Friday, September 2, 2011

Oscarbation: A Look Back at 1960 for Best Actress


1960 best actress nominees range from the sublime to the ridiculous


#5
elizabeth taylor in 'butterfield 8'
'butterfield 8' simply put was trash. hollywood thought elizabeth was dying after a tracheotomy. paleeze!
even ms taylor said the film was crap and that she was awful in it. it may be the worst performance by a respected actress of all time.
it's a damn shame because two wonderful performances got left in the dark.
ms taylor for 'butterfield 8' is...
the ridiculous!
(in fact: the most ridiculous nomination and win in this field to date)

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#4 greer garson in 'sunrise at campobello'
definitely an also ran performance. it was ralph bellamy's film. ms garson has ms taylor to thank for not placing last.

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#3
melina mercouri in 'never on sunday'

ms mercouri shined as the ilya the proverbial 'prostitute with a heart of gold'. i still love watching her performance every now and then even as the film itself becomes more 'creaky'.

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#2
shirley maclaine in 'the apartment'

ms maclaine was a wonder as fran kubelik in 'the apartment'. it cemented her fate as leading lady and star. being nominated for this best picture winner certainly pumped up her resume.

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#1
deborah kerr in 'the sundowners'

what to do about deborah? ms kerr lost the oscar yet again but this time to a damn tracheotomy. i ask you, beg you, to watch the train sequence where ms kerr as ida, wife of 'sundowner' robert mitchum, eyes her compartment companion. without a single line of dialouge ms kerr lays bare to us ida's very being and her longings of all that might have been but never would be. a superb performance. ms taylor indeed!

the sublime

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