Most Over-rated Actress of the Golden Era?

[Inkstainedwretch]

I can think of at least three British actresses who buck that trend. Whether it's the small screen or the big screen, Maggie Smith, Judy Dench & Helen Mirren all seem to get meaty, leading roles. Not only do they not have the bimbo looks, age isn't on their side either. But when you have a real talent for acting..................................

True enough. British producers take their casting more seriously than their Hollywood counterparts. Having said that, note that Judi, Hellen and Maggie were all stunning beauties in their youth, which didn't hurt their careers. Check out Olivier's "Öthello," sometime, in which young Maggie Smith plays Desdemona, or the jaw-dropping "Caligula,"where Helen Mirren plays Caesonia.

 

[AdeeC]

I agree with a lot of the crowd here, Garbo, Shearer and Katharine Hepburn are overated. Although they each have movies that I do like them in.

The one I think hasn't been mentioned here is Myrna Loy. I think she's great in the first two Thin Man movies and a few others but after seeing at least a dozen of her non-Thin Man movies she plays the same character over and over. Just caught "Test Pilot" today. Gable, Loy and Spencer Tracy are all stinking up the joint in that one.

By the way,if there is male version of this thread I'd have Spencer Tracy at the top of my list. Again, I like him in a few things but generally he has little appeal to me.

Myrna Loy had a long interesting career before she became a real star after making THE THIN MAN. She played many quirky roles in the pre code era, often cast as a Mexican or Asian with a touch of vampishnes and an evil streak. Nothing at all like her later polished airbrushed roles. Two memorable pre fame parts for her were as Fu Manchu's sadistic sexually deviant daughter in THE MASK OF FU MANCHU and as a serial killer stalker in 13 WOMEN.

 

[Capesofwrath]

True enough. British producers take their casting more seriously than their Hollywood counterparts. Having said that, note that Judi, Hellen and Maggie were all stunning beauties in their youth, which didn't hurt their careers. Check out Olivier's "Öthello," sometime, in which young Maggie Smith plays Desdemona, or the jaw-dropping "Caligula,"where Helen Mirren plays Caesonia.

 

[trapped]

No competition. Miss Marlon.

 

[trapped]

Very few performers totally remove their own personalities from a character they play, and James Stewart's absolutely dead-on assessment of acting is what I go by:

"You play yourself in deference to the character."

And for those who dislike Kate and her New England accent, well there's always forever-dull Meryl Streep to fawn over with her infinite accent-mimicking ability. Meryl Streep is the Greer Garson of the Boomer Generation.

For decades. I still do not get it. There were at least a few million times where people have mocked Garson. Yet she is still one of my favourite actresses of all time. Why? I've been asking people both online and real life but have never gotten a crystal clear cut answer.

 

[gazzstar]

In my humble opinion, the prize has to go to Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. Both made a career of playing themselves and never really stretched their acting ability beyond that. I think that if they had not tragically died a young death, but lived out their careers, most people today would not know their names.

 

[tuppence]

Another vote for Kate Hepburn. I don't think Rita Hayworth was a good actor, apart from being beautiful and having , in my opinion the best hair in the world, Gilda is really the only movie of hers I enjoy.

 

[Fading Fast]

Another vote for Kate Hepburn. I don't think Rita Hayworth was a good actor, apart from being beautiful and having , in my opinion the best hair in the world, Gilda is really the only movie of hers I enjoy.

Hayworth was no super actress - agreed. Adequate / competent, but that's it. But yes, what a ridiculous head of hair and, since you mentioned it, she uses her hair quite effectively in her first appearance in "Gilda."

 

[LizzieMaine]

In my humble opinion, the prize has to go to Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. Both made a career of playing themselves and never really stretched their acting ability beyond that. I think that if they had not tragically died a young death, but lived out their careers, most people today would not know their names.

If Monroe had lived she'd have been Shelley Winters.

If Dean had lived he'd have been Marlon Brando.

 

[scottyrocks]

If Monroe had lived she'd have been Shelley Winters.

If Dean had lived he'd have been Marlon Brando.

Yeah, I can see how that could be possible.

 

[Fading Fast]

In my humble opinion, the prize has to go to Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. Both made a career of playing themselves and never really stretched their acting ability beyond that. I think that if they had not tragically died a young death, but lived out their careers, most people today would not know their names.

It is fair, IMHO, to say Dean played the same character in his three movies - the angst ridden young misfit angry and alienated from society who internalizes his frustration until it bursts out periodically and unpredictably in violent temper. And in the second half of "Giant," where he plays more of an established member of society, he felt wooden to me (but it might also have been the horrible "aging" makeup). That leaves me unsure of where he'd have grown as an actor as there was promise in his rebel-without-a-cause persona, but was there more there?

Marylin, again IMHO, seemed to have some modest acting ability when you see her in one of her few not-full-on-Marylyn roles - like "Niagra," "All About Eve," or "Asphalt Jungle." But like Elvis, the vehicles built / strategically chosen for her - while some are modestly entertaining - are creatively stifling and leave me with no conviction that there was real acting ability there. And personally, her voice, exaggerated figure and I'm-not-smart personality (real or put on) leave me cold and not interested in her.

 

[Harp]

or the jaw-dropping "Caligula,"where Helen Mirren plays Caesonia.

Haven't seen Caligula, but Helen always appealed.

 

[Benzadmiral]

It is fair, IMHO, to say Dean played the same character in his three movies - the angst ridden young misfit angry and alienated from society who internalizes his frustration until it bursts out periodically and unpredictably in violent temper. . . .

He played pretty much the same character in his one TV role I've seen, an episode of GE Theater called "The Dark, Dark Hours" -- in which he starred with Ronald Reagan. The vid, I think, is on YouTube.

 

[trapped]

If Monroe had lived she'd have been Shelley Winters.

If Dean had lived he'd have been Marlon Brando.

How true. You stole the words right out of my mouth.

 

[Seb Lucas]

If Monroe had lived she'd have been Shelley Winters.

If Dean had lived he'd have been Marlon Brando.

Don't know about the Brando comparison but I used to imagine that if Monroe and Dean had lived they might have been guests on The Love Boat. The ghostly afterlife of so may faded stars in the 1980's.