MovieChat Forums > The Heiress (1949) Discussion > top 5 performances (by an actress)

top 5 performances (by an actress)


Well, why not give it a shot? In my opinion and off the top of my head:
— O de H in "the heiress"
— Meryl Streep in "out of Africa"
— Katharine Hepburn in "the lion in winter"
— Audrey Hepbrun in "the nun's story"
— Faye Dunaway in "Bonnie and Clyde"

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Olivia de Havilland in "The Heiress"

Vivien Leigh in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

Bette Davis in "The Letter"

Glenda Jackson "Women In Love"

Simone Signoret in "Ship of Fools"

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Bette Davis – All About Eve
Maggie Smith – Gosford Park
Myrna Loy – Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Margaret Sullavan – The Shop Around The Corner
Jessica Tandy - Driving Miss Daisy

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My choices would be ( and like most posters here not in any specific order too ) -- 1.) Patricia Neal from " The Day the Earth Stood Still " ( 1951 ) 2.) & 3.) Janet Leigh and Vera Miles from " Psycho " ( 1960 ) 4.) Olivia de Havilland from this movie " The Heiress " ( 1949 ) 5.) Vera Ellen from " White Christmas " ( 1954 ) - I also agree all the other actresses everyone chose here too . For me It's just so difficult to narrow it down to just five . They are all so excellent lol . Thanks troifrer for your subject post .

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1. Vivien Leigh - A Streetcar Named Desire
2. Olivia de Havilland - The Heiress
3. Bette Davis - The Letter
4. Audrey Hepburn - The Nun's Story
5. Carole Lombard - Vigil in the Night

The flip side of fear is understanding.

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Olivia de Havilland -- either "The Heiress" or "The Snake Pit"
Vivien Leigh -- either "Gone with the Wind" or "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Bette Davis -- either "The Letter" or "The Little Foxes"
Deborah Kerr -- either "Black Narcissus" or "Separate Tables"
Greer Garson -- either "Random Harvest" or "Mrs. Miniver"


And so many runner-ups:

Jane Wyman -- "Johnny Belinda"
Ingrid Bergman -- "Gaslight" or "Notorious"
Irene Dunne -- "I Remember Mama"
Rosalind Russell -- "Auntie Mame"
Joan Crawford -- "Possessed" or "Humoresque"
Susan Hayward -- "I Want to Live" or "I'll Cry Tomorrow"
Norma Shearer -- "Marie Antoinette" or "Escape"
Eleanor Parker -- "Caged" or "Scaramouche"



"Somewhere along the line, the world has lost all of its standards and all of its taste."

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My Top 5 (no particular order):
Olivia de Havilland- THE HEIRESS/THE SNAKE PIT
Judy Garland- A STAR IS BORN/JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG
Bette Davis- NOW, VOYAGER/ ALL ABOUT EVE
Agnes Moorehead- THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS
Deborah Kerr- THE INNOCENTS/THE KING AND I

Runners up:
Celia Johnson- BRIEF ENCOUNTER
Maggie Smith- THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE
Natalie Wood- SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS/WEST SIDE STORY
Anne Bancroft- THE MIRACLE WORKER
Ingrid Bergman- ANASTASIA
Audrey Hepburn- WAIT UNTIL DARK/MY FAIR LADY
Gloria Swanson- SUNSET BOULEVARD
Jessica Lange- FRANCES
Jean Simmons- ELMER GANTRY/SPARTACUS

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De Havilland´s performance during the first 75 or so minutes is totally one-note and barely tolerable to be frank. She´s much better in The Dark Mirror where the character differences between the twins come through more subtly than her rough & obvious path from an imitation of her sister Fontaine´s screen persona to an avenging iron willed broad is in The Heiress. Ain´t that special.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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