Imitation of Life(1959).

Imitation of Life(1959). Directed by Douglas Sirk. Cast: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Dan O'Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda and Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson. Kohner and Moore received Academy Award nominations for their performances. Gospel music star Mahalia Jackson appears as a church choir soloist. The film is an adaptation of Fannie Hurst's novel of the same name. It is the second film adaptation of the novel. The first film was released in 1934.

Looking for her lost daughter Susie at Coney Island in a panic, Lora Meredith finds her playing with Sarah Jane, a light-skinned black girl and Sarah Jane's black mother, Annie Johnson. Photographer Steve Archer, is spending the day at the beach looking for the perfect picture, takes some photos of the two girls.

Unemployed Actress Lora, soon learns that Annie and Sarah Jane are homeless. She invites the two to stay the night in her apartment. Annie, offers to stay and keep house and look after Susie while Lora, looks for acting and modeling jobs.

One evening, Steve comes by with the photographs, he took at the beach of the girls and takes Lora out to lunch.

Later, Lora invents a lie that gets her into the office of agent Allen Loomis, but.. then he propositions her, telling her that a successful actress must be willing to sleep around, she angrily leaves.

Back home, humiliated, she sobs while Annie comforts her.

During a snow storm, Annie brings Sarah Jane's lunch to school, where she discovers that her daughter has been passing off as a white girl. When Sarah Jane runs from Annie, her heart broken mother says to Lora, "How do you explain to your child that she was born to be hurt?"

Soon afterward, Steve, proposes to Lora, but she turns him down, saying that even though she loves him, marriage would prevent her from her life long dream of being an actress. Just then, Loomis offers her a role over the phone, a new comedy written by David Edwards, but when Steve forbids her to visit Loomis, she breaks it off with him.

During her audition, Lora suggests that David rewrite a scene of his play.. he agrees.

After Lora, is cast in the play the papers report that "a new star is born" on Broadway. For the next ten years, Lora stars in one hit after another. David wants to marry her, but as she admits one day to Annie, she does not really love him. David, is not happy when she decides to appear in a drama, but her performance is an instant hit. Surprised, by a visit from Steve, Lora confesses she still loves him and they are reunited.

Susie, is looking forward to taking a trip with Steve and Lora, but.. is very disappointed when their plans are canceled when Lora accepts a important role in a Italian film.

Soon after, Sarah Jane tells Susie that she secretly has been seeing her white boyfriend and that she would rather die than be considered black. When her boyfriend finds out that Sarah Jane's mother is black, he beats her up.

While Lora is filming in Italy, Steve spends a lot of time with Susie and she falls in love with him. Sarah Jane, has moved to New York and has told her mother that she is working at the library, but Annie finds her singing and dancing in a seedy New York nightclub. Because of her mother, Sarah Jane fired and she again takes off.

Back home, Annie tells Lora, who has just returned from Europe, that she will no longer interfere in her daughter's life. Steve, now a company vice-president, learns that Sarah Jane is working as a chorus girl and a dying Annie, flies to California to say good-by to her daughter.

Sarah Jane, tells her "I'm somebody else, I'm white." Annie then introduces herself to Sarah Jane's friend as her former nanny and leaves, but not before Sarah Jane embraces her.

Back at home, Lora and Susie argue over Steve. When Susie accuses Lora of loving her career more than her, Lora offers to give up Steve, but Susie has decided to go away to college.

One day, Annie tells Lora, to make certain all her things are left to Sarah Jane and then, dies. Will Sarah Jane, arrive at her mother's funeral in time or continue on with her destructive life style?

This is a story, about two women from different backgrounds, letting go of their children and allowing them to live their own lives. This is one of my favorite old school actress Lana Turner and new comer Sandra Dee's performances. Susan Kohner's, performance is also amazing and she steals every scene she is in.

If you are into fashion, Lana Turner's wardrobe was beautiful.

Fun Facts:

Lana Turner took a much smaller salary, than her usual $25,000 per week and worked for 50% of the film's profits, which earned her over $2 million (setting a record for an actress at the time).

Natalie Wood was considered for the part played by Susan Kohner.

Douglas Sirk's last Hollywood film before he retired back to his native Germany.

'Margaret O'Brien' originally considered for role of Sara Jane, that ultimately went to Susan Kohner.

The exterior shot of Lora Meredith's lavish ranch style house would later be used for the the exterior shots of the Hart's home in the TV show Hart to Hart.

Pearl Bailey was originally considered for the role of Annie Johnson.

Susan Kohner (born November 11, 1936), is the daughter of Mexican actress Lupita Tovar and film producer Paul Kohner, who was born in Bohemia.

Most of Kohner's film roles came during the late 1950s and early 1960s, including co-starring with Sal Mineo in both: Dino (1957) and The Gene Krupa Story (1959).

In 1959, she was cast as Sarah Jane, her most notable role, in the color remake of, Imitation of Life. Directed by Douglas Sirk. Starring Lana Turner which turned out to be a box office success. Kohner, won an Academy Award nomination and won the Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actress categories.

Following her appearance in, Imitation of Life, Kohner performed in, All the Fine Young Cannibals, with Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner.

She later had guest performances on television including: Hong Kong, Going My Way and Temple Houston. She made her last film appearance in 1962, co-starring with Montgomery Clift in, Freud: The Secret Passion.

In 1964, Kohner married German novelist and fashion designer John Weitz, and retired from acting. Their children, Chris and Paul Weitz, directed films: American Pie and About a Boy. Chris Weitz, is best known for directing, New Moon in The Twilight Saga (film series).

On April 23, 2010, a new print of "Imitation of Life" was screened at the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles, California. After the screening, Kohner appeared on stage along with her costar Juanita Moore for a question-and-answer session hosted by TCM's Robert Osborne. Kohner and Moore received standing ovations.

Cass Timberlane(1945).

Cass Timberlane, is a novel written by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1945. It is Sinclair Lewis' nineteenth novel and one of his last.It was made into a romantic drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner, directed by George Sidney, and released in 1947. Timberlane is a minor character in Lewis's novel Kingsblood Royal.

While Judge Cass Timberlane, a kind-hearted, bachelor, is trying a boring divorce case, he finds a notebook that Jinny left in the courtroom. Attracted to the much younger Jinny, Cass searches for her in the neighborhood where she lives, and finds her playing baseball. Cass offers to umpire her game, after which he takes her out to dinner.

The two fall in love, much to the disappointment of Cass's society friends, who believe that he is wrong to cross social lines. With the exception of his friend attorney, Bradd Criley.

Cass, marries Jinny and as time passes, Cass soon realizes that Jinny is unhappy living in the small town of Grand Republic.

Jinny eventually becomes pregnant, but when the baby is stillborn, she goes into a deep depression. Cass, tries to cheer up his wife by teaching her how to fly an airplane and supporting her while she becomes a stage actress.

Jinny, gets herself into trouble with her performance, while rehearsing a love scene with her co-star, Bradd, who is transferred to his company's office in New York City as a result.

Cass, suggests they take a trip to New York, so he can visit an old friend to look into becoming partners in his law firm. Jinny, wants to stay in New York, after her wonderful day in New York with Brad. When Cass, tells her that he has rejected a job offer in the city, she breaks it off with him.

Cass, tells Jinny that she is welcome to stay in New York with Bradd. It turns out that Bradd, does not really want to marry Jinny. Heartbroken, she jumps out of the speeding car in which they are driving and is seriously injured.

After Lillian Drover, the wife of Jinny's doctor, tells Cass about Jinny's injuries, will Cass rush back to New York to be with her?

This is one of my favorite Spencer Tracy films and he gives an excellent performance. Lana Turner, is also very good. The scenes between she and Zachary Scott have enough sparks to make you wonder if they are guilty of adultery. This is a wonderful film that was well worth seeing.



Fun Facts:

MGM reportedly paid close to $150,000 for the film rights to Lewis' novel.

Walter Pidgeon who has a brief cameo in the film, was at one point considered for the title role.

Jennifer Jones, Vivien Leigh, and Virginia Grey were among those thought out for the female lead.

Fay Hendry, the mother of Sonya Hendry, a young girl who appeared in the film, was awarded nearly $30,000 for injuries she sustained when the girl was struck by a falling reflector at the site of location filming.

Tracy was not initially pleased with the studio's choice of director, hoping to have George Cukor or Vincente Minnelli assigned the position.

The poem that Cass Timberlane recites at the picnic with Virginia is "First Fig" by Edna St. Vincent Millay and goes "My candle burns at both ends / It will not last the night / But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends / It gives a lovely light!"

In late 1946, Marie McDonald campaigned for the female lead.

Margaret Lindsay (September 19, 1910 - May 9, 1981) After attending National Park Seminary in Washington, D.C., Lindsay convinced her parents to enroll her at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.

She then went abroad to England to make her stage debut. She performed in plays: Escape, Death Takes a Holiday and The Romantic Age.

Lindsay was often mistaken as being British due to her convincing English accent, which impressed Universal Studios enough to sign her for their 1932 version of, The Old Dark House.

After some minor roles in Pre-Code films such as Christopher Strong and Baby Face, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, Lindsay was cast in the award-winning, Cavalcade.

Later, Lindsay performed in a small but memorable role as Edith Harris, a doomed English bride whose honeymoon voyage takes place on the Titanic. Her work in Cavalcade earned her a contract at Warner Bros. where she became a supporting player, working with Paul Muni, Errol Flynn, Henry Fonda, Warren William, Leslie Howard, George Arliss, Humphrey Bogart, Boris Karloff and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

Lindsay was cast four times as the love interest of James Cagney, from 1933-1935. She performed with Cagney in four films: Frisco Kid, Devil Dogs of the Air, G-Men and Lady Killer. Lindsay co-starred with Bette Davis in four films: 1934's Fog Over Frisco; in 1935's Dangerous (for which Davis won her first Best Actress Academy Award); in Bordertown, co-starring Paul Muni, and as Davis's rival for Henry Fonda's affections in Jezebel (1938), which earned Davis her second Best Actress Academy Award.

The Law in Her Hands (1936), she performed a leading role as a mob lawyer. It was rare among gangster films of the 30's to have a female in such a male-dominated role. Made after the Motion Picture Production Code came into effect, The Law in Her Hands was forced into a reactionary stance towards the gender switch and concluded with a plot twist that was the complete opposite of the Pre-Code period (1929–1934), when "female characters on the screen could say, do and be whatever they wanted".

Lindsay's best known film role was, The House of the Seven Gables in 1940, with George Sanders and Vincent Price.

Her 1940s film series work in Hollywood included: Ellery Queen series from 1940-1942. Lindsay, performed in a supporting role in the 1942 film, The Spoilers, starring John Wayne and in Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street in 1945. While her work in the late 1940s would occasionally involve a supporting role in MGM films like Cass Timberlane with Spencer Tracy, her film career faded, soon after.

She returned to the stage and co-starred with Franchot Tone, in The Second Man. 1950s and 1960s She made her television debut in 1950 in, The Importance of Being Earnest. More television work soon followed.

Lindsay performed in only four films during the 1950s and two in the 1960s. Her final feature film was, Tammy and the Doctor (1963). Lindsay lived with her sister Helen in Hollywood. Later in life, she lived with her youngest sister Mickie.

Despite being romantically linked to actors such as William Gargan and Edward Norris, she never married. Margaret Lindsay's sister, Jane Kies (1909–1985), was also an actress under the name of Jane Gilbert. In 1940, Jane married the son of Hedda Hopper, actor William Hopper, best known for his role as Paul Drake in the Perry Mason television series. Their daughter Joan was born in 1942, and the couple divorced in the early 1960s. Lindsay's niece Peggy Kenline and great-nephew Brad Yates were also actors.

They Won't Forget(1937).

They Won't Forget (1937). Directed by Mervyn LeRoy (who was uncredited). Based on a novel by Ward Greene called Death in The Deep South, which was a fictionalized account of a real life case: the trial and lynching of Leo Frank after the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913. The film was also the film debut of 16 year old actress Lana Turner, who played the murder victim, Mary Clay. It is considered by many critics to be one of the best films of the 1930s.

The story begins on Memorial Day, when Mary Clay and her best friend, Imogene Mayfield, decide to go for a soda after they are dismissed from their business classes for the day. Mary, decides to go back for her lipstick that she left in her desk. When she returns to the empty room, she is murdered.

District Attorney Andy Griffin, sees Mary's murder has a perfect opportunity to boost his political career by making a case against her teacher, Robert Hale. Before long, Michael Gleason a famous Northern attorney, comes to defend Hale, but he is unable to convince the jury of Hale's innocence despite the lack of evedence.

The news-media turns the story into a three ring circus and accuses Griffin of fighting the Civil War in the courtroom, but... he is successful and Hale is sentenced to death. Gleason appeals to the governor, who sacrifices his career and changes the penalty to life imprisonment. Will Hale be safely taken out of town, before he is lynched by Mary's brothers?



This is a fast/well written/acted moving film, with Claude Rain taken over scene he is in. This will make you wonder if justice was served. I think everyone will enjoy watching this 1937 treasure..

Gloria Dickson (August 13, 1917 - April 10, 1945), began acting during high school in amateur theatre productions. Encouraged by her acting coaches, she moonlighted doing dramatic readings at social clubs and on KFOX radio station in Long Beach, California.

In April 1936, she was spotted by Warner Brothers talent scout Max Arnow who signed her to a Warner contract. Her film debut in 1937's They Won't Forget landed her on the top of Hollywood's short list of important up and comers.

In autumn 1937, she was in many magazine covers and was the subject of several movie magazine articles.

Love Has Many Faces (1965).

Love Has Many Faces(1965). Drama, directed by Alexander Singer, and written by Marguerite Roberts. Nancy Wilson sings the title song. Edith Head designed Lana Turner's clothes.

After Kit and Pete are questioned by the Acapulco police when her latest fling Billy Andrews, body is found on the beach. Pete, blames her for Billy's death. Pete married Kit, only for her money and is now having second thoughts, because she thinks only of herself.



When Carol Lambert, Billy's fiancee, arrives in Acapulco, Pete becomes attracted to her and Kit, starts dating a bullfighter. At the ranch of Don Julian, Kit overhears Carol stating that Pete must choose between them. Upset, Kit rides her horse into the bullring and is gored by a bull, Pete jumps into the ring and saves her. Will they get Kit to the hospital in time to save her life?

For all you fashionistas and Lana Turner fans, this film is for you. Lana Turner, keeps turning up in one great costume after another, even in her forties she was a glamor girl.

Fun Facts:

Final American studio cinema film of Ruth Roman.

Lana Turner's wardrobe cost one million dollars.

Ruth Roman(December 22, 1922- September 9, 1999). As a girl, she wanted to become an actress and enrolled in Bishop Lee Dramatic School. After which Roman headed to Hollywood where she landed small parts before being cast in the thirteen-episode serial, Jungle Queen (1945).

She later played an important role in the film, Champion(1949). In one of her most memorable roles, Roman costarred with Farley Granger and Robert Walker in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Strangers on a Train (1951)and the film, Three Secrets(1950).

Keep Your Powder Dry(1945).

Keep Your Powder Dry(1945). Drama starring Lana Turner, Susan Peters, and Laraine Day. The film was directed by Edward Buzzell and written by George Bruce and Mary C. McCall, Jr.

One sunny morning Valerie Parks, is told by the family attorney, that she will not receive her trust fund until she proves that she deserves it, so she decides to join the WACS. Next.. on the list to join, Ann Darrison, who decides to enlist after her serviceman husband John is sent overseas. Last, but not least is Leigh Rand, the daughter of a military family, who also decides enlists.

The three new recruits, meet on the way to the Ft. Des Moines training camp and Leigh and Val, instantly develop a dislike for each other and Darrison becomes the mediator, when all three are assigned as mechanics, in the same unit. Leigh challenges Val, saying she never will complete basic training. Val, proves her wrong and does very well in class. Val and Leigh, eventually become friends and all three girls are accepted into Officers' Candidate School.

One day, Capt. Bill Barclay, a friend of Ann's husband, arrives at their base to visit Ann. Later, Bill meets Val and asks her on a date, Leigh, who is attracted to Bill herself, reminds them that enlisted WACS are forbidden to date officers. Leigh arranges for Val, to be assigned to duty that night to prevent them from meeting. Which angers Val and so ends their friendship.

Later Val, receives a telegram from her attorney, telling her that he is in town, she goes to meet him. Instead, she is met by her old friends Harriet and a drunken Junior Vanderheusen. Val tells her friends, that she plans to stay in the military and gives them a piece of her mind. Insulted, Junior spills his drink on Val's uniform.

Knowing that she cannot return to the barracks smelling of alcohol, Val goes to see Leigh, who is on leave and staying in the next room. Val, begs her to bring her a clean uniform in the morning. Leigh agrees, but when she returns to the hotel the next morning with the clean uniform, she runs into Junior in the elevator.

After learning from Junior, that Val only joined the military to receive her inheritance. Leigh, launches into a campaign to get rid of Val. Two days before graduation, Val, unable to stand her abuse, slaps Leigh in the face and marches off the field.

Later when Val, refuses to stick up for herself to their commanding officer, Lt. Colonel Spottiswoode. The officer calls Leigh, before the board and informs her that her platoon has rated her unfit to be an officer. Leigh, takes the blame for Val's outburst.

Col. Spottiswoode goes to see Anne and informs her that her husband has been killed in combat. When Leigh and Val, hear about Ann's loss, her courage shames them into staying the corps.



I recently saw this classic movie on TCM for the first time. I would call it a female version of a WWII buddy movie. Agnes Moorehead, Natalie Schafer and June Lockhart have supporting roles.

Susan Peters (July 3, 1921 – October 23, 1952). Her first job was to read with potential actors in their screen tests. Before long she had impressed studio executives with her own talent, and they began casting her in films.

For the first two years she used her given name and played small, uncredited parts in the film, Meet John Doe (1941). Her first substantial role was in the film, Random Harvest (1942), which earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. MGM, cast her in the starring role in the film, Song of Russia (1943).

Peters was married to the actor Richard Quine on November 7, 1943. A couple of months after performing in the film, Keep Your Powder Dry, Peters and her husband were duck hunting when a rifle accidentally discharged, causing a bullet to be lodged in her spine. The accident left her permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Peters attempted to continue her acting career.

MGM continued to pay her salary, unable to find suitable projects, Peters left the studio. She returned for the lead role in, The Sign of the Ram (1948). Unfortunately, her disability made her a difficult actress to cast.

The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1957

1957

So the much anticipated ranking:

5. Lana Turner in Peyton Place

Lana's performance mostly consits of sleepwalking and sitting in the background. I believe that had Turner been given some more to do, she would have been able to pull of a great performance as Constance. The screenplay always underlines how frigid this character is and it doesn't really let Turner do wonders with it. The overall effect is disappointing.

4. Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison

there isn't a thing about Deborah Kerr's performance that you could be passionate about. You can't love her, can't hate her and the whole thing becomes very standard and uninteresting. I know that many love this work but I just wasn't able to warm up to it. Deborah Kerr is quite good as Sister Angela but she doesn't go beyond good.

3. Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve

Despite my dislike for the acting of Joanne Woodward, this is quite a good job by her. Although it's not groundbreaking by any means and the emotional part of it is a bit lacking, the technical department is just excellent. Woodward made very wise decisions with these characters (despite being relatively new to the craft) and she put on a very good performance.

2. Elizabeth Taylor in Raintree County

This performance is a bit mixed. On the one hand, Liz's accent andmannerisms are incredibly annoying and she fails with the technical. On the other hand, there are also some great moments that I just cannot ignore. As I said, Taylor is not really amazing, but there's something in her that stays with me. It's still quite good work and something keeps resonating with me.

1. Anna Magnani in Wild is the Wind

You may consider me overenthusiastic and too lenient with performances but I was just blown away by Anna, from the beginning to the very end. Anna Magnani creates this beautiful, wonderful character and single-handedly makes the movie. It might be a bit much for many. For me, it worked and I consider this an astonishing performance.

So I can proudly announce

that my winner is...

Anna Magnani

in

Wild is the Wind

Why do I have to compete?

Omissions:

• Giulietta Masina in The Nights of Cabiria *My Pick* (oh come on, too easy)

Final thoughts: A really weak year. Yes, I was a bit overenthusiastic but Anna was a shining light in this extremely weak year. So she was the clear winner. Joanne was quite good though a bit dry. Elizabeth Taylor, whom we tragically lost on the day I reviewed her performance, gave a mixed but haunting performance in Raintree County. Deborah was simply good, Lana was not bad. Again, a truly weak year. Still, I'm happy that I did it as I was so interested in Anna's performance, which was really astonishing though the movie dragged her down a bit.

Semi-congrats to Louis, who had it right with his original predictions but changed his mind in the last minute. :)

The ranking of the reviewed years:

1. 1969
2. 1974
3. 1989
4. 1959
5. 1964
6. 1939
7. 1977
8. 2010
9. 2009
10. 1980
11. 1941
12. 1963
13. 1966
14. 1973
15. 1990
16. 1978
17. 1954
18. 1948
19. 2002
20. 1957
21. 1940
22. 1998

About the next year: You cannot imagine the misery, torture and suffering that I went through to do the next year and get all the films. It's a really interesting one though I've only seen 2 performances but they are both given by two of my all-time favorite actresses (and the others are great performers, too, all three of them previous winners). Clue:

• I can't give you a real clue as I keep forgetting and losing everything ever since that new insurance I have. ;)

What do you think?

Lana Turner in Peyton Place

Lana Turner received her first and only Best Actress nomination for playing Constance MacKenzie, a cold single mother in the Best Picture nominee, Peyton Place. Lana Turner admitted in her autobiography that she thought that she did not deserve this nomination but was very happy about it. I don't think that there was really anyone who threatened Joanne Woodward's win that year. However, I'm sure that Lana's stardom helped her get some votes. Still, I think she was either fourth or fifth.

Peyton Place is a modestly entertaining but extremely long movie. Although it was very enjoyable sometimes, I felt like I was watching a whole season of a soap opera and it was unbearable after a while. It's much less sentimental than I would have imagines but it's still a bit much. Had it been a bit shorter, it would have been much better. Less is more sometimes. It received five acting nominations. Well, I feel that the supporting players might have deserved to be nominated (though I have some doubt about Arthur Kennedy and Diane Varsi). However, Russ Tamblyn and (especially) Hope Lange give good performances. I might even give my vote to Lange in that weak year.

I don't really know what to think about Lana Turner in general. She's made some iconic movies (The Bad and the Beautiful and The Postman Always Rings Twice) and she is a legendary beauty with a messy private life, which quite often outshone her work as an actress. Therefore, no one is really convinced that she was a really great talent. And this is not an Oscar nomination that's a proves her gift as this is much more of acknowledging a great star.

First of all, I must say that Peyton Place is really an ensemble picture and if there's a lead, than it's Diane Varsi and not Lana Turner. There are a lot of storylines that are not properly worked out and Varsi is loose connection. Lana Turner represents one of these storylines and she doesn't even have the most emotional or significant one. She has the most shallow material to work and as a result, she cannot do wonders with this part. Out of the two and a half hours of this movie, she's on the screen for about 40 minutes. Constance is really a supporting character and it's only Lana's star power that makes this one more than a boring stock role.

The fact is that Lana Turner gives quite a one-note performance but strangely it works and it serves her very shallow movie quite well. Somehow, I was impressed by her. Minimally, but I was impressed. The role of Constance asks for another actress. For instance I could much more easily imagine Jane Wyman or Olivia de Havilland (the original choices for the part) as Constance. Constance is the origin of the strong female leads in soaps of the 1980s. There's a (bit has-been but still) great star who plays the powerful matriarch or female character. Lana Turner was the best at playing mysterious, beautiful femme fatale in film noirs and this frigid single mother doesn't seem to be her cup of tea. As I said, her performance work as she was able to make Constance her own character.

There's this storyline about Constance's love affair (if that's a proper word for that) with the school's new principal, Michael Rossi (played by whats-his-name). Unfortunately, there's absolutely no chemistry between the two and that's a bit shocking considering that we're talking about Lana Turner. Who could you NOT have chemistry with her? The very mediocre story wanted to say so much (it's a chaos) and it did not give time for the most important storylines. This love between the two becomes so useless after a while and it's not even ended properly. There's that Christmas scene and so what? I would have liked to see more (though I might withdraw that, I did not want to see more of this movie).

However, Lana's scenes with Diane Varsi are excellent and are probably the highlights of the performances of both actresses. They have two big confrontation scenes and they are handled excellently by Lana. Especially the first one, where Constance says that she wants much more for her daughter than this stupid town. There is some real emotional depth in that scene unlike the rest of the movie and it is really extremely memorable. The second one is also very well-played (as I said) though it's not even close to the first one.

The rest of Lana's performance mostly consits of sleepwalking and sitting in the background. That's too bad. I firmly believe that had Turner been given some more to do, she would have been able to pull of a great performance as Constance MacKenzie. The screenplay always underlines how frigid this character is and it doesn't really let Turner do wonders with it. There are memorable scenes but the overall effect is a bit disappointing.

There's something to love about her.

What do you think?

The Next Year

1957

So the nominees were:

• Deborah Kerr in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
• Anna Magnani in Wild is the Wind
• Elizabeth Taylor in Raintree County
• Lana Turner in Peyton Place
• Joanne Woodward in The Three Faces of Eve

It is said to be a weak year but I've only seen Joanne previously, so it's going to be an interesting one to explore. I can't wait to see all the movies.

What do you think? What are your predictions for my ranking? Who's your pick? What's your ranking?