1954 Academy Awards® Winners and History Supporting Actress: EVA MARIE SAINT in "On The Waterfront" , Nina Foch in "Executive Suite", Katy Jurado in "Broken Lance", Jan Sterling in "The High and the Mighty", Claire Trevor in "The High and the Mighty" Director: "On The Waterfront" , Alfred Hitchcock for "Rear Window" , George Seaton for "The Country Girl", William Wellman for "The High and the Mighty", Billy Wilder for "Sabrina" The Best Picture winner (of producer Sam Spiegel), director Elia Kazan's semi-documentary, expose, and thriller, On The Waterfront (with twelve nominations and eight wins) matched two other films with eight wins - but they each had thirteen nominations: From Here to Eternity (1953) The awards for the top winner this year included: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Story/Screenplay (Budd Schulberg), Best B/W Cinematography (Boris Kaufman), Best B/W Art/Set Direction, and Best Film Editing.

The low-budget, black and white Best Picture was filmed entirely on location in Hoboken and told the gritty story of New York dock workers, brutality, corruption, and embroilment with a gangster union boss. It provided an expose of union racketeering while showcasing the murder of an innocent longshoreman. Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg justified their own naming of names (blacklisting-testimony against alleged Communists) as friendly witnesses before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the early 50s with the film's story of an heroic longshoreman informant Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) who stood alone and turned witness against the corrupt and intimidating union bosses and became a marked 'pigeon'. The film marked a comeback for Brando, who hadn't won a Best Actor Oscar - yet.

Losing to the Best Picture winner were these four films: director George Seaton's and Clifford Odets' backstage melodrama The Country Girl (with seven nominations and two wins - Best Actress and Best Screenplay) about the comeback attempt of an alcoholic singer Fox's light CinemaScope travelogue/romance by director Jean Negulesco about three women romantically involved with Italian men in Rome, Three Coins in the Fountain (with three nominations and two wins - Best Color Cinematography (for Milton Krasner) and Best Song, the title song "Three Coins in the Fountain" - remarkably defeating Judy Garland's "The Man That Got Away" in A Star Is Born ) another CinemaScope film and one of the best musical/dance films ever made by director Stanley Donen, MGM's Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (with five nominations and only one win - Best Musical Score) about seven fur-trapping brothers in the Oregon Territory who gradually find wives, starring Jane Powell and Howard Keel the courtroom drama about a naval mutiny based on Herman Wouk's novel, The Caine Mutiny (with seven nominations and no wins) from director Edward Dmytryk Elia Kazan, director of the dockside drama On The Waterfront won his second

 (and last) Oscar, defeating among others director Alfred Hitchcock, who was also nominated for Rear Window .

[The famed suspense/thriller director Alfred Hitchcock has always appeared to be discriminated against by the Academy - he never won a Best Director Oscar out of five tries - Rear Window , and Psycho (1960) . His only Best Director nomination for a color film occurred in this year. Hitchcock resorted to receiving an Honorary Award in 1967.] George Seaton was nominated for two-Oscar winner The Country Girl (Seaton's screenplay for the film was honored with an Oscar for Best Screenplay). William Wellman (who won his only Oscar for Original Story for the earliest film version of A Star is Born (1937)), was nominated for The High and the Mighty. [Wellman had been directing films since 1929 including such memorable films as The Public Enemy (1931) , Nothing Sacred (1937), Beau Geste (1939) , The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) , and The Story of G.I.

Joe (1945), but he was nominated only one other time as Best Director for Battleground (1949) - and he lost then too.] Finally, Billy Wilder, who was also nominated for his screenplay for Sabrina, lost the Best Director award as well. Director Stanley Donen (always snubbed as Best Director), whose superb film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was nominated for Best Picture, was missing from the Best Director nominees. [Donen finally received an Honorary Award in 1997 -- 43 years later.] 1954 was another upset year in the Academy Awards, particularly in the Best Actor and Actress categories, where each favored nominee lost. Marlon Brando's Best Actor victory (he was "a contender" with his fourth consecutive nomination since 1951, and first win!) was for his role as the confused, ex-prizefighter and roughneck longshoreman Terry Malloy, a racketeer's stooge in Elia Kazan's On The Waterfront . The win was a surprise one (Bing Crosby was favored), but a deserved one. His transformation from passive dockworker to a crusader against trade-union tyranny is impressive.

Other Best Actor-nominated performers included distinguished performances: Bing Crosby (with his third and final career nomination) as an against-type, has-been alcoholic actor/singer Frank Elgin in the depressing, realistic drama The Country Girl, one of Crosby's four dramatic roles James Mason (with his first of three unsuccessful nominations) as ruined, alcoholic actor Norman Maine in A Star Is Born (with six nominations and no wins). (In a long career, Mason had only a total of three nominations including later films Georgy Girl (1966) and The Verdict (1982) - Mason never won an Oscar.) Humphrey Bogart (with his third and last career nomination) in the memorable role as paranoid, twitchy, and disintegrating Captain Queeg who is obsessed with cleanliness and rolls steel ball bearings in his hand on the witness stand in The Caine Mutiny .

[Bogart's only win, often seen as a 'payback' career Oscar, came three years earlier for The African Queen (1951) - when he also competed against Brando with his superior performance in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) .] Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy (with his sole career nomination) as castaway Robinson Crusoe in the film adaptation of Defoe's novel in the Luis Bunuel-directed Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (the film's sole nomination) Crosby's co-star in The Country Girl, Grace Kelly, was nominated (with her second consecutive nomination - and her last career nomination) for her de-glamorized role as his frumpy, slatternly, dowdy, embittered wife Georgie Elgin (with horn-rimmed spectacles and a shapeless cardigan sweater), and she won the Best Actress award - her sole win. In her role, William Holden's interest in her destroys her husband's (Bing Crosby) sobered, singing comeback.

[Kelly probably won the Best Actress Award because she was being rewarded for a very versatile year - she appeared in five films in 1954: the other three films were Dial M for Murder, Green Fire, The Bridges at Toko-Ri and Rear Window . Kelly had been better suited in more romantic, sleek, and stylish roles in films such as To Catch a Thief (1955) and High Society (1956).] The other Best Actress nominees included: veteran musical-performer Judy Garland, who was favored to win because of a return to film after four years of personal problems, including breakdowns, attempted suicide, drug problems, and bankruptcy. With her first of two unsuccessful career nominations, Judy Garland played the wife of an alcoholic - a comeback role as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester in George Cukor's remake of the 1937 Fredric March/Janet Gaynor film - Roman Holiday (1953) , but would never win another Oscar.] On The Waterfront was one of only a few films in cinematic history that received multiple acting nominations in the same category.

[Other films with three nominees in direct competition with each other in the same category include: Tom Jones (1963), The Godfather (1972) , and The Godfather, Part II (1974) .] Three out of the five nominees for Best Supporting Actor were from the major Oscar winner of 1954, but the roles seemed to cancel each other out and give the vote to the victor: Karl Malden (with his second and last career nomination) played the concerned, liberal, militant waterfront and neighborhood priest Father Barry Lee J. Cobb (with his first of two unsuccessful career nominations) portrayed the unscrupulous, arrogant gangster/union boss-racketeer Johnny Friendly Rod Steiger (with his first of three career nominations) was in one of his best career roles as crooked, opportunistic lawyer Charley Malloy (Marlon Brando's brother) working for the racketeer boss The fourth nominee was Tom Tully (with his sole career nomination) as The Caine's skipper Captain DeVriess (before Bogart took charge) in The Caine Mutiny .

The upset winner in the category was Edmond O'Brien (with his first of two career nominations - and his sole Oscar) as flamboyant, sweaty, slimy and nervous Hollywood publicist/press agent Oscar Muldoon who helps Humphrey Bogart promote a Spanish dancer (the beautiful Ava Gardner) in director Joseph Mankiewicz's trashy melodrama The Barefoot Contessa (with two nominations and one win - Best Supporting Actor). [O'Brien would be nominated only one other time in his career, for Seven Days in May (1964).] In the role of a courageous young, convent-bred daughter of a longshoreman named Edie Doyle (who becomes Marlon Brando's devoted girlfriend at the end) in On The Waterfront , TV and stage actress Eva Marie Saint (with her sole career nomination - and only Oscar win for her first screen role) won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. It was her debut film - and although she was a leading lady in the film, her Best Supporting Actress nomination helped to assure her win.

[Other actresses in future years who would win similar Best Supporting Actress awards for central starring roles include Goldie Hawn in Cactus Flower (1969), Jessica Lange in Tootsie (1982), Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist (1988), and Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny (1992).] The other Best Supporting Actress nominees were: Nina Foch (with her sole career nomination) as chic, but grief-stricken secretary Erica Martin in director Robert Wise's Executive Suite (with four nominations and no wins) Mexican-born actress Katy Jurado (with her sole career nomination) as Senora Devereaux (Spencer Tracy's Comanche wife) in Broken Lance (with two nominations and one win - Best Motion Picture Story) [Jurado was more memorable in High Noon (1952) but un-nominated] and two co-stars of director William Wellman's The High and the Mighty (with six nominations and one win - Best Dramatic Score) - a suspenseful airline drama with John Wayne as the airline pilot: Jan Sterling (with her sole career nomination) as mail-order bride and plane passenger Sally McKee and Claire Trevor (with her third and last career

 nomination) as aging, jaded, and bitter beauty May Hoist The Best Color Costume Design Oscar was presented to Sanzo Wada for Gate of Hell - this marked the first Japanese-made film to win a competitive award.

To compensate for the fact that screen legend Greta Garbo had never received a competitive Best Actress Oscar, she was belatedly presented with a special Honorary statue "for her unforgettable screen performances" - thirteen years after her retirement from her last film, Two-Faced Woman. [Garbo had four career nominations for exceptional definitive roles including Anna Christie (1929-30) and Romance (1929-30), Camille (1936) and Ninotchka (1939) .] Another Honorary Award was presented to the versatile, red-haired comic Danny Kaye, for "his unique talents, his service to the Academy, the motion picture industry, and the American people." He never even received a nomination throughout his entire film career, that was marked by such great films as Wonder Man (1945), The Kid From Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), Knock on Wood (1954), and The Court Jester (1956) .

Oscar Snubs and Omissions: While Hitchcock was nominated as Best Director for Rear Window , the film should have also been nominated for Best Picture, replacing inferior films such as: Three Coins in the Fountain, The Caine Mutiny , and The Country Girl. Three stars of Rear Window (with four nominations, and none for acting), James Stewart (as 'Jeff' Jefferies), Grace Kelly (as Lisa Carol Fremont), and Thelma Ritter (as Stella) were not nominated (the studio - Paramount - promoted Kelly in its other film The Country Girl instead). Another better candidate for Best Picture which wasn't nominated was George Cukor's A Star Is Born , due in part to Warner Bros.' decision to ignore the film during Academy promotions. Director Nicholas Ray's independent, odd cult Western Johnny Guitar with Sterling Hayden, Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge in lead roles, was entirely unnominated. Two other films that deserved more recognition included Douglas Sirk's melodramatic Magnificent Obsession with Jane Wyman (who received a Best Actress nomination, the film's sole honor) and Rock Hudson, and John Huston's quirky adventure comedy Beat the Devil (without nominations) with Humphrey Bogart.

And why wasn't Fred MacMurray nominated (he was never nominated in his entire career) instead of Tom Tully, for his stronger performance as cynical troublemaker Captain Keefer in The Caine Mutiny ? And Charles Laughton was neglected for his role as Henry Horatio Hobson in David Lean's un-nominated British comedy Hobson's Choice. Judy Holliday failed to receive a nomination for her role as Gladys Glover in another Gordon-Kanin-Cukor comedy/satire It Should Happen to You (a film with only one nomination - Best Costume Design) - she co-starred with Jack Lemmon in his film debut. American-born Composer Larry Adler (blacklisted and self-exiled in England) saw his nominated score for Genevieve credited to conductor-arranger Muir Matheson. (The Academy would correct the nomination in 1986.) And the great choreographer Michael Kidd (with no career nominations), responsible for the high-stepping and dancing in Best Picture-nominated Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, finally was given some recognition by a special Honorary Award in 1996 presented by the Academy.

Fritz and the Oscars: Best Actress 1954: Grace Kelly in "The Country Girl" 2/25/2011 Best Actress 1954: Grace Kelly in "The Country Girl" “So the award for the best performance by an actress… Grace Kelly for The Country Girl.” Cheers and applause from the audience. And in just a few seconds, Oscar legend was born. Grace Kelly’s win for Best Actress is probably among the most discussed and, yes, most disliked Oscar wins ever. Few seem actually have seen her performance but the fact that the by now legendary work by Judy Garland in the musical A Star is Born did not win the gold is almost always called an outrage, a shock, a scandal – apparently by everybody. How many myths surround this win – Grace Kelly won by only 7 votes, she slept with every Academy member, Judy was too unpopular in Hollywood, her movie and her performance butchered in the editing room. A lot of scenarios try to be found to explain this shocking upset – but was this really an upset? Let’s have a quick look at the facts.

Grace Kelly – a beautiful, popular and new star at the peak of her career, shows her range by hiding her beauty and takes a challenging character role that wins raves from the critics, appears in no less than 4 movies in 1954, wins awards from the National Board of Review, the New York Film Critics and the Golden Globes, stars in a movie that is nominated in all the major categories and followed her Best Actress nomination with a nomination for Supporting Actress just the year before. Judy Garland, popular child actress, makes a triumphant comeback in a role that offers her the possibility to impress with drama and singing and that critics call the greatest one-woman show in modern movie history, wins the Golden Globe and the admiration of her peers but A Star is Born isn’t the financial success people thought it would be and fails to be nominated for any major awards except Actor and Actress at the Academy Awards. So, even with her outstanding reviews – to call Judy Garland an overwhelming frontrunner is to rewrite history, something that is so often done whenever a past win, from today’s point of view, seems surprising.

Judy Holliday was just as much a favorite for the Oscar as Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson in 1950, but today, her win has been changed into a ‘shocking upset’. Looking at the facts back in 1954, Grace Kelly certainly must have had the edge for the win in what was probably a close two-horse-race – and expectedly won in the end. As for all the legends surrounding this win – not even Hedda Hopper could have known the outcome of the race and the number of votes each nominee received. The re-editing of A Star is Born – this might actually have done some damage since apparently crucial dramatic scenes were cut out but the remaining two and a half hours surely had still enough screen time for Judy Garland, especially compared to Grace Kelly whose movie was considerably shorter and featured three equal leads. And whoever thinks that Grace Kelly slept her way to an Oscar can’t be taken seriously… So, these were my two cents on the whole race.

I’m sure that everybody looks at the circumstances differently but personally, I refuse to believe that Grace Kelly’s win came out of nowhere as the TV-movie Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows or countless internet sites would make us like to believe. Interestingly enough both Grace Kelly and Judy Garland (and also Katharine Hepburn, Dorothy Dandridge, Giulietta Masina, Julie Harris and Marilyn Monroe) lost the BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress that year to Betsy Blair in Marty. So, not everyone focused the race between these two… Grace Kelly is often accused of Oscar-begging with her role but I doubt that she seriously had awards in mind when she lobbied for this part. For her it was clear that Georgie Elgin would help her to be finally taken seriously as an actress and to be recognized for more than just her gorgeous face. Looking back on her career, there was no actual need for Grace Kelly to prove herself with this unusual role – because she had already shown her talent with performances in Mogambo, Dial M for Murder or Rear Window. But it’s still a testament to her determination as a serious artist that she tried to expand herself to new territories.

The role of Georgie Elgin is often mentioned for not primarily focusing on Grace Kelly’s loveliness – it’s certainly true that her appearances in Rear Window or To Catch a Thief may be mostly remembered today for her almost unfathomable beauty but if there is one thing that Grace Kelly cannot be accused of as an actress is that she ever relied on her looks in her work. Instead, she always did her best to expand her role beyond the written word and, yes, her glamorous face and used her strong screen presence always with great effect even in parts that benefited from her beauty. But what made Grace Kelly such a fascinating screen presence? She didn’t possess the same angel-like quality as Audrey Hepburn or the extraordinary exoticism of Greta Garbo but she projected her surreal beauty in a way that allowed her to make her characters surprisingly deep and mysterious – because this beauty prevented her from captivating the audience immediately as Audrey Hepburn did because she almost perfected the image of the ‘cold blond’ which means that she is fascinating too look at but one doesn’t fall in love with her immediately just because of that.

Instead, there appears to be something mysterious and dangerous about her, sometimes even off-putting before she begins to build a connection to the viewer thanks to her creation of a character beyond the surface. Maybe that’s why her collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock are the most memorable of her career and her undeniable signature work. Her Lisa Fremont combines everything that Grace Kelly so exquisitely offered on the screen – beauty, class, elegance and a character that appears almost to be cryptic and distant at the beginning but has turned into a real three-dimensional person at the end. Few other actresses in Hollywood’s history displayed such a spellbinding beauty on the screen but Grace Kelly was always able to captivate with her play just as much as she did with her looks or her personality. She was not a perfect actress, certainly not, but she knew how to pick her roles and how to use this combination of talent, screen presence and personality to fill them. In 1954, Grace Kelly stepped out of her comfort zone to portray Georgie Elgin, the suffering wife of an alcoholic Broadway actor, played by Bing Crosby who also tried to show the audience that he was capable of more than singing “Tura-lura-lural” to Barry Fitzgerald.

It’s not hard to understand why Grace Kelly was so keen on playing this role – Georgie Elgin is a juicy role even though she may not have the same showy scenes as the character of Frank Elgin who suffers from self-hate, self-doubt and much more. But Georgie Elgin’s presence, almost the only female presence in this backstage-drama, so often changes and dominates the tone of the story and makes it easy for an actress to steal the show. After all, Uta Hagen won a Tony Award for her Broadway performance. And also Grace Kelly achieved to craft her version of Georgie Elgin in a way that provided the most interesting moments in The Country Girl. She is lingering above the proceedings like a ghost, William Holden’s character suspects her behind close doors and when she is not onscreen, she is mostly the topic of conversation. In this aspect, the characters of Georgie and Frank are very synonym – both characters are revealed step by step though the work of the actors and the conversations that are constantly held about them. Whatever the viewer learns about Georgie is through Grace Kelly’s work and what Frank and Bernie discuss about her.

Georgie Elgin is also the only character who really seems to have more inside her than initially shown – there is a reason why the play and the movie are called The Country Girl even though her character doesn’t seem to be the central one at first. Only bit by bit it becomes clear how domineering her role really is, how she handles both her husband and his director and constantly communicates between them – so many words are spoken in this movie but still everyone seems constantly to beat about the bush when it comes to the truth. In this backstage-drama, Grace Kelly has even a more ‘backstage-role’ than anyone else – unlike Judy Garland in A Star is Born she doesn’t share her husband’s profession. The ‘suffering wife’ seems to be all that there is for her and she is almost trapped in the background of the background. But she never loses her influence over the proceedings and contact to the story. The suffering wife is a role that seems impossible to play in a way that doesn’t please the Academy. Luise Rainer in The Good Earth, Shirley Booth, Jennifer Connelly, Marcia Gay Harden – all of them stood by their men even if they only caused them pain and trouble.

It’s a noble view on troubled marriages that can only survive thanks to the strength and the courage of the wife. Grace Kelly’s portrayal also belongs into this group but what remains very fascinating about her is that a lot of times Georgie seems to make as much problems as she solves. She is her husband’s biggest fan but also his biggest critic, she supports him endlessly while showing that she comes to the point of not caring anymore, she is his wife, his mother, his grandmother all in one, a loving support and a prison guard. She is acting just as much as she is reacting – she is caught between being the power that influences her husband and being influenced by him herself. There are a lot of aspects hidden in the character of Georgie Elgin while she has to deal not only with her husband but also with Bernie Dodd, a theatre director who casts Frank in his newest play – and almost right from the start dislikes Georgie and sees her as the main reason for Frank’s poor condition. Grace Kelly is often accused of being miscast in the role because of her age and her beauty. But these accusations are debatable.

Yes, Grace Kelly was too young – at age 25, she is clearly not in the position to tell Bernie Dodd that she took care of ‘a cunning drunkard for ten years’. But this is strangely not a real problem – I know that women don’t like to hear that they look older than they really are but there was something incredibly mature in Grace Kelly’s looks and work that, even in her earliest performance, her young age was never visible. She surely didn’t look old but she didn’t look young and naïve either. The complains about her beauty actually don’t make a lot of sense to me. Nothing in the movie suggests that Georgie is supposed to be unattractive – rather she is presented as a woman who once possessed a lot of style and grace but the years of taking care of her husband have made her stop caring about her looks. She lives in a small, cheap apartment and understandably sees no sense in dressing like a fashion model but at the same time, she doesn’t actively try to look unattractive. In this way, Grace Kelly’s looks work very well for her characterization which also builds a lot on the sexual tension between Georgie and Bernie Dodd and also makes it understandable why he is having such struggling feelings about her.

Grace Kelly displays her ability to capture the audience right from the first moment when she opens the door of her flat and appears for the first time. She effectively demonstrates that Georgie hates the superiority of Bernie Dodd who has his own ideas about what is going on, telling Georgie how to dress, acting as if he knows more about Frank than his wife does. Grace Kelly wonderfully shows how much she rejects him immediately for this presumptuousness since in reality he doesn’t know anything at all. When she tells him that she is just a girl from the country she immediately creates a distance between herself and him and perfectly anchors the tone of the story to follow in those moments. She also finds a great way to reject Bernie Dodd as a person and an admirer of her husband. The look on her face when she lets Bernie play a record of his idol which turns out to be a banal jingle shows how much Georgie is already caught in her own misery. She clearly wants Frank to be a success again but at the same time she knows what he can do and what he can’t – and she is not sure if Bernie is the right person to bring him back on the stage even though she later admits that he likes his statement about ‘no pity’ for Frank.

Georgie Elgin is a role that could be played and interpreted in many ways and Grace Kelly risked a lot by not going the easy route by showing Georgie as a helpless victim of her husband’s addiction – instead, she was not afraid to demonstrate how sick she seems to be of the man she shares a little flat with. She is surprisingly mean-spirited in a role that usually asks for the audience’s sympathy in every frame of the picture. She constantly does her best to help him, acting out of habit, but she very often does it with a noticeable annoyance and anger. If there is one word that can describe the character of Georgie best it’s exhausted. Exhausted of watching her husband like a little child, constantly trying to get him going while also having to suffer the accusations and suspicions of Bernie Dodd. Grace Kelly shows these sides of Georgie very convincingly – her hanging shoulders, her exhausted face, her depressed walk appear very natural and never seem like an attempt by Grace Kelly to demonstrate her skills. But besides these moments of exhaustion, there are also her constant fights with Frank. She clearly wants him to work again – for her own sake as much as for his.

She wants him to get out of his depression and start his life anew which would also give her the possibility to star anew herself – maybe without him. It seems as if it is only a sense of duty that is causing Georgie to stay with Frank – but when she tells Bernie later that she has already left him twice and returned each time, it becomes clear that there is more connecting these two persons. There is still love underneath it all and Grace Kelly’s and Bing Crosby’s wonderful chemistry makes this very believable since it never appears illogical that these two spend their lives together. Grace Kelly never overdoes her feelings of dislike towards Frank and instead lets Georgie constantly shift in her own emotions. This way, she constantly keeps the viewer guessing about her character’s intentions. Because of that, she becomes a character that is fascinating to speculate about – which works well for and in Grace Kelly’s performance but at the same time a closer look at her work makes it clear that she also benefits a great deal from the writing which helps her performance often look better than it actually is.

But at the same time it is Grace Kelly’s dedication to the role and her cold and mysterious screen personality which can so easily captivate the viewer’s attention that helps her to add a lot to the interpretation of the role. Just as Georgie Elgin helps Grace Kelly to appear better than she really is, Grace Kelly also helps Georgie Elgin to appear more interesting than she otherwise might be. There are so many aspects of Georgie Elgin that seem to be unspoken of or suppressed by herself. Even though the part is mostly (also by me) reduced to the suffering wife who has to live with her husband’s addiction, Grace Kelly shows more – she demonstrates how Georgie doesn’t only seem to suffer from her husband’s guilt, but also from her own grief. The whole story never mentions Georgie’s role as a mother – it completely focuses on Frank’s guilt but how did Georgie react to the death of her son? Did she ever get the chance to grief herself? It seems that she is caught in a situation where her own life is dominated by the problems of her husband and overshadows even her own role in this tragedy. She has to take care of the man who was in some way responsible – did she ever blame him for what happened?

On the other side, Grace Kelly also works very well with William Holden – she uses the sexual tension between them to show how much Georgie has already suppressed every kind of sexual feeling inside her. When William Holden kisses her, it’s the second real contact between them – following another scene in which she slapped him. Up to this point, it seems as if Grace Kelly’s Georgie rejected her own feminity – it seems impossible that she and Frank ever made love since the accident of their child and when she tells Bernie that she didn’t inform him that Frank was away all night because he might have been with another woman, Grace Kelly delivers the line in such a matter-of-fact way that another one of her lines, that nobody ever looked at her as a woman, becomes much more memorable because this surely also includes her own husband. As mentioned, the viewer learns only about Georgie by Grace Kelly’s performance and the conversations about her. And Grace Kelly’s performance works very well in harmony with this dialogue since the stories of Frank and the accusations of Bernie turn Georgie into an almost impossible woman and Grace Kelly’s Georgie adds to these speculations by never revealing her true character.

She constantly tries to fight with Bernie about Frank but at the same time she doesn’t seem able to stand up for herself in these moments. She always has to take the blame for everything that Frank wants or does since he is so keen on being loved by everyone that he is even willing to let his wife be hated by everyone. Grace Kelly’s work with the dialogue of Georgie is very often thrilling in her moments of defeat, especially when she is reduced to tears in a dark alley and Frank tells her that all the others finally have respect for him. Georgie affirms his thoughts but Grace Kelly’s delivery of the line ‘Yes, they have respect for you’ magnificently also hints at the unspoken truth – that nobody has respect for her. She also finds the exact right tone for the question ‘When did you get these, Frank?’ after Georgie finds two empty bottles of Whisky – her voice is completely rid of any emotion or energy and Georgie’s exhaustion and inability to fight him anymore has never been more obvious. What Grace Kelly did most effectively in her performance was not to work too much against her usual acting style.

She obviously tries to do something different but at the same time Georgie is a woman who has more in common with her other movie characters than visible at the first moment. Because of that, Grace Kelly both hides and uses her usual acting style in this role. While she is usually a symbol of elegance and grace, there is also always something remarkably down-to-earth in all her performances – which works particularly well in The Country Girl. The flashback-scenes make clear that Georgie used to be a woman like the ones she usually plays – but her personal story didn’t go on the way she expected. In the movie version of The Country Girl, Georgie Elgin is like Lisa Fremont or Frances Stevens – if Lisa or Frances had married Frank Elgin. Grace Kelly always seems to play women who know either too much or too little – Georgie Elgin somehow falls in the middle of this spectrum. That’s why the casting of Grace Kelly makes actually much more sense than usually acknowledged. She doesn’t really play against type but combines her usual screen-technique with a new dimension of silent suffering. So, as mentioned above, Georgie and Grace form a very strong connection in which they both help each other and achieve a higher level.

But ultimately, it must be said that Grace Kelly benefits more from Georgie than the other way around. The character is difficult without being ‘too difficult’ (Georgie Elgin is certainly no Blanche DuBois) that many actresses, even average ones, could still score very high. Grace Kelly clearly understands the thoughts and feelings of Georgie but she sometimes seems to suffer from the writing which can’t always make up its mind about Georgie and the dialogue that is often very heavy-handed. Georgie often changes from being strangely distant and cold to helpless and worried in a few seconds and while it does seem to make sense that she is a prisoner of her own feelings of love and hate for Frank and of passion and hate for Bernie which makes her constantly shift her mood, sometimes Grace Kelly doesn’t seem able to fully express what she wants to express. Like Anne Baxter, she suffers from having great instincts for a part but lacking the necessary overall level of talent to convey them. Grace Kelly’s great instincts, her personality which she uses so wisely in this role, and her dedication to the part help her to achieve a lot – but her performance is not flawless.

While Grace Kelly acted surprisingly intense and unobtrusive at the same time, her performance still also finds various downs to go with her ups – often in one scene, often in just a few seconds. Grace Kelly can be brilliant and adequate in the same monologue and she can deliver her lines with a gripping determination or an almost amateurish undecidedness. Grace Kelly’s probably greatest achievement in this role is the fact that she remains captivating and intriguing even in her less satisfying moments thanks to her dedication, her use of her screen presence and her grip on the character of Georgie whom she clearly understands – but just like Grace Kelly was not a perfect actress, this is not a perfect performance. As mentioned, she sometimes lacks the ability to express herself in the right way – her performance mostly suffers from a lot of the usual melodramatic acting style that is so visible in performances from the 50s. But in a year when Marlon Brando won the Oscar for On the Waterfront, Grace Kelly’s acting feels rather dated very often – the way she constantly moves her hands, as if she doesn’t know what to do with them, stares into the open space or closes her eyes and speaks with an affected whisper.

But these scenes are such a stark contrast to the flashback-scenes in which she is so natural that Grace Kelly may be praised for showing the change in Georgie’s body language – does she show a woman unable to fully communicate her own feelings and those of her husband, a woman who tries and tries and still achieves nothing? Her hands do seem to speak of a certain desperation. Is it brilliant acting or simply an actress not knowing how to handle a scene? Grace Kelly makes it hard to answer this question but she is somehow able to let her performance appear strong even when it is weak…but is this because of the strength of the part or because of her strength as an actress? It’s a performance that both seems like a logical Oscar choice because of its moments of brilliance but also appears to be right out of a high school drama club at the same time. Grace Kelly seems to explore her talents while she is acting, as if she isn’t sure herself how far she can go. She also often feels misdirected, especially in her more dramatic scenes.

After the kiss between Georgie and Bernie she turns to the camera and talks into open space, with half-closed eyes and a voice that booms with melodrama – it’s one of her weakest moments that probably could have been done much better, even by Grace herself if she had been allowed to move more natural. What does the most harm to an overall wonderful performance is unfortunately Grace Kelly herself – she has the right instincts for the part, she doesn’t try to change herself as an actress and is obviously dedicated to achieve high results. But sometimes, this dedication makes her go too far. Grace Kelly’s active downplaying of Georgie Elgin is unfortunately a slight exaggeration and often plays against her overall interpretation and the presentation of Georgie by the script. Grace Kelly often tries too hard in her efforts to be dramatic – she appears to put Georgie Elgin on a pedestal and worships her at her feet as the ultimate coronation of artistic creation. Grace Kelly doesn’t make the mistake of taking herself too seriously – but unfortunately she takes Georgie too seriously. That’s why her performance feels rather standard a lot of times because she seems to act her in the way that she thinks she is expected to.

She tries to live up to the drama of the role and threatens to delivery every line with a milking for dramatic effect, always afraid to let Georgie down. That way she missed to insert more life into her, even a lighter touch could have been needed sometimes. Because of this, her work feels too unoriginal very often and her gestures too anticipated. The arguments that Grace was either too young or too beautiful for this role may make no sense to me but I can understand another argument that is often used against her – her inexperience. Grace Kelly did attend acting school, she had worked with directors like Fred Zinnemann, John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock, had appeared on the stage and on television but this still cannot replace years of experience and learning-by-doing. She didn’t have time yet to fully develop as an actress, especially when she enters new territory. Grace Kelly did a lot remarkably right in her performance and exceeded all expectations but there’s no sense in denying that a more seasoned actress still could have done a lot more. But these negative aspects shouldn’t distract from the overall very positive effect of Grace Kelly’s work.

Her melodramatic style, even if dated, surprisingly doesn’t feel too out-of-places in the structure of The Country Girl and her instincts helped her overall to achieve a very impressive and unforgettable performance. Grace Kelly also managed to combine all the various Georgies she is playing – her frumpy Georgie, her elegant Georgie in the flashback and her combination of both at the end never feel disjointed but are always connected in Grace’s play. I realize that I have written much more than I would usually do on a performance like this. Grace Kelly is neither among the best performances in this category which would make me praise her in detail nor is she among the worst performances which would make me explain my dislike in detail. It’s my urge to defend this performance because even though there are faults, Grace Kelly is still much more impressive than she is usually given credit for. Grace Kelly was always a fascinating actress on the screen – in The Country Girl, she is also be fascinating but most of all, she is interesting. It’s a very strong performance that realized all of the part’s possibilities and successfully showed new facets of Grace Kelly’s talents and personality.

Oscar has certainly done much worse than awarding this performance which gets Posted by Oscars' best actresses of all time - CNN.com Oscars' best actresses of all time By Lisa Respers France, CNN Updated 3:10 PM ET, Fri February 28, 2014 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Brie Larson accepts the best actress award at the 88th annual Academy Awards on February 28, 2016. Larson won for her role in "Room." Here are all the other actresses who have captured the prize over the years: Hide Caption 1 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Janet Gaynor (1929) – Douglas Fairbanks Sr. hands Janet Gaynor her best actress Oscar in 1929 for Gaynor's performance in the 1927 film ''Sunrise." It was the first best actress Oscar ever awarded. Hide Caption 2 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Mary Pickford (1930) – In 1930, there were actually two Oscar ceremonies.

Actress Mary Pickford, seen here, receives her best actress Oscar in April 1930 for her performance in the 1929 film "Coquette." Hide Caption 3 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Norma Shearer (1930) – Norma Shearer receives a best actress Oscar in October 1930 for her role in "The Divorcee." Giving her the award is Conrad Nagel, who starred with her in the film released earlier that year. Hide Caption 4 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Marie Dressler (1931) – Marie Dressler and Lionel Barrymore collect their best actress and best actor Oscars in 1931. Dressler won for "Min and Bill" and Barrymore won for "A Free Soul." Hide Caption 5 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Helen Hayes (1932) – Film producer Louis B. Mayer presents the best actress Oscar to Helen Hayes for her role in "The Sin of Madelon Claudet." Hide Caption 6 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Katharine Hepburn (1934) – Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

and Katharine Hepburn appear in the 1933 film "Morning Glory." Hepburn's performance earned her the best actress Oscar in 1934. There was no Academy Awards ceremony in 1933; films from that year and the last half of 1932 were eligible to win at the 1934 ceremony. Hide Caption 7 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Claudette Colbert (1935) – Claudette Colbert won the best actress Oscar in 1935 for "It Happened One Night," a film that was the first to win all five of the major Academy Award categories -- best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay. Hide Caption 8 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Bette Davis (1936) – Bette Davis and film producer Jack L. Warner hold Davis' best actress Oscar at the ceremony held in 1936.

Davis won her first Oscar for her role in the film "Dangerous." Hide Caption 9 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Luise Rainer (1937) – Luise Rainer, second from left, is seen at the 1937 ceremony with, from left, Louis B. Mayer, Louise Tracy and Frank Capra. Rainer won for "The Great Ziegfeld." Hide Caption 10 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Luise Rainer (1938) – For her performance in "The Good Earth," Luise Rainer won the best actress Oscar for the second consecutive year.

Hide Caption Bette Davis (1939) – Bette Davis won her second Oscar in 1939, this time for "Jezebel." Hide Caption 12 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Vivien Leigh (1940) – Vivien Leigh accepts her Oscar in 1940 for her performance in "Gone With the Wind." Hide Caption 13 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ginger Rogers (1941) – Actors James Stewart and Ginger Rogers smile after winning Oscars in 1941.

Stewart won best actor for his performance in "The Philadelphia Story," while Rogers won best actress for her performance in "Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman." Hide Caption 14 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Joan Fontaine (1942) – Joan Fontaine looks at the best actress Oscar she won for her role in the film "Suspicion." Hide Caption 15 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Greer Garson (1943) – After winning the best actress Oscar in 1943, Greer Garson gets a congratulatory kiss from her "Mrs. Miniver" co-star Walter Pidgeon. Hide Caption 16 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jennifer Jones (1944) – Jennifer Jones holds the best actress Oscar she won in 1944 for her performance in "Song of Bernadette." To her right is actress Ingrid Bergman. Hide Caption 17 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ingrid Bergman (1945) – Ingrid Bergman didn't have to wait long to hold her own best actress award.

Here, she poses with the Oscar she earned for her role in the film "Gaslight." Hide Caption 18 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Joan Crawford (1946) – Joan Crawford receives her Academy Award in bed because of an illness. She was recognized for her performance in the 1945 film "Mildred Pierce." Hide Caption 19 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Olivia de Havilland (1947) – Olivia de Havilland receives her best actress Oscar from actor Ray Milland for her performance in "To Each His Own." Hide Caption 20 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Loretta Young (1948) – Loretta Young, second from left, won the best actress Oscar in 1948 for her role in "Farmer's Daughter." Hide Caption 21 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jane Wyman (1949) – Jane Wyman stands by a doorway backstage at the Academy Awards.

She won her best actress Oscar for the film "Johnny Belinda." Hide Caption 22 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Olivia de Havilland (1950) – Olivia de Havilland looks at her two best actress Oscars. She won her second in 1950 for her role in "The Heiress." Hide Caption 23 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Judy Holliday (1951) – Judy Holliday bursts into tears in 1951 after winning the best actress Oscar for her performance in "Born Yesterday." Hide Caption 24 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Vivien Leigh (1952) – Vivien Leigh appears with Karl Malden in "A Streetcar Named Desire." Her performance in the film earned her a second Oscar. Hide Caption 25 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Shirley Booth (1953) – Shirley Booth wins the best actress Oscar for "Come Back, Little Sheba" in 1953.

Hide Caption 26 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Audrey Hepburn (1954) – Audrey Hepburn is surrounded by reporters as she holds her best actress Oscar for "Roman Holiday." Hide Caption 27 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Grace Kelly (1955) – Grace Kelly poses with her Oscar after the Academy Awards ceremony in 1955. She won the statuette for her role in "The Country Girl." Hide Caption 28 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Anna Magnani (1956) – Anna Magnani enthusiastically holds the Oscar she won for "Rose Tattoo." The award was presented to her by U.S. Ambassador Clare Luce at the Villa Taverna in Rome. Hide Caption 29 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ingrid Bergman (1957) – Ingrid Bergman, right, appears with Helen Hayes in a scene from the movie "Anastasia." Her performance earned her a second Oscar for best actress.

Hide Caption 30 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Joanne Woodward (1958) – Joanne Woodward smiles while holding her best actress Oscar (and a cigarette). She received the award for her role in the film "Three Faces of Eve." Hide Caption 31 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Susan Hayward (1959) – From left, actor Burl Ives, actress Susan Hayward and actor David Niven pose with their Oscars in 1959.

Hayward won for her role in "I Want to Live!" Hide Caption 32 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Simone Signoret (1960) – Actress Simone Signoret, seen here next to actor Rock Hudson at the Academy Awards ceremony in 1960, won the best actress Oscar for her role in "Room at the Top." Hide Caption 33 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Elizabeth Taylor (1961) – Elizabeth Taylor is seen with her Oscar after being named best actress for her part in "Butterfield 8." Hide Caption Sophia Loren (1962) – Sophia Loren reacts after winning best actress for the film "La Ciociara." Hide Caption 35 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Anne Bancroft (1963) – Anne Bancroft cries in her New York apartment as she accepts a congratulatory phone call following her win for "The Miracle Worker." Hide Caption 36 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Patricia Neal (1964) – Patricia Neal and her three children look at her Oscar statuette, which she won in 1964 for her role in "

Hud." Hide Caption 37 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Julie Andrews (1965) – Julie Andrews looks at the Academy Award she won for "Mary Poppins'" in 1965.

The role was her film debut. Hide Caption 38 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Julie Christie (1966) – Julie Christie is seen with her Academy Award, which she won for her role in "Darling." Hide Caption 39 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Elizabeth Taylor (1967) – Elizabeth Taylor holds up her second Oscar, this one for the film "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf." Hide Caption 40 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Katharine Hepburn (1968) – Katharine Hepburn and Cecil Kellaway appear in a scene from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." Hepburn won her second Oscar more than 30 years after her first. Hide Caption 41 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Barbra Streisand (1969) – Barbra Streisand gazes at the best actress statuette she won for "Funny Girl." There was a tie for the award in 1969, with the other winner being Katharine Hepburn.

Hide Caption 42 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Katharine Hepburn (1969) – Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole appear in "The Lion in Winter." The film earned Hepburn her third Oscar for best actress. Hide Caption 43 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Maggie Smith (1970) – Maggie Smith, who won for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," celebrates with her husband at the time, Robert Stephens. Hide Caption 44 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Glenda Jackson (1971) – Glenda Jackson won the best actress Oscar for her part in "Women In Love." Hide Caption Liza Minnelli (1973) – Liza Minnelli holds the Oscar she won for "Cabaret." Hide Caption 47 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Glenda Jackson (1974) – George Segal and Glenda Jackson appear in a scene from "A Touch of Class," which snagged Jackson the best actress Oscar in 1974.

Hide Caption 48 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Ellen Burstyn (1975) – Ellen Burstyn, left, appears in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," which won her the best actress Oscar in 1975. Hide Caption 49 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Louise Fletcher (1976) – From left, producer Saul Zaentz, actor Jack Nicholson, actress Louise Fletcher and producer Michael Douglas pose with their Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards ceremony. They all won for the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," which swept the major categories that year. Hide Caption 50 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Faye Dunaway (1977) – Faye Dunaway rests by the Beverly Hills Hotel swimming pool the morning after she received the best actress Oscar for "Network." Hide Caption 51 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Diane Keaton (1978) – Diane Keaton places her Oscar on a restaurant table after the Academy Awards ceremony in 1978.

She received the award for her role in "Annie Hall." Hide Caption 52 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jane Fonda (1979) – Jane Fonda is ecstatic about winning her second Academy Award, this one for "Coming Home." Hide Caption Cher (1988) – Cher wears that dress in 1988, when she won the Academy Award for "Moonstruck." Hide Caption 62 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jodie Foster (1989) – Jodie Foster holds her Oscar in the press room after winning for her role in "The Accused." Hide Caption 63 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jessica Tandy (1990) – Jessica Tandy acknowledges applause after receiving the Oscar for her role in "Driving Miss Daisy." Hide Caption 64 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Kathy Bates (1991) – Kathy Bates, far left, clutches the best actress award for her role in "Misery." To her left are fellow Oscar winners Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg and Joe Pesci.

Hide Caption 65 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jodie Foster (1992) – Jodie Foster holds up her second Oscar, this one for her role in "The Silence of the Lambs." Hide Caption 66 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Emma Thompson (1993) – Emma Thompson poses with her Oscar after winning best actress for her role in "Howards End." Hide Caption 67 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Holly Hunter (1994) – Holly Hunter poses in the press room after being awarded the best actress Oscar for her performance in "The Piano." Hide Caption 68 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jessica Lange (1995) – Jessica Lange holds the Oscar she won for her role in the film "Blue Sky." Hide Caption Charlize Theron (2004) – Charlize Theron poses with her Oscar after winning for the film "Monster." Hide Caption 78 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Hilary Swank (2005) – Hilary Swank grabbed her second Academy Award in 2005 for the film "Million Dollar Baby

." Hide Caption 79 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Reese Witherspoon (2006) – Reese Witherspoon kisses then-husband Ryan Phillippe before going on stage to accept the best actress award for "Walk the Line." Hide Caption 80 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Helen Mirren (2007) – Director Taylor Hackford kisses his wife, Helen Mirren, after Mirren won the best actress Oscar for her role in "The Queen." Hide Caption Kate Winslet (2009) – Kate Winslet reacts after winning the best actress Oscar for "The Reader." Hide Caption 83 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Sandra Bullock (2010) – Best actress Sandra Bullock gives her acceptance speech after winning for "The Blind Side." Hide Caption 84 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Natalie Portman (2011) – Natalie Portman poses in the press room after winning the best actress Oscar for "Black Swan." Hide Caption 85 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Meryl Streep (2012) – Meryl Streep, right, laughs with Sandra

 Bullock after Streep's win for her role in "The Iron Lady." Hide Caption 86 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Jennifer Lawrence (2013) – Jennifer Lawrence charms the audience in 2013 as she accepts the best actress Oscar for her performance in "Silver Linings Playbook." Hide Caption 87 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Cate Blanchett (2014) – Cate Blanchett won an Oscar in 2014 for her turn as a modern-day Blanche DuBois in the Woody Allen film "Blue Jasmine." Hide Caption 88 of 89 Photos: Oscar-winning best actresses Matthew McConaughey presents Julianne Moore with the Oscar for best actress at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.

She won for her role in "Still Alice." Hide Caption 1950s - Seven decades of Oscar fashion - Pictures - CBS News Seven decades of Oscar fashion Next 1950s Not only have the gowns changed over the years, but so have the accessories, hairdos and makeup. Oscar winner Grace Kelly poses with her statuette at the 1954 Academy Awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, California, on March 30, 1955. Kelly won best actress of the year for her role in "The Country Girl." Note her elbow-length white gloves. Once de riguer, they're rarely seen on red carpets these days. Credit: AP 1960s Earl Mountbatten of Burma presents Elizabeth Taylor with the Oscar she won for her performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" at the 20th Annual British Film Academy Awards ceremony in London on April 24, 1967. Taylor was in Europe during the 39th Annual Academy Awards presentations held in Santa Monica, California, in March.

Credit: AP 1970s Jon Voight and Jane Fonda pose with their Oscars in Los Angeles, April 9, 1979, both awarded for their roles in "Coming Home." Credit: AP 1970s "Love Story" actress Ali McGraw poses at the 53rd annual Academy Awards on April 9, 1979, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP Graphicsbank Sally Field celebrates her 1979 Best Actress win for her role in "Norma Rae." Credit: AP 1980s Cher shows off both her Oscar and Bob Mackie black-sequined gown after winning the award for best actress for her role as the superstitious young widow of "Moonstruck" at the 60th Annual Academy Awards, April 12, 1988 in Los Angeles. Credit: Lennox McLendon/AP 1980s Michael Douglas, accompanied by actress Marlee Matlin, poses with his Oscar for best actor for the film "Wall Street" at the 60th Annual Academy Awards, on April 11, 1988, in Hollywood, California..

Matlin won the best actress Oscar the previous year. Credit: AFP 1990s Actress Susan Sarandon arrives with partner Tim Robbins for the 68th Academy Awards on March 25, 1995, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. She won the best actress award for her role in "Dead Man Walking." Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images 1990s British actress Emma Thompson yells to fans as she arrives at the 65th Annual Academy Awards on March 23, 1993. She won the best actress Oscar that year for her performance in the film "Howards End." Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images 1990s Actress Anna Paquin of poses with the 1993 Oscar she received for best supporting actress during the 66th annual Academy Awards on March 21, 1994, in Los Angeles. Paquin, 11, won for her performance in the movie "The Piano." Credit: Timothy A.

Clary/AFP/Getty Images 1990s Director Steven Spielberg poses with his wife, actress Kate Capshaw, right, and his mother, Leah Adler, during the 66th Annual Academy Awards ceremony after winning the best director Oscar for "Schindler's List." Credit: Getty Images 1990s A nominee for best actor, Tom Cruise, accompanied by his wife, Nicole Kidman, waves to fans as they arrives at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 24, 1997, for the 69th Academy Awards ceremony. Credit: Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images 1990s Billy Bob Thornton receives a kiss from his wife, Pietra, after being awarded an Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay for "Sling Blade" during the 69th Academy Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 24, 1997. Credit: AP Italian actress Sophia Loren holds aloft her honorary Oscar she won in 1991.

Credit: AP 1990s Gwyenth Paltrow holds her Oscar after winning for best actress for her part in the movie "Shakespeare in Love" during the 71st Academy Awards on March 21, 1999, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images 2000s Actress Julia Roberts waves as she holds her Oscar for best actress for her role in "Erin Brockovich" at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March, 25, 2001. Credit: Lee Celano/AFP/Getty Images Bjorn Bjork Singer Bjork wore this infamous Marjan Pejoski swan gown, at the 73rd annual Academy Awards in 2001 when she was nominated for best song for "I've Seen it All" from the film "Dancer in the Dark." It could be said this gown was her "swan song" since she hasn't been seen at the Oscars since. The red carpet moment was topped of by Bjork "laying" an egg.

Credit: Michael Caulfield/AP 2000s Julianne Moore arrives at the 75th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif., March 23, 2003. Moore was nominated for best actress for her performance in "Far From Heaven," and for best supporting actress for her work in "The Hours." Credit: John G. Mabanglo/AFP/Getty Images 2000s Actress Jennifer Lopez poses for photographers at the Shrine Auditorium during the 73rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 25, 2001. Credit: Lee Celano/AFP/Getty Images 2000s Best Actress Oscar winner Hilary Swank arrives on March 25, 2001, at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Credit: Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty Images 2000s Though Gwyneth Paltrow is often praised for her style, she got no love for this braless Alexander McQueen ensemble that she wore to the Oscars in 2002. Credit: Getty Images Diane Keaton went rogue and wore a Ralph Lauren suit to the Oscars in 2004.

Credit: AFP/Getty Images 2000s Actress Michelle Williams channeled Old Hollywood when she wore a yellow chiffon Vera Wang gown with tulle pleats surrounding the V neck to the 2006 Oscars. Credit: Vince Bucci/Getty Images 2000s British actress Helen Mirren arrives for the 80th Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2008, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP PHOTO 2000s Actress Angelina Jolie, nominated for best actress in a leading role for her work in "Changeling," arrives for the 81st Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2009. Credit: Matt Sayles/AP 2010s Penelope Cruz arrives at the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7, 2010, in the Hollywood, Calif. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Nine." Credit: AP Photo 2010s Charlize Theron wore a purple Dior dress to the Oscars in 2010 and caught a lot of flak for the roses on her chest. Credit: Alberto E.

Rodriguez, Getty Images 2010s A very pregnant Natalie Portman, in Rodarte, arrives for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 27, 2011, in Los Angeles. The Best Actress Oscar winner showed off a host of maternity gowns during the 2010-11 awards season. She gave birth to her first child, a son named Aleph, in the spring. Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images 2010s Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, in Tom Ford, arrives on the red carpet for the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012, in Hollywood, Calif. Credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images 2010s Meryl Streep wore a gold lamé gown by Lanvin to the Oscars on Feb. 26, 2012, in Hollywood. Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2010s Actress Octavia Spencer arrives wearing Tadashi Shoji at the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center on Feb. 26, 2012, in Hollywood.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2010s Rooney Mara's white Givenchy gown and severe bangs had fans divided on whether or not they liked her look. The actress wore the ensemble to the Oscars on Feb. 26, 2012, in Hollywood. Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2010s Actress Jennifer Lawrence, wearing Dior, arrives at the Oscars at Hollywood & Highland Center on Feb. 24, 2013, in Hollywood. She was later spotted tripping on her way to the Oscars stage. Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2010s Lupita Nyong'o, wearing Prada, arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The dress was just one of many memorable red carpet looks from the stylish star. Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP 2010s Rosamund Pike, star of "Gone Girl," wore a red Givenchy Haute Couture dress with rosette details to the Oscars on February 22, 2015 in Hollywood.

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images 2010s Emma Stone wore a backless and beaded gold Elie Saab gown the 87th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 22, 2015 in Hollywood. Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Question: Who won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film 'Country Girl'?
Answer: GRACE KELLY