fave female star?

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Personal faves!

Not asking for whom you would opt for as 'best actress of all time'... just the leading women you specifically admire for your own personal reasons. As in, they simply 'speak to you' in some way.

To avoid hemming and hawing, maybe start with a 'batch of 'five'.

My top five female stars are probably these:

Sophia Loren
Jean Harlow
Ingrid Bergman
Claudia Cardinale
tbd... (hemming and hawing)

[Mollie]

Joan Blondell
Claudette Colbert
Myrna Loy
Merle Oberon
May Robson
Ann Sothern

[Jamie]

Great actresses! I love Myrna Loy!

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

any comments on this batch of babes?


Irene Dunne
Teresa Wright
Loretta Young
Rosalind Russell
Merle Oberon
Miriam Hopkins
Ginger Rogers
Martha Scott
Ingrid Bergman
Kay Francis
Barbara Stanwyck
Virginia Bruce
Donna Reed
Lana Turner
Gene Tierney
Jennifer Jones
Ida Lupino
Anne Baxter
Joan Bennett
Ann Sothern
Olivia de Haviland
Ruth Warrick
Agnes Moorehead
Claudette Colbert
Hedy Lamarr
Greer Garson
Martha Hyer

[Hugh]

Myrna Loy is the greatest; Tallulah Bankhead, Audrey Hepburn are two of my favorites, and two I really don't like, Kate Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck, although I am mellowing slightly with regard to Barbara, but Kate? Not!

[Spencer]

https://rateyourmusic.com/list/spence...

[W]

Marilyn Monroe
Ingrid Bergman
Claudette Colbert
Marlene Dietrich
Janet Leigh

[Betsy]

I'm not really a fan of Myrna Loy in 'Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House' or Ingrid Bergman in 'Casablanca' but I do like Audrey Hepburn in 'Nun's Story'. In fact, I tend to like women for certain roles as opposed to their whole careers.

[Spencer]

Mr. Blandings was kind of a disappointment, but the Thin Man films are fantastic.

[Kandice]

Audrey Hepburn and Natalie Wood are my favorite classical actresses, closely followed by Debbie Reynolds and Sandra Dee.

Currently my favorite actress is Elisabeth Moss.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Look at this strange Natalie Wood flick. I'd never even heard of it!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelop...

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

poster for 'The Nun's Story'

https://postermuseum.com/products/au-...

[Betsy]

Now that is an unusual poster, especially the French title which certainly does not translate to Nun's Story.

[Spencer]

Feliks wrote: "Look at this strange Natalie Wood flick. I'd never even heard of it!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penelop..."

Nice! I am a big fan of This Property Is Condemned. Natalie, Redford, Tennessee, Pollack. You'd think it would be on all the lists of greats. But it's not near the level of popularity as Streetcar or Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

[Betsy]

A friend of mine told me about 'Penelope' because Natalie Wood is his favorite actress, but it's obviously not well known.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

I'm a fan. Saw it on TV as a kid and liked it immediately. What a supporting cast. Bronson? Blake? Whew. And it just has a great rural 'look' to it.

Redford and Wood were friends in real life (co-starred several times). She even plays herself congratulating 'The Candidate' (Redford's character in Redford's film) which is mesmerizing.

If you like Williams, flip through the wonderful collection of his short early stories: Collected Stories

[Spencer]

Speaking of Bob and Natalie and controversy, how about him playing gay in Inside Daisy Clover? That must have blown some minds. Though maybe not as much as Suddenly Last Summer.

[Spencer]

BTW, I have that and lots of other Williams stuff on my wishlist. Both books and films. I have seen most of the films except The Rose Tattoo. The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond with Ron Howard's daughter and Ann-Margret is the real sleeper. Talk about a modern film with a classic feel.

[Spencer]

https://rateyourmusic.com/film/the_lo...

[Betsy]

I was just looking at the list Feliks posted before. I like Rosalind Russell in 'His Girl Friday' and Merle Oberon in 'Scarlet Pimpernel', but not in all their movies. In fact, I think that's true for many actresses; I like them for roles, not necessarily for their whole career.

[Jill]

Feliks hit quite a few of my favorites in his list but also some that I don't like at all....but that is the way lists are! I would also agree with Betsy that I like actresses in certain roles but not in others, so it is always hard to decide. Let me try mine.

Bette Davis
Anna May Wong
Jean Harlow
Myrna Loy
Judith Anderson (if only for Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca)
Joan Blondell

There are others that will pop to mind the minute I post this but that is a start.

[Betsy]

Jill, you have more of an eclectic taste than me, but I agree with you about Judith Anderson. Talk about someone made for a role!

[Jill]

She was evil personified but in a very low-key way. Just great!

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

My list is very personal, yes. It's almost like a thinly-disguised version of the 'sex appeal' thread. I suppose my point was that some actresses I will watch in anything; whereas some actresses I will try to watch in nothing. I've encountered their work --and even been impressed by their work *in spite* of a marked personal lack of enthusiasm for them. Certain actresses always succeed for me and certain actresses almost never do.

Of course, one would be a ninny to insinuate that this has anything to do with their career or their acting talent. No one in their right mind would claim Bette Davis had ineffectual acting skills. Certainly I'm not suggesting this. I can see her skills; but I still ...just don't like watching her. She has a frosty, icy, steely manner to me no matter what she does or says.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

p.s. I see now that the list above is not my list of 'chilly actresses' that must be in some other thread. I don't recall what originally governed my selection of the names higher up / on display in this thread.

[Jill]

Whatever it was, it worked pretty well.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Of those names some I am a fan and some I am not. For example Ruth Warrick; I appreciate her unusual and iconic roles but I wouldnt 'follow' her. Whereas, I am interested in anything Greer Garson might have ever done.

[Betsy]

I think the two films that I associate her with (besides Mrs. Miniver) are 'Pride and Prejudice' and 'Random Harvest.' It's unusual to see her dancing in the latter.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

'Portrait of Jennie' had quite a cult following

I myself think that 'Gone to Earth' and 'Love Letters' were of equal merit

side note: what could be better than J. Jones and Fred Astaire playing opposite each other in 'Towering Inferno'?

[Jill]

Katherine wrote: "Newbie chiming in:

Gene Tierney
Jennifer Jones.....


How could I forget Gene Tierney??? Laura in which she wore the worst hat I have ever seen and being evil in Leave Her To Heaven (even tho' I thought the ending was poor).

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

I heart that BAD GIRL! :P

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

How about that vamp Linda Darnell

[Jill]

Beautiful and at her best in A Letter to Three Wives playing against Paul Douglas. I loved that film but could have done without Jeanne Crain.

[Betsy]

The movie I most connct her with is 'Mark of Zorro', in which Zorro says she's 'more radiant than a day in June.'

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Really! You don't say so! Although I think 'Letter to Three Wives' is one of the most tender and enlightening films I've ever see, I primarily associate Darnell with her performance as "Chihuahua" the saloon guitarist girlfriend of Victor 'well marbled' Mature in the classic Ford western ...'My Darling Clementine'. Small role in what is admittedly, a man's man's film. But she was so fiery in that one; well juxtaposed with the 'milkweed' character played by Cathy Downs. Boy! That flick should make anyone's throat tighten up! Meanwhile, her appearance in 'Zorro' I can barely recall. She was very 'Mexican' in that one, right? Apart from Power and Rathbone I recall the hilarious garrison commander rather than Darnell. Its funny what sticks in one's memory vs what sticks in another's...

[Betsy]

No, she wasn't Mexican at all. She was of Spanish blood and played a refined lady of courage and dignity. She was the niece of the Alcalde, and beautiful besides. Her uncle was a greedy coward while Lolita was a woman to be proud of. As you say, it is interesting what one recalls.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Aye. I think it's why screenwriters are told to always create characters-in-conflict. Maybe in a story like Zorro, where all the men are in furious contention with each other, there was no room for a 'feisty' romance. Ah! Oh yes and also maybe because for most of the narrative, Power has to hide himself in the elaborate ruse that he is a fop and a dandy, to elude detection. Now I recall. He was hilarious in those scenes; and Linda's character vexed with him. A re-telling of 'Scarlet Pimpernel'...

[Spencer]

Lee Remick was a knockout. I need to see Wild River again. Great performances all around.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Her name is worth recalling. I like her career arc. Solid, dependable and hard-working performer. Consistent. Somewhat typecast as vamp though. In similar harness as say, Eva Marie Saint.

I also like that she was never in any big scandals; but I was dismayed to hear she wound up just another notch on McQueen's bedpost. Thought she would have had more spine than that.

[Spencer]

On the other hand, maybe he was just a notch on her bedpost.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Wouldn't have been worth tarnish on the blade. He was too easy to get; so it would have posed no challenge or accomplishment.

[Spencer]

Yeah. Just watched some bios. She doesn't seem super promiscuous. Only 2 husbands. And not at the same time.

[Jill]

The most ironic is the situation of the "innocent ladies" was Loretta Young. Such a prim and proper reputation with her fans and it turns out that her daughter, Judy Lewis, was fathered by Clark Gable!

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Yep. Ha! That's really dee-lish ...she was a duplicitous minx, that one! Her own tv show and everything. "The Bishop's Wife" and all that.

[Spencer]

Anybody seen or planning to see the Judy biopic?

[Doubledf99.99]

I'll see it when it hits the tv movie channel.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Sounds to me like they're snatching some low-hanging fruit. They know American women still adore her. Cunning swine!

[Spencer]

Yeah, not to mention number one icon of gay males. But I have heard the performance is stunning. I will probably see it one day, when the public library gets it.

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

I was snagged by a blaring TV commercial in a convenience store this week which said (gushed) 'Daniel Craig' is 'stunning'. Daniel Craig? Being touted as a genuine actor? Sheesh. They'll say anything to make a turnstile turn. But even George Lucas tried to revive that bygone 1930s era and failed ('RadioLand Murders'). Hype just never proves itself out...

[Feliks, Co-Moderator]

Did I ever contribute this link for discussion?
'Everybody is altered...'

https://mashable.com/2014/12/01/holly...