Elizabeth Taylor, Raintree County ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
What is Elizabeth Taylor doing in Raintree County. Is she acting, and are we trust the implication of this first in four consecutive acting nominations that she is
acting well? The questions of Liz's talent and taste never really resolve themselves. Sure, there's Woolf, but
if as consistently hamstrung a screen presence as Hilary Swank can yield a Boys Don't Cry, there is no telling what any
dubiously equipped but diligent actress might attain. One wants to believe that Liz can act, even more so after Raintree earned her (alone) such strong notices and
bagged this nod, though the tension between coveted ideals and plain facts is a poignant sticking-point for the whole film, which yearns so evidently to be the next Gone
with the Wind, to salvage a capsized Monty Clift, to harvest a whole trawling-net of Oscars that despite its profound failures of dramatics and workmanship, one might be
forgiven for feeling apologetic, attempting against all evidence to be generous. Liz's performance represents both an apotheosis of this problem, of wanting to grant some shine
to some obviously bruised fruit, and the
Lana Turner, Peyton Place ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Who gets your vote in this field, and on my dream ballot below? VOTE HERE!
My Favorites from 1957: (As determined by years of Oscar eligibility)
My Pick: Eva Dahlbeck, Smiles of a Summer Night
Nominees: Anna Magnani, Wild Is the Wind
Nominees: Patricia Neal, A Face in the Crowd
Nominees: Barbara Stanwyck, Forty Guns
Nominees: Joanne Woodward, The Three Faces of Eve
Also-Rans (alpha):
Peggy Cummins, Night of the Demon;
Barbara Stanwyck, Crime of Passion;
Elizabeth Taylor, Raintree County;
Lana Turner, Peyton Place
Gourmet Prospects:
Lauren Bacall, Designing Woman;
Cyd Charisse, Silk Stockings;
Angie Dickinson, China Gate;
Birgitte Federspiel, Ordet;
Mitzi Gaynor, Les Girls;
Audrey Hepburn, Funny Face;
Audrey Hepburn, Love in the Afternoon;
Katharine Hepburn, Desk Set;
Jennifer Jones, A Farewell to Arms;
Kay Kendall, Les Girls;
Deborah Kerr, An Affair to Remember;
Jayne Mansfield, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?;
Giulietta Masina, Nights of Cabiria;
Melina Mercouri, Stella;
Kim Novak, Jeanne Eagels;
Eva Marie Saint, A Hatful of Rain
Further Research:
June Allyson, My Man Godfrey;
Ann Blyth, The Helen Morgan Story;
Jeanne Crain, The Joker Is Wild;
Jeanne Crain, The Tattered Dress;
Rhonda Fleming, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral;
Ava Gardner, The Sun Also Rises;
Mitzi Gaynor, The Joker Is Wild;
Jane Greer, Man of a Thousand Faces;
Rita Hayworth, Pal Joey;
Katharine Hepburn, The Iron Petticoat;
Wendy Hiller, Something of Value;
Gina Lollobrigida, The Hunchback of Notre Dame;
Sophia Loren, The Pride and the Passion;
Dorothy Malone, Man of a Thousand Faces;
Norma Moore, Fear Strikes Out;
Kim Novak, Pal Joey;
Jane Powell, The Girl Most Likely;
Debbie Reynolds, Tammy and the Bachelor;
Jean Seberg, Saint Joan;
Miiko Taka, Sayonara