Best Actress Post: part 1

I just had an idea for a new post. In this post, I will be discussing every Best Actress year and telling what seems to be the overall opinion and winner around the internet. I'll be starting with 1936, since the years before that aren't really talked about at all. correct me if I'm wrong and I probably will be for some of these. So here we go:




Best Actress 1936: Sage has already done this year, and if you remember, Irenne Dunne was her pick, followed by Gladys George, then Louis Rainer, then Norma Sheer, then Carol Lombard. Dunne, George, and Sheer aren't discussed very much, but Rainer gets a lot of hate from nearly everyone, mostly because most say that she supporting and Lombard always gets raves. So........


Oscar winner: Louise Rainer

Overall winner: Carol Lombard


Best Actress 1937: Louise Rainer won again, playing a very diffferent character, in The Good Earth. It was an upset then, since Greta Garbo was expected to win, and like her first win, a lot of people hate it, myself included (To a degree). Now, most seem to feel that Garbo indeed should have won, though Irene Dunne has her fair share of supporters, and Stanywck and Gaynor aren't discussed at all.

Oscar winner: Louise Rainer

Overall winner: Greta Garbo

Best Actress 1938: I know absouletely nothing about this year, so I'll just say that Bette is the overall winner, and she probably is.

Oscar winner: Bette Davis

Overall winner: Bette Davis

Best Actress 1939: Uhhhhhh, Vivien Leigh of course! How could she not be???? Her win was a sure thing, though I heard one pundit predicted Davis. Anyway, Bette seems to get a lot of praise, but I'm not sure about the other three nominees. Please fill me in!

Oscar winner: Viven Leigh

Overall winner: Vivien leigh

Best Actress 1940: Ginger Rogers was able to win the Oscar, causing a surprise (At least according to one of my oscar books). her win isn't very well regarded these days. Fontaine has, I think, the biggest fan base, though Hepburn and Davis have theirs as well. Nobody likes Scott, it seems.

Oscar winner; Ginger Rogers

Overall winner: Joan Fontaine

Best Actress 1941: Joan Fontaine WAS able to win this year though, and ironically, she's one of the most universally hated winners. I really want to see how bad she is for myself, but sadly, Greer Garson's movie is so hard to find. As for the other nominees, I have seen Davis, thought she was great, as most people seem to as well. I never hear too much about Dehavilland (At least for her actual performance) Stanywck, though some think she should have been nominated for The Lady Eve.

Oscar winner: Joan Fontaine

Overall winner: Bette Davis (I guess)


Best Actress 1942: Fritz has done this year, and his ranking was: 1. Davis 2. Garson 3. Hepburn 4. Wright 5. Russel. According to him, this year was incredibly weak and nobody seems to argue that. In fact, this year is hardly ever discussed at all, though Davis does get some love.

Oscar winner: Greer Garson

Overall winner: Bette Davis (Wow, she's really raking the wins!)


Best Actress 1943: An even less discussed year. The two frontrunners were Ingrid Bergman and Jennifer Jones, and Jones won. The other nominees are never talked about.

Oscar winner: Jennifer Jones

Overall winner: Jennifer Jones

Best Actress 1944: Ingrid did win this year though and deservedly so, for her superb performance in Gaslight. The opinion on her is mixed: Some love her, others find her shaky. Plus, Barbara Stanywck was nominated for Double Indeminity and most seems to think she was robbed.

Oscar winnner: Ingrid Bergman

Overall winner: Barbara Stanywck

Best Actress 1945: Sage has done this year and it's one of my favorite years that she's done. Surprisingly, she did not go with Joan Crawford,but Gene Tierney for Leave Her To Heaven. Her ranking was: 1. Gene 2. Joan 3. Garson 4. Jones 5. Bergman. The only nominee who is discussed by Joan is Ingrid, who gets a lot of praise, but I guess not by everyone.

Oscar winner: Joan Crawford

Overall winner: Joan Crawford

Best Actress 1946: Another year that's not discussed at all, and I'm starting to think/know that the 40's years get hardly any attention. Olivia Dehavilland won for To Each His Own, and she's not really talked about all. But some internet users back Celia Johnson in The Brief Encounter, so I'll just go with her.

Oscar winner: Olivia Dehavilland

Overall winner: Celia Johnson

Best Actress 1947: Finally a year that's discussed! As we all know, Rosalind Russel was the sure thing frontrunner, but Loretta young shocklingly pulled a HUGE upset. Perhaps the biggest one in the history of Best Actress. Fritz also did this year and his ranking would be: 1. Hayward 2. Russel 3. Joan 4. Young 5. McGuire. Most feel that Hayward and Russel were the only worthy nominees and the others weren't good at all, especially Young and Mcguire.

Oscar winner: Loretta Young

Overall winner: Rosalind Russel

Best Actress 1948: Dinaztie did this year, and his ranking was 1: Wyman 2. Stanywck 3. ingrid 4. irenne 5. Olivia. It was a race between olivia and Jane I think, but Wyman won. Today, most back either of those two, and everyone hates ingrid!

Oscar winner: Jane Wyman

Overall winner: Jane Wyman

Best Actress 1949: Sage has done this year as well and her ranking is: 1. olivia 2. Hayward 3. Young 4. Kerr 5. Crain. None of the nominees are discussed, besides olivia who won and deservedly so.

oscar winner: Olivia Dehavilland

Overall winner: Olivia Dehavilland


And we'll just stop here since I'm getting tired and I've covered enough years for now. So, what are your thoughts? Agree/disagree?