Best Male & Female Leading Performance of all time

Adam_S · 07-01-2007, 06:13 AM

Just try and list one only for each please. The very best you've ever seen.

Mine:

Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird

Katherine Hepburn - The Lion in Winter

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george kaplan · 07-01-2007, 07:20 AM

Tough to pick just one:

Orson Welles - Citizen Kane
Joan Fontaine - Rebecca

Martin Teller · 07-01-2007, 09:40 AM

I hate picking just one of anything. But here's two (among several) favorites:

Erland Josephson - Scenes from a Marriage
Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence

I don't think Peck's performance in Mockingbird is especially notable. It's easy to be charmed by his booming voice and the character's admirable qualities, but Peck's acting is stiff, stiff, stiff.

Mario Gauci · 07-01-2007, 10:10 AM

Male: Tim Curry in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975)
Female: Delphine Seyrig in DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971)

P.S. It's virtually impossible to settle on just one apiece...so I went with two I really, really love!

Kirk Tsai · 07-01-2007, 11:17 AM

Marlon Brando -- Last Tango in Paris
Maria Falconetti -- Passion of Joan of Arc

Brook K · 07-01-2007, 12:49 PM

Like everyone else, very tough to pick just one. I haven't seen Mario's picks or Scenes From a Marriage, but the other picks are all great performances, Falconetti would be in my top 5 or 10, as would Welles, while other films by Joan Fontaine (Letter From an Unknown Woman) and Brando (On The Waterfront) would be there as well.

But picking just one:

Gena Rowlands - A Woman Under the Influence

Volker Spengler - In A Year With 13 Moons

Michael Elliott · 07-01-2007, 03:14 PM

Brando LAST TANGO IN PARIS (easy selection; followed by WATERFRONT)

Hmmm....I'll have to think about the female part as I feel women's roles have been pretty poor from the start of cinema up to today.

Mario Gauci · 07-01-2007, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

Brando LAST TANGO IN PARIS (easy selection; followed by WATERFRONT)

Hmmm....I'll have to think about the female part as I feel women's roles have been pretty poor from the start of cinema up to today.

I knew Marlon Brando in LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1972) was going to be your choice, Mike...but, while I agree that it is an extraordinary performance, the dialogue he is made to utter...er...mumble is so utterly [sic] pretentious and self-indulgent!

And, surely, you can't be serious about your second claim, right?

P.S. On a less adventurous day, Falconetti in THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC (1928) would have been my obvious choice of best-ever female performance.

Michael Elliott · 07-02-2007, 03:09 PM

I'm certainly being true about my second claim. I didn't mean it to sound as if there were NO great actresses because that would be crazy. However, I think the majority of great actresses have had to suffer with very bad parts or had to suffer with their careers being over with by the time they were 35. With that in mind, a lot of actresses never got to have a great later day career unlike many actors. I could probably come up with a "100 Greatest Male Performances" off the top of my head but it would require some thinking just to get a top ten from the female side.

As for Brando and LAST TANGO, he did the dialogue himself so if it bothered me then I'd probably have to blame this as part of his performance. If you get to see the doc BRANDO or see the deleted scenes you should certainly take a look because I was shocked to see how much Brando and the director hated one another while filming the movie. While I think the film has its share of flaws I can't see anything wrong with the performance.

Elphaba · 07-04-2007, 04:33 AM

Male: Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia

Female: Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice

PatW · 07-04-2007, 11:06 AM

Laurence Olivier in Wuthering Heights ( this was a tough one, since I admire so many actors and it was hard to choose) That movie has been a favourite of mine since childhood but it's been many years since I've seen it so his performance in Rebecca would be my second choice.

Bette Davis in Now, Voyager - even though I've seen this one just recently her performance was so outstanding that I can't easily forget her or the movie.