The Ten Most MEMORABLE Performances in Film History

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 11:18am

My own list...

...since at first glance, that's what I thought Cruel's thread was about, and I find "memorable" a lot more interesting to discuss that "miserable."

In no particular order (and the ones that jumped immediately into my mind, hence "memorable"):

Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz
Marlon Brando in The Godfather
James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind
Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind
Jack Nicholson in The Shining
Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins
Judy Garland in A Star Is Born
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

[DG]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 11:43am

Thanks besty - you and I are very much on the same wavelength

Can't argue with any of your choices, so I'll just add a few that also popped into my head.

Judy in OZ.
Bette in THE ROSE.
Hepburn and Fonda in ON GOLDEN POND.
Lemmon and Curtis in SOME LIKE IT HOT.
Liza and Joel in CABARET.
Rex in MY FAIR LADY.
Yul and Kerr in THE KING AND I.
Tim Curry in ROCKY HORROR.
Tony Perkins in PSYCHO.
Streep in SOPHIE'S CHOICE.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 11:45am

I actually thought that Holly Hunter in "The Piano" was pretty damn amazing.

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 1:19pm

I have tried very hard not to duplicate any performances already listed, but it's just not possible. Off the top of my head, here's my list:

Jean-Louis Barrault in Children of Paradise
Pierre Brasseur in Children of Paradise
Jeanne Moreau in Jules and Jim
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Gary Cooper in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Orson Welles in The Third Man
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz
Marcello Mastroianni in 8 1/2
Jean Hagan in Singin' in the Rain ("Then everybody was a dope!" I love that line.)

Found a typo! Fixed it!

Updated On: 7/22/07 at 01:19 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 1:47pm

Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker
Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music
Robert Preston in The Music Man
Jimmy Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life
Cary Grant in North By Northwest
Patty Duke in Valley of the Dolls
Richard Burton in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Olivia De Havilland in The Snake Pit
Doris Day in Love Me Or Leave Me
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

Many more...
Updated On: 7/21/07 at 01:47 PM

[supportivemom]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 1:53pm

Maggie Smith in the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie- LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! this performance. All you youngsters need to get this movie! Also:
Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl
Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face
Julie Andrews in Sound of Music
Robin Williams in Dead Poet's Society
I'll think of more later- still tired from the Harry Potter book buying frenzy at midnight!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 2:01pm

These may be a bit more off the main, and are not in "film history" but of those I have seen that come to mind . . .

Mel Gibson - Tim
Linda Hunt - The Year of Living Dangerously
Ziyi Zhang - House of Flying Daggers
Gong Li - Raise the Red Lantern
Tom Cruise - Risky Business (hey - it was memorable)
Harrison Ford - Blade Runner
Anne Bancroft - The Graduate
Robin Williams - Good Morning Vietnam
Forrest Whitaker - The Crying Game
Anthony Perkins - Psycho

[Luscious]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 2:19pm

Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice should be at the top of any list. Best performance by an actress in the history of American cinema!

[supportivemom]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 2:26pm

Streep in just about anything is brilliant! I also loved Bancroft and MacLaine in The Turning Point!

[bschneid76]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 2:46pm

Maggie Smith -- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (I second that)
Geraldine Page -- The Trip to Bountiful
Greta Garbo -- Camille
Bette Davis -- The Little Foxes and Whatever Happenend to Baby Jane
James Stewart -- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Katharine Hepburn -- The Lion in Winter
Cary Grant -- North by Northwest
Judy Garland -- A Star is Born or Judgement at Nuremberg
Lillian Gish -- The Wind or The Whales of August
Clifton Webb -- Sitting Pretty or Laura
Barbara Stanwyck -- Stella Dallas or Sorry, Wrong Number
James Cagney -- Yankee Doodle Dandy
Edward G. Robinson -- Double Indemnity

[JKlock]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 3:49pm

Tom hanks - Forest Gump

[Dark_Angel]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 4:21pm

It's hard not to repeat some already listed but a memorable performance is one (almost) everyone remembers!

In no particular order, I just gathered 10 of my favorites:

Marlon Brando in THE GODFATHER
Gene Kelly in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
Diane Keaton in ANNIE HALL
Marilyn Monroe in GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
Sidney Poitier in TO SIR, WITH LOVE
John Travolta in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
Bette Davis in ALL ABOUT EVE
Natalie Wood in SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
Jennifer Hudson in DREAMGIRLS
Judy Garland in THE WIZARD OF OZ

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 5:00pm

Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple
Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense
Kathy Bates in Misery
Bette Midler in The Rose
Bette Davis in All About Eve
Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
John Gielgud in Arther
Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 5:47pm

I don't have time to make out a list, but I just want to add my two cents.

Amy Adams in JUNEBUG

[Roscoe]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 5:47pm

1. Margaret Hamilton in THE WIZARD OF OZ
2. Marlon Brando in STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
3. Lon Chaney in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
4. The entire cast of 8 1/2
5. Toshiro Mifune in SEVEN SAMURAI
6. John Barrymore in TWENTIETH CENTURY
7. Bert Lahr in THE WIZARD OF OZ
8. The entire cast of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
9. Mel Blanc in Warner Brothers animated cartoons.
10. The entire cast of NOTORIOUS

[AbbaRabbit]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 7:47pm

johnny depp in edward scissorhands

i'll add more later

i dont feel like thinking right now

Updated On: 7/21/07 at 07:47 PM

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 7:56pm

Thanks for this thread, Besty.
In no particular order, except for my top choice:
Meryl Streep in SOPHIE'S CHOICE
Bette Davis in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE
Matt Damon in THE TALENTED MR.RIPLEY
Marissa Tomei in MY COUSIN VINNY
Rita Moreno in WEST SIDE STORY
Cher in MOONSTRUCK
Dennis Quaid in FAR FROM HEAVEN
Liza Minnelli in CABARET
Kate Winslet in LITTLE CHILDREN
Antonia San Juan in ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER

Updated On: 7/21/07 at 07:56 PM

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 7:59pm

I'm too exhausted from a 10-hour reading of the new Harry Potter book to compile a complete list, but I KNOW it would include Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 8:21pm

What about Johnny Depp in The Libertine?

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 8:23pm

In No Order

Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard
Orson Wells - Citizen Kane
Anne Bancroft - The Graduate
Zero Mostel - The Producers
Julie Andrews - Mary Poppins
Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Tom Hanks - Forrest Gump
Marlon Brando - The Godfather
Mena Suvari - American Beauty
Reese Witherspoon - Election

Updated On: 7/21/07 at 08:23 PM

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 8:25pm

It's cool to see more people recognizing CITIZEN KANE. It's kind of a forgotten gem.

[artscallion]

Posted: 7/21/07 at 10:00pm

Meryl Streep - Sophie's Choice
Judy Garland - A Star is Born
Marilyn Monroe - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Divine - Female Trouble
Bette Davis - All About Eve
Peter Sellers - Being There
Julliane Moore - The Hours
Toni Collette - Muriel's Wedding
Elizabeth Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Natalie Wood - West Side Story

[RockabyeHamlet]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 3:06am

I have to add:

Olivia DeHavillad in Gone With The Wind.
Margaret O'Brian in either Meet Me In St. Louis or Little Women.

[DG]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 3:25am

"It's cool to see more people recognizing CITIZEN KANE. It's kind of a forgotten gem."

You do realize that this is the film most often cited as the best American one ever made, don't you?

I don't think that earns it the distinction of a 'forgotten gem'.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 3:26am

Exactly, there is nothing that screams "forgotten gem" about CITIZEN CANE.