Did They Get it Right? – Best Actress – Oscars 1962

Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)

Anne Bancroft (The Miracle Worker)

Bette Davis (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?)

Katharine Hepburn (Long Day’s Journey Into Night)

Geraldine Page (Sweet Bird of Youth)

Lee Remick (Days of Wine and Roses)

Biggest Snub:

Shelley Winters – Lolita

My Overall Thoughts:

This is a year with 5 outstanding performances but one of them still remains so powerful to watch even after nearly 60 years

My Rankings:

Actress

5. Geraldine Page
4. Lee Remick
3. Bette Davis
2. Katharine Hepburn
1. Anne Bancroft

Movies

5. Sweet Bird of Youth – Interesting idea that was probably much more controversial when it was made due to the way things are presented than it seems now. This is based on a Tennessee Williams play and the dialogue is quite enjoyable to listen to. The cats is superb with Newman and Page giving great performances but Begley steals every scene he is in because of the screen presence of the character. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance here and it’s quite deserving. The undertones about small town life and the way politicians rule their small world with a heavy hand are shown quite well throughout. This is a film about power and fame that doesn’t back down at all and needs to be held on to by the characters at all cost.
4. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? – Davis and Crawford are both eerily superb here as the grown up actresses with lots of baggage. The devious plans of both of them are interesting to watch unfold and we never know who can really be trusted more between the two of them. Says so much about the lives of child actors despite not understanding the issues as well as we do today.
3. Long Day’s Journey Into Night – Great drama that all takes place in enclosed areas and is moved along by the exquisite dialogue. The run time is a bit too long even though it takes that long to really get to the “punch” of things. Amazing cast does a wonderful job with the situation presented here and helps develop these characters so well over the course of the film just via their verbal debates throughout. Hepburn was deservingly nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress for her work in this film.
2. Days of Wine and Roses – Great depiction of alcoholism that resonates really well especially for when it was made. Lemmon and Remick are both amazing in these roles and we get the sense of realism by the way that they portray their flawed characters especially when they don’t shy away from showing their vulnerability. Not an easy film to watch yet it is quiet poignant over and over. Klugman does a wonderful job as Lemmon’s friend and “sponsor”.
1. The Miracle Worker – The acting by Bancroft and Duke truly is amazing and they both deservingly won Oscars for their respective roles in this movie. The story is weakly portrayed. Best Scene is clearly the egg scene, it really explains the difficulties faced by Sullivan.