This has got to be one of the finest performances by a child actor I have ever seen. Only eight years old and at the start of her career...She is just wonderful!!
sharei quite agree- rather moving performance by wood. actually didnt realise the child actress was wood cuz her hair looked blond. had to look on the imdb to verify it.
cheers.
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I find the fact that she states in the movie that she can't swim quite ironic.
shareNice job of acting.........and enough familiar facial mannerisms to know it was her, before realizing she was in the cast. Only her 3rd part.
shareSpeaking of recognition........strange that he instantly recognizes her, but she (even with his facial "damage" doesn't recognize him....despite voice or gestures that would be unchanged.
I've always loved Natalie Wood, right from the first time I saw her in " Miracle on 34th Street ". However, you are right. I don't know if even Shirley Temple could have pulled off anything close to what Natalie Wood did here. Simply amazing! It was also nice seeing Richard Long in his first performance. Everyone was great in this little known gem.
shareAs I wrote in my review of this film: "In an incredible - and incredibly overlooked - performance, Natalie Wood convincingly portrays a young Austrian girl who speaks German as her native tongue, has lost both parents to Nazi violence and is suddenly thrust into a strange new country. Her performance is one of the best juvenile performances in all American cinema."
That is a lot for any actor - much less an 8-year old! I think she should have won an Oscar, and somehow she wasn't even nominated. Hers is a great supporting performance by an actress of any age!
I believe there was an Oscar for best juvenile performance for several years, although there were not nominees for the award every year, so it was given on an ad hoc basis. During what time span were Oscars for best juvenile performance awarded?
John 3:16
Juvenile Oscars are a category of Oscars that have been retired....they were given between 1934-1960, and not every year and more than one in one year. Here is an interesting list of juvenile winners....
http://www.listal.com/list/academy-juvenile-award-oscars
Of course, Shirley was the first :-D
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Thanks, I'll make the link clickable:
http://www.listal.com/list/academy-juvenile-award-oscars
The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.–J.B. Haldane
She was wonderful. I believe she was the cutest and the best child actor ever next to Shirley Temple. She wasn't false and forced like most of them. She seemed to have a had a a career that defied Hollywood standards which is after the child turns into a teenager their career stalls. Not hers.
shareI always thought Natalie Wood was not given the credit she deserved as an actress. She steals every scene she's in, just as cute as could be....and handled her emotional outburst very well.
shareShe is an absolute doll in this movie.
shareCame to find this thread and good to know others love Nastasha, but you're wrong, she wasn't 8; she was barely 7 when she made this.
shareI was about to look up the actress until I saw this thread - Very good performance considering her age.
shareShe was magic on screen, even at that early age. I think I read that Orson said that her acting ability for a child so young was haunting. The actual quote is, "She was so good, it frightened me."
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