The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1958

1958

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mamie

Somehow I feel that Roz Russell's performance as Auntie Mame is quite lacking and not a really great one. There's something really off-putting about it and I feel she could have tried harder to elevate the material. It might be that she didn't impress me because I don't go for this type of performance. I don't know why I didn't like her but the point is that I wasn't impressed at all.

4. Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables

I liked Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables, despite the fact that she didn't give the best performance of the ensemble an she was too much outshone by some of the fellow members of the cast. If we look at her performance out of its context, it's a pretty great one. It just pales in the context of the movie and the rest of the performers. Still, good job that works well.

3. Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running

Although it's true that Shirley MacLaine gave a great performance as Ginnie Moorehead but she was trapped in a movie that's constantly working against her, plus she didn't have enough time to develop the character as well as she could have/should have. Still, I applaud Shirley for making Ginnie loveable and being the best part of her movie.

2. Susan Hayward in I Want to Live!

It's no wonder that Hayward won the Oscar for this performance. Although I have some problems with her work here, I can say that she's indeed fantastic at showing all of Barbara's emotions. It's a very realistic portrayal of a desperate woman who wants to live. Hayward made this character much more complicated and layered than most actresses would have.

1. Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

This is a wonderful performance that (at least to me) lives up to its reputation. Elizabeth Taylor is really fantastic as Maggie, the Cat, creating a fascinating, complex, multi-layered character. The fierce emotionality Liz added to Maggie is just brilliant. You can so easily identify with this character thanks to Taylor's greatness in this part. Extraordinary work.

So I can proudly announce

that my 30th winner is...

Elizabeth Taylor

in

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The first double winner. :)

Final thoughts: A so-so year. I didn't give any 5s but I guess a year can be great if I don't give any 5s. It wasn't the problem here. This ranking surprised me though I was almost sure that Liz would win. There was only one really fantastic performance (Liz), Susan was "just" fantastic. I had my problems with the others. Roz was quite much for me, Shirley was very good but she was robbed of enough screentime, so it couldn't have worked anyway. Deborah is not my favorite actress but I really liked her in Separate Tables.

About the next year: I don't have any idea yet, I still want to save 1967. Originally, I wanted to do that but I want to save the great years. I'll think about the next year but I'd be glad to have requests. :) It's your turn. I don't want to make a poll because that usually turns out bad and I'm rather superstitious.

What do you think?

Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Elizabeth Taylor received her second Best Actress nomination for playing Maggie Pollitt, a woman who's desperate to have some connection to her husband in the movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Elizabeth Taylor's second nomination was even more significant than her very first one one year earlier. This time, she played a truly complex character in a movie that's based on a contemporary play and that was nominated for Best Picture. Still, I don't believe that she had a chance of winning over Susan Hayward. She may have got ahead of Roz Russell but Hayward was unbeatable that year. Nowadays, however, many people think that Liz should have won her first award for this performance of hers instead of BUtterfield 8.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a movie that's a milder version of Tennessee Williams' play. Still, I think it's a brilliant movie and I might even give it my vote for Best Picture. The filmmakers had to be very careful with the censors but I still feel that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is quite a progressive and brave piece of work and everybody can be proud of it. The ensemble cast is just brilliant. Everybody has the so-called 'moment' and everyone is very memorable. Paul Newman might have even become my own Best Actor pick. Burl Ives is, simply, astonishing. I think they mixed up the titles of the movies and that's why he won for the wrong film. Moreover, Judith Anderson was robbed of a nomination and perhaps even a win.

But what can I say about Elizabeth Taylor? I wrote a bit cynical review about her on the day she died (right before that) and that still hurts me a bit. Although as an actress she's not one of my favorites, I love Elizabeth Taylor, the star. Nobody had a star power or a beauty like hers. And yet the celebrity gradually overshadowed the actress and we didn't see her in more great movies in which she could have given great performances. However, she gave an almost legendary performance in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at a time when she was at her prime as an actress.

Her nominated performances (except the last one) consit of several parts: screaming, crying, a big monologue and an effective ending. While these things didn't work with me in Raintree County or Suddenly, Last Summer, they were absolutely fine her, in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Somehow, I felt that she did this part with total, almost brutal honesty and that she really felt for Maggie the cat. When she filmed this movie, a personal tragedy came in her life: she lost her husband, Michael Todd who died in a plane crash exactly when she began filming. I guess that helped a lot. All the sorrows that Liz must have felt came to surface in this part and in a very good way.

In my opinion, Maggie, the Cat is a fabulous character like all the female characters that were created by Tennessee Williams. Somehow, he had an instinct for writing great parts for actresses. Although Liz didn't originate this part, it seems to have been taylor made for her (no pun intended). Her high-pitched voice fit Maggie's personality so well and what could have been really annoying somewhere else worked totally well here. I just loved the way that she handled all the pain and desperation inside Maggie. Liz's performance becomes so strong and intense and as a result, the audience can relate to the character so easily.

Liz has a great monologue at the beginning where she's complaining to her husband about the lack of love (and sex) she receives. We can feel Maggie's sadness but we can also observe her determination to change things. Liz shows that Maggie is an incredibly strong and loving woman who just wants to love and be loved. She does everything possible for her husband. And she fights for his benefits, too if she has to. Maggie experienced poverty (as she says in a wonderful monologue) and she doesn't want that to happen once again.

I have one complaint, though. It's that the greatness of Liz mostly shows itself at the beginning and towards the ending she doesn't get as much spotlight as she would deserve. That's not a minor thing but it's forgiveable as it's not really Liz's fault.

Still, this is a wonderful performance that (at least to me) lived up to its reputation. Elizabeth Taylor is really fantastic as Maggie, the Cat, creating a fascinating, complex, multi-layered character. The fierce emotionality Liz added to Maggie is just brilliant. You can so easily identify with this character thanks to Taylor's greatness in this part. Fantastic work.

Again, a strong 4,5.

What do you think? I think Liz was at her most beautiful here. She was incredibly sexy and beautiful. Gaaah... :) Do you agree?

The Next Year

1958

So the nominees were:

• Susan Hayward in I Want to Live!
• Deborah Kerr in Separate Tables
• Shirley MacLaine in Some Came Running
• Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame
• Elizabeth Taylor in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Wow, an interesting looking year but I don't have any idea how my ranking will look like. At the time, a whole country wanted Susan Hayward to finally win and her triumph was one of the most applauded ones (if not the one) in history. Many people are still talking about that year with sweet memories, so we'll see if I go with America's pick of the time or somebody else.

What do you think? Who's your pick? What are your predictions?

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1957

1957

So the much anticipated ranking:

5. Lana Turner in Peyton Place

Lana's performance mostly consits of sleepwalking and sitting in the background. I believe that had Turner been given some more to do, she would have been able to pull of a great performance as Constance. The screenplay always underlines how frigid this character is and it doesn't really let Turner do wonders with it. The overall effect is disappointing.

4. Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

there isn't a thing about Deborah Kerr's performance that you could be passionate about. You can't love her, can't hate her and the whole thing becomes very standard and uninteresting. I know that many love this work but I just wasn't able to warm up to it. Deborah Kerr is quite good as Sister Angela but she doesn't go beyond good.

3. Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve

Despite my dislike for the acting of Joanne Woodward, this is quite a good job by her. Although it's not groundbreaking by any means and the emotional part of it is a bit lacking, the technical department is just excellent. Woodward made very wise decisions with these characters (despite being relatively new to the craft) and she put on a very good performance.

2. Elizabeth Taylor in Raintree County

This performance is a bit mixed. On the one hand, Liz's accent and mannerisms are incredibly annoying and she fails with the technical part. On the other hand, there are also some great moments that I just cannot ignore. As I said, Taylor is not really amazing, but there's something in her that stays with me. It's still quite good work and something keeps resonating with me.

1. Anna Magnani in Wild is the Wind

You may consider me overenthusiastic and too lenient with performances but I was just blown away by Anna, from the beginning to the very end. Anna Magnani creates this beautiful, wonderful character and single-handedly makes the movie. It might be a bit much for many. For me, it worked and I consider this an astonishing performance.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Anna Magnani

in

Wild is the Wind

Why do I have to compete?

Omissions:

• Giulietta Masina in The Nights of Cabiria

Final thoughts: A really weak year. Yes, I was a bit overenthusiastic but Anna was a shining light in this extremely weak year. So she was the clear winner. Joanne was quite good though a bit dry. Elizabeth Taylor, whom we tragically lost on the day I reviewed her performance, gave a mixed but haunting performance in Raintree County. Deborah was simply good, Lana was not bad. Again, a truly weak year. Still, I'm happy that I did it as I was so interested in Anna's performance, which was really astonishing though the movie dragged her down a bit.

About the next year: You cannot imagine the misery, torture and suffering that I went through to do the next year and get all the films. It's a really interesting one though I've only seen 2 performances but they are both given by two of my all-time favorite actresses (and the others are great performers, too, all three of them previous winners). Clue:

• I can't give you a real clue as I keep forgetting and losing everything ever since that new insurance I have. ;)

What do you think?

Elizabeth Taylor Raintree County

Elizabeth Taylor received her first Best Actress nomination for playing Susanna Drake, a Southern belle marrying a yankee in Raintree County. Taylor was a huge star in the fifties and the sixties, so I really think that she received a couple of votes and was fourth or even third in the race. This was a typical first nomination for a star. She did not have a great role like Woodward and that's what gave Joanne the edge over the others. Liz won the Laurel award, though (just like she did every time when she was nominated for an Oscar, except for BUtterfield 8).

Raintree County is a really boring and meaningless Gone with the Wind wannabe. First of all, it's overlong. I mean, I get that it wanted to be an epic but somehow I wasn't that fascinated. Not even the technical part. I liked it more than some others, though. This movie is only famous for the tragic accident that happened to Montgomery Clift, which probably ruined his remaining short life. Sometimes, you can notice that his face sometimes is really stiff and he talks quite weirdly. Anyway, that's not the only reason why this one isn't his best performance.

I admit, I don't really like Elizabeth Taylor. Sure, she's beautiful but apart from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I cannot say any other performance of hers that really impressed me. Taylor's first three Oscar nominated performances are pvery much alike, if you look closely. There's a troubled, beautiful woman, who cries and screams sometimes and there's one huge, teary-eyed, hysterical monologue to secure the nomination. That's why Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf was such a surprise to everyone. It's so shocking and brutal compared to these sugary roles. Taylor proved there that she had real talent but filmmakers couldn't really find her real brilliance, I think. That's why her earlier performances might seem to be overacted and hammy.

Speaking of which, in Raintree Country, Liz gives a bit overacted and exaggerated performance as Susanna Drake. First of all, Susanna is not a particulary interesting character. She's such a cliché and it's up to the actress to inject some star power into it. Actually, Liz succeeded that way. Although this is not an amazing performance by any means, you just cannot take your eyes off Taylor. It can be her beauty but I think that there's something magnetic about her presence.

It's the technical part that is messy about her performance. Usually, I don't really care about the technical part and I prefer emotional acting but this time I just couldn't overlook her obvious flawed decisions. Liz uses all the clichés of this kind of character, the Southern belle (heavy, rather ridiculous accent, overacted mannerisms). Because of these weaknesses, you just simply cannot take this performance seriously. Even when she could be very good with emotions, her accent and mannerisms drag the scene down.

Susanna tricks Montgomery Clift's character into marrying her and when the truth about this is revealed, there's nothing happening. They are like "OK" and that's it. I would have wanted to see much more conflict between them because of this. The chemistry between Clift and Taylor is not that strong, either. It's visible that they like working together but there's no tension between them that could have set the screen on fire. They both become the movie. The filmmakers wanted to show so much and therefore, nothing is properly worked out in it.

Still, as I said, Taylor has her scenes in this movie. For instance, the one where they are looking at the remains of Susanna's old home. Taylor is actually quite strong there. For a while, her accent wasn't that annoying and there was some depth in this movie. And (as I said earlier in this review) there's the huge breakdown scene with the tears. Although it's not a really great one, it's worth mentioning because it was handled very well by Taylor. And she is also quite good when Susanna is at an asylum but that's nothing very special either. However, Liz is quite simply great in the end. Everything bad about this performance disappeared for a while and that was so great.

Still, this performance is a bit mixed. On the one hand, Liz's accent andmannerisms are incredibly annoying and she fails with the technical. On the other hand, there are also some great moments that I just cannot ignore. As I said, Taylor is not really amazing, but there's something in her that stays with me. It's still quite good work and something keeps resonating with me.

I decided for a 3.5 after all.

What do you think? Time for your last predictions! :)

The Next Year

1957

So the nominees were:

• Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
• Anna Magnani in Wild is the Wind
• Elizabeth Taylor in Raintree County
• Lana Turner in Peyton Place
• Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve

It is said to be a weak year but I've only seen Joanne previously, so it's going to be an interesting one to explore. I can't wait to see all the movies.

What do you think? What are your predictions for my ranking? Who's your pick? What's your ranking?

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1966

About the field: Well, I expected more from this year and yet I wasn't disappointed. I liked all of the performances and all of the movies (except for Morgan, which was...). My #1 was such an easy win both here and in real life. It's one of those cases when the actress wins for the career-best, right movie. #2 and #5 was also quite easy, however I had some hard time deciding who should be #3. I'm glad that it turned out this way, which I really did not expect. I was quite certain that my #3 becomes #2 before I wrote my review. However, anything can happen, seasons change. Let's see the ranking:

5. Vanessa Redgrave in Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment

After all, I just feel that I don't have much to say about Vanessa Redgrave in this movie. She's great as usual (and that's going to be rewarded), but the movie is working against her as if she was on a boat during a hurricane.

4. Anouk Aimée in A Man and a Woman

In the end, I can say that I loved Anouk Aimée in this one very much, but sometimes I felt that her performance lacked something and wasn't constantly strong. It's an extremely simple, beautiful, clean and loveable work to which the viewer can easily connect.

3. Ida Kaminska in The Shop on the Main Street

In the end I can say that Ida Kaminska gave an excellent performance, which might be a bit uneven achievement and borderline supporting, but you instantly like the character, care about her and she just breaks your heart in the end. It's a great performance in a movie for the ages.

2. Lynn Redgrave in Georgy Girl

I must say that I was impressed by Lynn Redgrave's performance as the innocent Georgy, who has many layers and a real depth, though sometimes the performance was not constantly strong. Great and effective work, which even moved me, but I guess I wanted a bit more.

1. Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

The writing flies away, but Taylor's performance stays with me forever, locked up firmly in my mind. An actress, who was able to show another, unknown and much more interesting side of hers, now really got me. I'm under its effect and I can't be sober. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

 

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Easy win, Ms. Taylor

About the next year: it was so complicated to choose the next year, but after all I picked a brilliant one I really look forward to reviewing. Unfortunately I cannot do posts until next Friday, but after that there's going to be a lot of time. Let's see the clues:

• Dancing queen...
• To Miss with Love (?)
• Don't lose your head! (Sorry)

So what do you think? Any thoughts, request, anything on your mind?

P.S.: Please comment on Ida's profile. :)

Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Elizabeth Taylor received her fifth (and to date last) Best Actress nomination and second Oscar for playing Martha, a vulgar, alcoholic mess in Mike Nichols' first movie, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This win was probably the easiest one ever: Liz was the only nominee, who was actually a star, she had a huge performance, which was also very unusual and also she starred in a brilliant movie. So it wasn't any competition there, I don't really understand why she skipped the show (they say she boycotted the even because Burton was not going to win).

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is quite simply a triumph. Everything about it is just groundbreaking, unusual, exciting, fresh and everything. It's quite simply perfection. That's why I am so horribly shocked that it lost Best Picture and Director to a great, but usual movie. I guess this movie was considered offensive by the older members, and therefore they went with the reliable choice. The acting is, again, a triumph: Richard Burton was robbed of the Oscar for his extremely moving performance, so was George Segal, who's terrific as the big-faced guy, and Sandy Dennis gives a brilliant supporting performance, richly deserving of the award.

However, just like in the case of Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind (maybe not that much), this is the Elizabeth Taylor Show. There are performances, which could be considered the best of the performer, but there are works which define them as artists. This is such a work by Ms. Taylor. I'll admit without any hesitation that sometimes I can't bear the acting style of Liz. Her loud, over-the-top voice can kill me (Suddenly, Last Summer), her big tears can annoy me to hell. BUT, when she rocks it's an earthquake. If I said that Lynn Redgrave was not a hurricane, than Taylor is Category 9000 hurricane and destroys countries in this movie. It's a showcase of so many complicated emotions, which are so damn difficult to handle.

Martha is one of the most unlikeable characters. I go further: she's just a disgusting, nasty, alcoholic mess, who's just a total waste. Much like Mo'Nique in Precious (she even makes Mo'Nique pale in comparision with her, check out the two breakdown scenes and compare), she doesn't have much to do and therefore tortures the only person on whom they could rely. But in Martha, very deep inside, there's so many love to express and this really makes this character heartbreaking. Taylor shows the hopelessness of Martha, but also the hope inside her. I'm contradicting myself, but so does this performance, which never makes sense and by this it's as natural as it can get.

When we first see her, she's drunk, she's swearing like a sailor, she's disgusting, vulgar and ugly. I don't see how a beautiful, 34-year-old actress at her prime was able to be so ugly. It took tons of courage from Ms. Taylor. Yes, she made the decision to jump into the edge, but with this self-sacrifice she created something for the ages. Something, which is more than Elizabeth Taylor, the superstar, the queen of Hollywood. It's no wonder that the great roles avoided her after this: there was nowhere to go from here. Taylor reached the star and one cannot go further, that's it. Not only is this work her best, but it was revolutionary for acting too. After this, beautiful actresses were not afraid to become fat, ugly and ordinary.

Incredibly the things I most dislike about Taylor's acting make this performance really work. With exaggerating her mannerisms, it just becomes so interesting despite the fact that it's crazily over-the-top. It's quite simply breathtaking to witness this harrowing experience as you get to see the everything, the point (which Nick doesn't see), the soul of this character. Is she mentally ill or is she simply bitter? I think it's the mix of the two, or the illness is the result of her bitterness and disappointments. Martha wanted something more than anything and than it's taken away from her. It's one of the most heartbreaking moments ever.

Also, I am not halfway done with analyzing her performance: this review would be so incomplete without mentioning the crazily intense chemistry between her and Richard Burton. Their fight-and-make-up relationship in real life affected this work of theirs, but in the most positive way possible. George and Martha are addicted to each other, they don't have anyone else. They fight all the time, which is mostly the result of the intense love and hate between them. Her scene in the kitchen (I mean her huge monologue) is simply heartbreaking and explains all the feelings. The emotional force in it is so captivating, that after all this weight on you becomes so heavy, that you actually break down along with the characters. Taylor (with the other actors) makes you a part of their crazy, sick games and you just can't get out. There are breaks for them, but not for you. From the first second, Taylor grabs you by your guts and never lets you go, not for a single moment. And incredibly there's also a fair amount of humor and irony in Taylor towards this character: after all Martha is just a person who seeks happiness like any of us, and it's not only her fault that she is a total failure.

After all, I don't want to let this performance go. I just so want to write and write and write for hours, but you have to wrap it up. The writing flies away, but Taylor's performance stays with me forever, locked up firmly in my mind. An actress, who was able to show another, unknown and much more interesting side of hers, now really got me. I'm under its effect and I can't be sober. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

This is again one of those cases, where I don't need a rating.

What do you think?

The Next Year

After closing a poll, the conclusion was obvious: you wanted me to do 1966, so let's just go ahead with it. It's a very popular and yet not frequently talked about race. Everyone praises Taylor, but all the nominees have their fans. But let's just start:

1966

So the nominees were:

• Anouk Aimée in A Man and a Woman
• Ida Kaminska in The Shop on the Main Street
• Lynn Redgrave in Georgy Girl
• Vanessa Redgrave in Morgan
• Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

So what do you think? What are your predictions (the contest is naturally on)? Who's your pick? What's your ranking?

P.S. I am not sure how frequent the posts will be but I'll do my best.

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1959

About the field: I can again say that I saw brilliant performances by brilliant actresses. This was the second time that my pick was 100% obvious for me as I think that she was way ahead of the competition, giving one of the best performances ever. However I saw four fantastic performances and a so-so one. I enjoyed their acting immensely and this was probably one of the most versatile years. A woman having an ugly nervous breakdown, a possessive mother, a single woman, a nun and an unhappy actress. And I must also mention that they starred in excellent movies, two of them even must-see ones. And this was also the first time that I previously saw all the movies (well, I saw The Nun's Story when I was 7 and I only remember being horrified that Audrey's hair was cut). So here's my ranking (which was the easiest to make so far besides 1998):

5. Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer
This performance needed over-the-topness and Elizabeth Taylor, but I felt that it was way too much for me and sometimes she got quite annoying. I said some bad things but still it's not that bad, just a missed opportunity far from being a disaster or a tragedy. Nice work but not enough from Elizabeth Taylor.

4. Doris Day in Pillow Talk
Doris Day never lets her performance be serious, but she takes the comedy part of it more than seriously. She's always in charge of the character technically as her acting mostly technical and you can see how carefully worked on and excellently crafted her peformance realy is. One of the greatest comedy performances ever.

3. Simone Signoret in Room at the Top
Simone Signoret is one of the greatest actresses ever and in Room at the Top she was able to put on an amazing performance, which I liked much more for the first time, but it was still fantastic to watch as she gave a really strong and memorable performance. Magnificent work by an extraordinary talent.

2. Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly, Last Summer
I lined up a great deal of arguments why this is not one of Kate Hepburn's worst performances but is one of her best works ever. in which she deals with all the possible difficulties of a performance with such ease and brilliance that she nearly makes it too easy, which might be true for her, but not an ordinary performer. Gutwrenching work.

1. Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story
A revelation: Audrey Hepburn gently amazes you, her dignity and grace on screen leaves you speechless and makes you think about her for a long time. Haunting, effective work and an amazing accomplishment by a true legend at her finest and one of the greatest performances that I have ever seen in my life. A real onscreen miracle.

So I can proudly announce that my winner for 1959 is...
Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story
Truly unforgettable work by an amazing actress.

I will do another year, which I will finish until next Monday. It's going to be a bit fast, but I won't be able to write until August. But we have a year and naturally I give you clues to find out:

• Who's the First Lady of movies?
• You Rang, M'Lady?
• My, your, his, her...
• It's all about women...

I will reveal the secret tomorrow, but until then I'm waiting for your thoughts, opinions and guesses of course.

Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly, Last Summer

Legendary Elizabeth Taylor received her third Oscar nomination in a row for playing Catherine, a mentally unstable young woman in the 1959 movie, Suddenly, Last Summer alongside Kate Hepburn and her good friend Montgomery Clift. Liz was favored to win her first Oscar for this performance (with her friend Audrey Hepburn as her biggest rival), however she lost the Oscar in a huge upset. She got her makeup award a year later though (for a movie that was not only hated by the critics but also by Liz herself)

I'm not going to go into the details of the movie again as I've already done that. I just have to tell how dangerous the part of Catharine really is. It's really difficult and one can extremely easily can go very-very over-the-top with it. This danger gets even more terrifying if we consider the fact that Elizabeth Taylor is playing Catharine. Taylor is a brilliant and talented performer which she proved many times (Virginia Woolf naturally) and whom I love immensely and without conditions, but she can/could very easily get hysterical and way too over-the-top (BUtterfield 8) with her roles and then she becomes so annoying that you want to slap her.

Good news to both the fans and the haters: here she's (quite frankly put) both. For the first time around, I was mesmerized by her performance (mainly because of her last scene), but now I looked at her performance very carefully from a safe distance. And I can safely say, that I liked it (in a way) again as she gives a memorable performance, which is not for the ages probably, but not bad either.

In her very first scene, I was so afraid that I was going to see the hysterical, over-the-top Liz, but my fears became less intense towards the end of it (it should not have unfortunately). Yet, as much as I want to, I cannot really say many bad things about her performance. The first thing is that she portrays Catharine as a very seductive woman in some of the scenes, which I did not really get. I think Catharine is scared of everyone and everything, including the doctor who tries to help her and I also felt that it was very illogical that she seduced him (and kissing him). Sometimes Taylor used the wrong emotions and I cannot say another term for her acting, rather than moody and unpredictable.

Being unpredictable is not essentially a problem, but here I felt a bit annoyed by it. The big Oscary scenes, the loud cries and screams of her character turned out to be a bit funny in the end. And it's a huge problem if you want to shock, but end up being a bit ridiculous. Also, the tone of her voice could get really exaggerated sometimes, which again annoyed me. Where she hugs and kisses Montgomery Clift and says that she's very lonely is the most flawed of all. I definitely think that Taylor could have done much-much better for she has the potential of being amazing (again the example is Virginia Woolf), she just missed so many opportunities with this movie. Not to mention that she's overshadowed by Kate Hepburn so much, that it's almost a sin (though everyone pales in comparision with her, so it's a bit unfair from me).

I have to admit though, that her big scene is dead on and is probably the reason that I tend to be forgiving of all her flaws and mistakes. It's so full of emotions and it's probably the only scene where I could really understand the over-the-top nature of the performance. It was essential for that scene, if she had been subtle, she would have sucked and would not have had a huge impact on the audience.

So, to sum up I can say that this performance needed over-the-topness and Elizabeth Taylor, but I felt that it was way to much for me and sometimes she got quite annoying. I said some bad things but still it's not that bad, just a missed opportunity far from being a disaster or a tragedy. Nice work but not enough from Elizabeth Taylor.

So what do you think? Did you like Elizabeth Taylor?

The Next Year

After a bit of rest after our previous, less talked about, but rich year, here's the next one, which is not ferquently mentioned either. But I can't help loving these years. When it's mentioned they mostly talk about the snub of Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot. Nevertheless, we have five world-famous superstars starring in classic movies. Yes, it's 1959 (Fritz guessed correctly).

Again we should try watching the movies together (and except for Pillow Talk), I can help you with that in case you haven't seen them. So let's enjoy the performances and the movies together.

So the nominees were:

• Doris Day in Pillow Talk
  
• Audrey Hepburn in The Nun's Story
• Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer
• Simone Signoret in Room at the Top*
• Elizabeth Taylor in Suddenly Last Summer

I am also waiting for your fearless predictions, but that's just natural. :)