Jason_Els
Screenwriter
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2001
- Messages
- 1,096
I was watching Kathrine Hepburn in Summertime last night and today at lunch my sister's boyfriend brought-up Agnes Moorehead and immediately I thought of her in Citizen Kane. What struck me was how different both performances were yet they were done outstandingly.
It occurred to me that I haven't seen too many performances I would label perfect and certainly none in recent years. Was it easier in years past to have that star quality? When I think of perfect performances by an actress I can think of Hepburn in African Queen and The Lion in Winter or even in some of her outings with Tracy, particularly Adam's Rib. How Vivien Leigh managed to become Scarlett O'Hara still amazes me. Garbo in Queen Christina, managed to make a bedroom scene steamy without revealing a bit of flesh and that final shot, wow. It's like you can read everything on her face. In a double shot, Thelma Ritter and Grace Kelly in Rear Window. The two of them together are magnificent and though Grace seems to nearly flub two lines, nobody could have done that roll with more authenticity. Other actresses would have acted as if being a blue blood was something to be paraded, Grace was just herself and let her breeding be an accessory, not a personality. Last, but not least, Falconetti's Joan of Arc. An Oscar wouldn't do her justice.
I don't mean for this to be a poll. I'd like to discuss if such performances by an actress can exist in this day and age. And I say actress because I think we expect more from actresses than we do from actors, greater range, more subtlety. I'm interested in hearing some examples, past or present, that you think make an actress perfect in a role.
It occurred to me that I haven't seen too many performances I would label perfect and certainly none in recent years. Was it easier in years past to have that star quality? When I think of perfect performances by an actress I can think of Hepburn in African Queen and The Lion in Winter or even in some of her outings with Tracy, particularly Adam's Rib. How Vivien Leigh managed to become Scarlett O'Hara still amazes me. Garbo in Queen Christina, managed to make a bedroom scene steamy without revealing a bit of flesh and that final shot, wow. It's like you can read everything on her face. In a double shot, Thelma Ritter and Grace Kelly in Rear Window. The two of them together are magnificent and though Grace seems to nearly flub two lines, nobody could have done that roll with more authenticity. Other actresses would have acted as if being a blue blood was something to be paraded, Grace was just herself and let her breeding be an accessory, not a personality. Last, but not least, Falconetti's Joan of Arc. An Oscar wouldn't do her justice.
I don't mean for this to be a poll. I'd like to discuss if such performances by an actress can exist in this day and age. And I say actress because I think we expect more from actresses than we do from actors, greater range, more subtlety. I'm interested in hearing some examples, past or present, that you think make an actress perfect in a role.
