tradtional femme fatale character. As the secretive, but alluring Evelyn Mulwray, Dunaway is both cold and callous, and later quite deep and open with the detective investigating her husband's murder. For an actress used to giving high-strung and neurotic performances, Dunaway is at her most controlled and subtle in Chinatown giving a performance of carefully precisioned skill and measure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FueLhmwT8E4
1980s:
Michelle Pfeiffer for The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)- lost to Jessica Tandy for Driving Miss Daisy
-Some people were quick to write Pfeiffer off in this role of a former prostitute turned lounge singer who comes between two musician brothers. While most actresses would have played the character of Susie Diamond as hard and cold, Pfeiffer plays her as strong, showing that she's been through alot but has made her new life her own. With such a character, it would seem hard to display her vulnerable side, yet Pfeiffer is able to do just that while never losing the character's toughness. Its an extraordinary performance from Pfeiffer, and perhaps her best to date.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2swHprmKwM
1990s:
Stockard Channing for Six Degrees of Separation (1993)- lost to Holly Hunter for The Piano
-For many, Channing will always be the tough-as-nails Rizzo from Grease, but her true talent as an actress shines brightly in this film adaptation of the Tony-winning play. As an upper class Manhattan wife who is deceived by a young Will Smith, Channing gave a performance that explored many levels of drama and comedy. There's an intensity in Channing's work here which is coupled by an air of pensive wisdom which the actress uses wisely at different times throughout the film. Its a crime that the actress received few other lead roles (or supporting roles for that matter) in her career which gave her the opportunity to truly excel as an actress the way she does here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4vLgn3yBew
2000s:
Annette Bening for Being Julia (2004)- lost to Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby
-One of the greatest Oscar upsets was Annette Bening's loss for Being Julia in 2004. As an actress who rarely gets to shine, Bening gave an impeccible performance as an aging British stage star who questions her own mortality when she gets involved with a younger male admirer. The actress has always been at her best when allowed to attack a role with wreckless abandon and nowhere is this more true than here where Bening projects endless amounts of gusto and comedy. Only a truly gifted actress has the ability to make skilled thespians like Irons and Gambon fade into the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ydegVSkDO8
Tomorrow...Best Actor!!
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