Who is the better actress?

[klind65]

Between Margaret Sullavan and Katharine Hepburn, who has greater skill at the craft of acting? They maintained a mutual dislike of each other throughout their careers and sometimes vied for the same role. I believed they both also vied for the attentions of Leland Hayward at one time - although Sullavan ended up marrying him. I have seen both women and can't make up my mind. Any opinions?

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Margie. I can't stand Hepburn so i may be biased

 

[dhermann1]

I'd have to say that tho I like them both, I also sometimes find them both a bit mannered.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I agree. Kate was so mannered and "actressy" I just can't watch her. Margie is slightly better, but by no means a favourite of mine.

I prefer actresses like Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Marion Davies, Lilyan Tashman, Clara Bow, and Joan Blondell. They were just more natural to me. And funny. I like funny.

 

[NicknNora]

I actually had to look up Margaret Sullavan to even remember who she was. I liked her work in The Mortal Storm and The Shop Around the Corner. I don't remember her performance in Back Street which means I either didn't think much of her acting or she had a very unmemorable role. Personally I think Hepburn was the better actress, even taking into consideration that Hepburn had the better roles to play in her films. I'm a big Hepburn fan.

 

[NicknNora]

I agree. Kate was so mannered and "actressy" I just can't watch her. Margie is slightly better, but by no means a favourite of mine.

I prefer actresses like Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Marion Davies, Lilyan Tashman, Clara Bow, and Joan Blondell. They were just more natural to me. And funny. I like funny.

You didn't think Hepburn was funny in Bringing up Baby and the Philadelphia Story? In the flim Bringing up Baby, when she was bobbing up and down in the grass after she lost the heel on one of her shoes and said the line about being born on the side of a hill I cracked up.lol

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hepburn is more fun to imitate. Rally she is. But every movie I've ever seen her in, she plays "Katharine Hepburn" under a different name -- which to me makes her more of a "personality" than an actress.

These arguments were being raised against her long ago, for what it's worth -- she was tagged "box office poison" in 1938 by a theatre-owners association, in large part because audiences found her pictures the same thing over and over again.

 

[MisterCairo]

Hepburn. I've never heard of the other one. Which one was "poison" again?

 

[NicknNora]

Hepburn. I've never heard of the other one. Which one was "poison" again?

It was this actress.

Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress of film, television and stage.

Hepburn holds the record for the most Best Actress Oscar wins with four, from 12 nominations. Hepburn won an Emmy Award in 1976 for her lead role in Love Among the Ruins, and was nominated for four other Emmys, two Tony Awards and eight Golden Globes. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Hepburn as the greatest female star in the history of American cinema.[1]

 

[NicknNora]

Hepburn is more fun to imitate. Rally she is. But every movie I've ever seen her in, she plays "Katharine Hepburn" under a different name -- which to me makes her more of a "personality" than an actress.

These arguments were being raised against her long ago, for what it's worth -- she was tagged "box office poison" in 1938 by a theatre-owners association, in large part because audiences found her pictures the same thing over and over again.

You're right LizzieMaine, she was tagged as 'box office poison" but she was in some pretty good company when she was:

Hepburn was affected by a series of flops when, in 1938, she - along with Fred Astaire, Mae West, Joan Crawford, Dolores del Rio, Marlene Dietrich, and others - was voted "box office poison" in a poll taken by exhibitors.

 

[NicknNora]

I loved a lot of the early Hepburn comedies but I thought she was marvelous in The Lion in Winter (as was the rest of the cast). She WAS Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was also wonderful in the African Queen. The interaction between her and Bogie was the best that it gets.

 

[C-dot]

I agree with LizzieMaine in that Hepburn was more of a "personality." But their styles are both so different, how can you compare them?

Now, if you want a comparison and a feud, theres always Bette and Joan...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Meryl Streep.


.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

You didn't think Hepburn was funny in Bringing up Baby and the Philadelphia Story? In the flim Bringing up Baby, when she was bobbing up and down in the grass after she lost the heel on one of her shoes and said the line about being born on the side of a hill I cracked up.lol

I have to 'fess up and admit I've never seen these. Not a huge Cary Grant fan, either, whom I call "The Male Kate Hepburn."

I've seen these Kate movies:

A Bill of Divorcement (1932) - Mostly for the fabulous John Barrymore, who overshadowed her anyway with his MAGNIFICENT acting in this film.
Sylvia Scarlett (1935) - I watched this expressedly for Kate and I ended up turning it off
Stage Door (1937) - I watched this for all the other female actresses and I adored them, but Kate left me cold. So I stopped wasting time on trying to like her [huh]

 

[NicknNora]

I have to 'fess up and admit I've never seen these. Not a huge Cary Grant fan, either, whom I call "The Male Kate Hepburn."

I've seen these Kate movies:

A Bill of Divorcement (1932) - Mostly for the fabulous John Barrymore, who overshadowed her anyway with his MAGNIFICENT acting in this film.
Sylvia Scarlett (1935) - I watched this expressedly for Kate and I ended up turning it off
Stage Door (1937) - I watched this for all the other female actresses and I adored them, but Kate left me cold. So I stopped wasting time on trying to like her [huh]

I hope you get a chance one day to see both Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story. Give Kate and Cary one more chance.[huh] Hepburn is also wonderful in the series of movies she did with Spencer Tracy.

I'm especially partial to Desk Set w/Tracy, Gig Young and one of your favorites, Joan Blondell (by the way Blondell was wonderful in the movie...the part was made for her). Sylvia Scarlett and Stage Door were never my favorites but the comedies with Grant/Stewart and the series with Tracy, in my opinion, are very funny.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

Clark Gable

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I hope you get a chance one day to see both Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story. Give Kate and Cary one more chance.[huh] Hepburn is also wonderful in the series of movies she did with Spencer Tracy.

I'm especially partial to Desk Set w/Tracy, Gig Young and one of your favorites, Joan Blondell (by the way Blondell was wonderful in the movie...the part was made for her). Sylvia Scarlett and Stage Door were never my favorites but the comedies with Grant/Stewart and the series with Tracy, in my opinion, are very funny.

I'm always open. I'll give them a chance next time they are on TCM. I've ended up liking stars I've disliked before -- I didn't like Ruby Keeler at one time, now I can't imagine disliking her! Rudy Vallee, also; didn't think much of him for a while then I started hearing more of his crooning and he grew on me.

 

[HadleyH]

Clark Gable

I, myself, like them both! Can not make up my mind who is better!

 

[NicknNora]

I'm always open. I'll give them a chance next time they are on TCM. I've ended up liking stars I've disliked before -- I didn't like Ruby Keeler at one time, now I can't imagine disliking her! Rudy Vallee, also; didn't think much of him for a while then I started hearing more of his crooning and he grew on me.

I love TCM. I just wish it wasn't a premium channel so that more people could see the old movies. There were so many great films made that most people no longer get to see. It's a real shame.

fftopic: Hey, I just noticed you're from Philadelphia. I used to live in Pittsburgh when I was a kid. Are you a Steelers fan or Eagles fan or neither? I'm a Steelers fan and a Pirates fan.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I, myself, like them both! Can not make up my mind who is better!

lol lol lol