50 Favorite Performances by an Actress
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- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.Maria Falconetti as Jeanne d'Arc
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsGreta GarboRobert TaylorLionel BarrymoreA Parisian courtesan must choose between the young man who loves her and the callous baron who wants her, even as her own health begins to fail.Greta Garbo as Marguerite Gautier
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisPaul HenreidClaude RainsA frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.Bette Davis as Charlotte Vale
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsBarbara StanwyckGeorge BrentWarner AndersonA recent widow meets an army major while skiing and despite pressures from friends and family becomes romantically involved with him.Barbara Stanwyck as Jessica Drummond
- DirectorDudley NicholsStarsRosalind RussellMichael RedgraveRaymond MasseyEugene O'Neill's updated version of the Oresteia set in New England, after the American Civil War.Rosalind Russell as Lavinia Mannon
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsJoan CrawfordVan HeflinRaymond MasseyAfter being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor the complex story of how she wound up there.Joan Crawford as Louise Howell
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsWilliam HoldenGloria SwansonErich von StroheimA screenwriter develops a dangerous relationship with a faded film star determined to make a triumphant return.Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsSetsuko HaraChishû RyûChikage AwashimaA family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans.Setsuko Hara as Noriko Mamiya
- DirectorKenji MizoguchiStarsKinuyo TanakaTsukie MatsuuraIchirô SugaiFollows a woman's fight and survival amid the vicissitudes of life and the cruelty of society.Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJudy GarlandJames MasonJack CarsonA film star helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career on a downward spiral.Judy Garland as Esther Blodgett
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsKim StanleyLloyd BridgesSteven HillA woman adored by the people around her ultimately struggles to be happy with herself.Kim Stanley as Emily Ann Faulkner
- DirectorMikio NaruseStarsHideko TakamineTatsuya NakadaiMasayuki MoriA middle-aged bar hostess, constantly in debt, is faced with numerous social constraints and challenges posed to her by her family, customers and friends.Hideko Takamine as Keiko Yahshiro
- DirectorJacques DemyStarsAnouk AiméeMarc MichelJacques HardenA bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.Anouk Aimee as Lola
- DirectorMichael CacoyannisStarsIrene PapasGiannis FertisAleka KatselliLiving in exile after the death of their father, the grown children of a murdered and usurped king converge to exact eye-for-an-eye revenge.Irene Papas as Elektra
- DirectorJules DassinStarsMelina MercouriAnthony PerkinsRaf ValloneTo build bridges with his estranged son, a Greek shipping magnate enlists the help of his second wife, Phaedra. But, in rain-soaked Paris, their passionate affair threatens to destroy his empire. Will the modern temptress accept her fate?Melina Mercouri as Phaedra
- DirectorShôhei ImamuraStarsSeizaburô KawazuKazuo KitamuraTanie KitabayashiLife story of a woman born in poverty trying to succeed. Through her many schemes, she faces her ups and downs in a cyclical nature, fueled mostly by self-interest.Sachiko Hidari as Tome Matsuki
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid ThulinGunnel LindblomBirger MalmstenTwo estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.Ingrid Thulin as Ester
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsNina Pens RodeBendt RotheEbbe RodeIn the elegant world of artists and musicians, Gertrud ends her marriage to Gustav and takes a lover, the composer Erland Jansson.Nina Pens Rode as Gertrud Kanning
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsAnne BancroftPeter FinchJames MasonBeautiful Mother of five Jo leaves the banality of her marriage to second husband Giles to wed her passionate screenwriter lover, Jake Armitage. As suspicions of Husband Jake's philandering grows, Jo's sanity spirals.Anne Bancroft as Jo Armitage
- DirectorJán KadárElmar KlosStarsIda KaminskaJozef KronerFrantisek ZvaríkA carpenter in the Fascist Slovak State is appointed "Aryan controller" of a Jewish widow's store.Ida Kaminska as Rozalia Lautmannova
- DirectorGeorge AxelrodStarsRoddy McDowallTuesday WeldLola AlbrightA bright satirical comedy about an innocent high school girl granted her wishes by a student prodigy. A broad satire of teenage culture in the sixties, its targets ranging from progressive education to beach movies.Tuesday Weld as Barbara Ann Greene
- DirectorLarisa ShepitkoStarsMayya BulgakovaSergey NikonenkoZhanna BolotovaA fascinating and human portrayal of a once-famous fighter pilot and loyal Stalinist named Nadezhda Petrovna. Now a 41-year-old provincial schoolmistress, she has so internalized the military ideas of service and obedience that she cannot adjust to life in peacetime.Maya Bulgakova as Nadezhda Petrukhina
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsEdith EvansNanette NewmanHarry BairdElderly Mrs. Ross lives alone in her meager flat, scraping by on government assistance even as she claims to have great wealth. After finding stolen money she is victimized, making it necessary to find her support in her declining years.Edith Evans as Mrs. Ross
- DirectorAnthony HarveyStarsPeter O'TooleKatharine HepburnAnthony Hopkins1183 A.D.: King Henry II's three sons all want to inherit the throne, but he won't commit to a choice. When he allows his imprisoned wife Eleanor of Aquitaine out for a Christmas visit, they all variously plot to force him into a decision.Katharine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine
- DirectorBarbara LodenStarsBarbara LodenMichael HigginsDorothy ShupenesWanda, a lonely housewife, drifts through mining country until she meets a petty thief who takes her in.Barbara Loden as Wanda
- StarsGlenda JacksonRonald HinesRobert HardyWhen Elizabeth Tudor comes to the throne, her (male) advisers know she has to marry. Doesn't she? Thus starts a decades-long political/matrimonial game, during an age of high passions and high achievement.Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I
- DirectorPaul NewmanStarsJoanne WoodwardNell PottsRoberta WallachA middle-aged misfit struggles to raise her daughters, one popular and the other a promising science student.Joanne Woodward as Beatrice
- DirectorMartin RittStarsCicely TysonPaul WinfieldKevin HooksThe oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.Cicely Tyson as Rebecca Morgan
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsGena RowlandsPeter FalkFred DraperAlthough wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.Gena Rowlands as Mabel Longhetti
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsDelphine SeyrigJan DecorteHenri StorckA lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.Delphine Seyrig as Jeanne Dielman
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsRomy SchneiderFabio TestiJacques DutroncServais Mont, a photographer, meets Nadine Chevalier who earns her money starring in cheap soft-core movies. Trying to help her, he borrows the money from the loan sharks to finance the theatrical production of 'Richard III' and gives Nadine a part. Nadine is torn apart between Servais, for whom she is falling in love, and her husband Jacques, to whom she has moral obligations.Romy Schneider as Nadine Chevalier
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsLiv UllmannErland JosephsonAino TaubeTwo psychiatrists have their marriage tested when one suffers a mental breakdown.Liv Ullmann as Dr. Jenny Isaksson
- StarsDerek JacobiJohn HurtSiân PhillipsThe personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.Sian Phillips as Livia
- DirectorNicolas RoegStarsArt GarfunkelTheresa RussellHarvey KeitelA psychiatrist, living in Vienna, enters a torrid relationship with a married woman. When she ends up in the hospital from an overdose, an inspector becomes set on discovering the demise of their affair.Theresa Russell as Milena Flaherty
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaStarsJutta LampeBarbara SukowaRüdiger VoglerTwo sisters both fight for women's rights. Juliane is a journalist and Marianne a terrorist. When Marianne is jailed, Juliane feels obligated to help her despite their differing views on how to live.Jutta Lampe as Juliane
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.Isabelle Adjani as Anna & Helen
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsMeryl StreepKevin KlinePeter MacNicolSophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live with Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust.Meryl Streep as Sophie
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsRosel ZechHilmar ThateCornelia FroboessPartially based on the life of Sybille Schmitz, who found fame under the Nazi regime, but whose career was destroyed afterward. Veronika Voss is a once prominent UFA actress, kept by her doctor, who raises suspicion in a sports journalist.Rosel Zech as Veronika Voss
- DirectorPeter MastersonStarsGeraldine PageJohn HeardCarlin GlynnIn 1940s Texas, an elderly woman is determined to visit her childhood home one last time.Geraldine Page as Mrs. Carrie Watts
- DirectorAgnès VardaStarsSandrine BonnaireMacha MérilStéphane FreissA young woman's body is found frozen in a ditch. Through flashbacks and interviews, we see the events that led to her inevitable death.Sandrine Bonnaire as Mona Bergeron
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaStarsBarbara SukowaDaniel OlbrychskiOtto SanderAfter years of political agitation, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and Leo Jogiches form a revolutionary German party, the Spartacists.Barbara Sukowa as Rosa Luxemburg
- DirectorSally PotterStarsTilda SwintonBilly ZaneQuentin CrispAfter Queen Elizabeth I commands him not to grow old, a young nobleman struggles with love and his place in the world.Tilda Swinton as Orlando
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsMary McDonnellAlfre WoodardAngela BassettAfter an accident leaves her a paraplegic, a former soap opera star struggles to recover both emotionally and mentally, until she meets her newest nurse, who has struggles of her own.Alfre Woodard as Chantelle
- DirectorKaige ChenStarsLeslie CheungFengyi ZhangGong LiTwo boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.Li Gong as Juxian
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.Holly Hunter as Ada McGrath
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsEmily WatsonStellan SkarsgårdKatrin CartlidgeOilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.Emily Watson as Bess McNeill
- DirectorTahmineh MilaniStarsNiki KarimiMerila Zare'iMohammad Reza ForutanA sensation when released in 1999 in Iran, Two Women charts the lives of two promising architecture students over the course of the first turbulent years of the Islamic Republic. Tahimine Milani creates this scathing portrait of those traditions - aided by official indifference - which conspire to trap women and stop them from realizing their full potential; the inclusion of frank depictions of domestic violence was hailed by many as a breakthrough in dealing with a long taboo subject.Niki Karimi as Fereshteh
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnnie GirardotBenoît MagimelA young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.Isabelle Huppert as Erika Kohut
- DirectorOusmane SembeneStarsFatoumata CoulibalyMaimouna Hélène DiarraSalimata TraoréWhen a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.Fatoumata Coulibaly as Colle Gallo Ardo Sy