1. Called here Maria, there, Renée, Falconetti gives the greatest performance of the decade—in this, the greatest decade of all for film actresses. The occasion, of course, is Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). Her unadorned face in varied closeup, Falconetti enrobes us in the silence of Jeanne’s destiny, much as […]

My favorite performance of the decade is noted below in the first position; my nine other favorites are thereafter listed in alphabetical order by the actor’s last name. 1. As Marguerite Gautier, the Lady of the Camellias, Greta Garbo in Camille (George Cukor, 1936) rises to the peak of her captivating beauty and talent, giving […]

My favorite performance of the decade occupies the royal first position in the list below; thereafter, the nine other performances are listed alphabetically by last name. 1. Self-directed in Henry V (1944), Laurence Olivier brings devastating irony to these victorious post-battle remarks by King Henry, among the saddest lines that Shakespeare wrote: Let there be […]

Again, my favorite performance of the decade appears below in the first position, while my nine other favorites are alphabetized by the actors’ last name. 1. “I’m not fragile,” Alice assures her younger British lover. But she is—more than she knows. Between them, this slum-born, working-class boy who discounts Alice’s feelings in favor of upward […]

Well, the 1960s were, for me, a unique decade because the performance I have selected as the decade’s best coincides with my choice of the single greatest film performance ever. This appears below in the first position. The remaining nine performances are listed alphabetically by the last name of the actors. 1. Per Oscarsson, as […]