20 Years of Streep: 1987 ("Ironweed")

On paper, 1986's Heartburn had the sound of a surefire smash.

The picture would reunite the insanely talented trio from Silkwood - leading lady Meryl Streep, director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Nora Ephron (adapting from her eponymous best-seller). Production on the film hit a snag in the early-going, as Nichols, seeing no magic between he and Streep, fired leading man Mandy Patinkin after mere days of shooting. Things would presumably still be A-OK, however, if not better, considering Patinkin's replacement was none other than Jack Nicholson, hot as ever with his Oscar victory for Terms of Endearment and success the year prior with Prizzi's Honor. Among the other actors signed on were Stockard Channing, Maureen Stapleton, Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels, so this simply had to be incredible, right?

Not so much, I'm afraid. That summer, Heartburn hit theaters to reviews that ranged from lukewarm to scathing. Roger Ebert called it a "bitter, sour movie," while Pauline Kael took particular aim at Ephron's adaptation. The film opened to decent box office receipts but quickly dropped like a rock, leaving theaters after just one month.

Thankfully, the failure of Heartburn would not prevent Streep and Nicholson from collaborating on another picture. In fact, it would be a mere year before the two reunited and, this time around, their film didn't send critics running for the hills.

The 1987 Oscar nominees in Best Lead Actress were...

Cher, Moonstruck

Cher portrays Loretta Castorini, an Italian-American widow who accepts the marriage proposal of the decidedly unstimulating Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), only to fall head-over-heels for Johnny's colorful kid brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage) while her new fiancee is away. Loretta tries to resist Ronny's advances but can't seem to snap either one out of it. This performance, which won her a Golden Globe, marked Cher's second (and to date, final) Oscar nomination and first win.

Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction

Close portrays Alex Forrest, a Manhattan editor who engages in a steamy fling with attorney Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) while his wife (Anne Archer) is away. Dan tries to break off the relationship upon his wife's return but the distance doesn't sit well with Alex, who proceeds to attempt suicide, harass Dan at work and home and do some not-so-nice things to the family bunny. This performance marked Close's fourth Oscar nomination.

Holly Hunter, Broadcast News

Hunter portrays Jane Craig, a neurotic network news reporter who falls for the handsome, vapid new anchorman Tom (Oscar-nominee William Hurt), in spite of him representing all she loathes about the trend in evening news toward entertainment. Meanwhile, Jane's colleague and best friend Aaron (Albert Brooks, also Oscar-nominated) has long pined for her and understandably isn't thrilled about Tom's entrance. This performance, which won her Best Lead Actress honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (tied with Sally Kirkland), National Board of Review (tied with Lillian Gish) and New York Film Critics Circle, marked Hunter's first Oscar nomination.

Sally Kirkland, Anna

Kirkland portrays Anna, an actress who was once a star of the silver screen in her homeland of Czechoslovakia but now struggles to merely land off-Broadway gigs in New York. She takes in the young Krystyna (Paulina Porizkova), who has immigrated from Czechoslovakia to meet her idol, only to watch as Krystyna becomes an unexpected hit in showbiz. This performance, which won her a Golden Globe and honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (tied with Hunter), marked Kirkland's first (and to date, final) Oscar nomination.

Meryl Streep, Ironweed

Streep portrays Helen Archer, a long washed-up, terminally ill former radio singer who is stumbled upon by former lover and drinking pal Francis (Oscar-nominee Jack Nicholson) when he wanders into their hometown of Albany, NY. Francis takes on odd jobs to support Helen while dealing with devastating memories from his past. This performance marked Streep's seventh Oscar nomination.

Overlooked: Ellen Barkin, The Big Easy; Faye Dunaway, Barfly; Mia Farrow, September; Lillian Gish, The Whales of August; Clare Higgins, Hellraiser; Diane Keaton, Baby Boom; Bette Midler, Outrageous Fortune; Elisabeth Shue, Adventures in Babysitting; Barbra Streisand, Nuts

Won: Cher, Moonstruck

Should've won: Sally Kirkland, Anna

1987, the year yet another prestige picture (The Last Emperor, in this case) bulldozed over a batch of crowd-pleasing box office hits (Broadcast News, Fatal Attraction and Moonstruck), was truly an embarrassment of riches for leading ladies on the silver screen.

Beyond the Academy's fine selections, you had Dunaway and Gish in exquisite comeback turns; Keaton and Midler in prime comic form; and Streisand in perhaps the finest dramatic role of her career. So, I think it's kind of a shame, given all of these options, that the Academy opted to overlook those and other fabulous performances and instead award Streep a seventh Oscar nomination for her convincing but negligibly memorable and borderline-Supporting work in Ironweed.

Hector Babenco's Ironweed - the filmmaker's follow-up to his Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman from two years prior - is a fascinating picture, with a distinct, supremely bleak look and feel. It sports one of Jack Nicholson's most decidedly un-Nicholson leading turns. His Francis is a hopeless, tortured man and, amazingly, we buy Nicholson in this form from the get-go. He's matched by not only Streep but also Carroll Baker, superb as Francis' estranged wife.

Much as I'd rather see Dunaway or Gish in her slot, Streep's work in Ironweed isn't without its moments. She's plenty believable as the suffering, homeless Helen and her performance of the tune "He's My Pal" - the first occasion in which Streep sang in a motion picture - is haunting stuff. Plus, she has the advantage of being in a terrific film here, unlike, you know, The French Lieutenant's Woman. Ultimately, however, it's only the third-best performance in Ironweed and really isn't among the more notable Streep turns. It's kind of remarkable she managed to garner this nomination, given both how poorly the film fared at the box office and Streisand's aggressive behind-the-scenes campaigning. This isn't the worst Streep Oscar nod but it's still toward the bottom.

James L. Brooks' Broadcast News was once among my all-time favorite comedies, if not films of any genre. I remember first catching it on cable (on Bravo, I think?) and finding Joan Cusack's wild sprint across the news station to be just about the funniest thing I'd ever witnessed on film. I still love Cusack and a lot of other things in the picture, especially Brooks' brilliant turn, but my enthusiasm has waned a bit in recent years. The film seems dated in a way that something like Network just isn't. I don't think Brooks' writing is as sharp as in his Oscar-winning Terms of Endearment and Hurt, perhaps purposely so to some extent, just seems to sleepwalk through the proceedings.

Between this and Raising Arizona, Hunter had a gangbusters 1987 and, when I consider the two performances collectively, I'm cool with the Oscar nomination, even if I'd have probably recognized another contender first. She strikes a nice balance between temperamental and irresistible in Broadcast News and has plenty of chemistry with both of her male co-stars. Watching the film, I think what a shame it is Hunter didn't go on to tackle more romcoms. That said, I think it's really Brooks, not Hunter, who walks away with the film. It's only his scenes that seem to leave me overjoyed with Broadcast News these days.

The remaining three nominees, while not quite on the level of a Lange in Frances or Goldberg in The Color Purple, are all fantastic and among my favorite Lead Actress Oscar nominees of the decade. Ranking them is an improbable task but hey, I'll give it a shot.

I'm completely cool with Cher's victory here. Moonstruck is all sorts of amazing (I say it should've taken Best Picture) and Cher's Loretta is a supreme delight. Her transformation from dowdy to dazzling is fabulous and Cher has a pitch-perfect grasp on John Patrick Shanley's brilliant dialogue. (I'm personally most fond of "In time, you'll drop dead and I'll come to your funeral in a red dress!") Her rapport with the entire cast - Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis and Oscar-nominee Vincent Gardenia, plus of course Cage - is aces and, while Moonstruck did not mark Cher's screen debut, the turn nonetheless has the feel of a star-making role.

Is Cher required to flex her acting muscles to the same extent Close and Kirkland are asked? Perhaps not but I still can't find any real fault in the performance.

Speaking of Close, the American Film Institute's ranking of her Alex Forrest as the seventh all-time greatest screen villain on its list of "100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains" is a richly deserved honor. While Adrian Lyne's Fatal Attraction isn't without its occasional misstep (the filmmaker has never been one renowned for great subtlety), Close strikes just the right notes as the unhinged Alex.

What's so compelling about Close here, not unlike in the case of Cher, is watching the metamorphosis of her character. Alex is already a bit off-putting right out of the starting gates but still plenty approachable and appealing. The gradual shift from that to flat-out batshit crazy is a remarkable sight and Close keeps herself nicely reigned-in for the most part, despite a screenplay that's obviously hungry for scenery-chewing. She and Douglas (who's much more interesting here than in Wall Street, for which he won the Oscar) make a dynamite match and engage in some of the most convincing and arousing lovemaking to perhaps ever grace the screen, especially at that time in a major motion picture.

Is Fatal Attraction the best Oscar-nominated Close turn? Perhaps but, as we'll see the following year, she has been recognized for other, comparably magnificent turns as well.

My favorite, by a hair, of the five ladies recognized is Kirkland, who's not only a tour-de-force in the title role of Anna but also happened to run one of the all-time great Oscar campaigns.

Anna, which is more or a less an arthouse All About Eve, was distributed in the fall of 1987 by Vestron Pictures, the small film distributor that struck expected gold with that year's Dirty Dancing, yet still couldn't dig itself out of financial squalor (Vestron went completely defunct in 1991). No surprise, Vestron didn't have a dime to invest in an Oscar campaign for Kirkland, who after years of bit parts in motion pictures like The Sting, The Way We Were and A Star Is Born, at last landed a meaty starring turn.

So, Kirkland took matters into her own hands and embarked on one of the most aggressive and effective self-campaigns in Oscar history. She personally hosted a plethora of screenings in Los Angeles and New York and took out her own For Your Consideration ads. Kirkland's Golden Globe victory came no doubt in part to her attention paid to members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Of course, it's a whole lot easier a task to win over a minuscule body like the HFPA, comparative to the thousands who make up the Academy's membership.

That's not to say, however, Kirkland's recognition came exclusively as a way to honor the chutzpah of her campaigning. She is astoundingly great in Anna. It's a real master class of a performance that both actors of the stage and screen could learn plenty from. Her reading of "Humpty Dumpty" during an audition for a play might just be the most awe-inspiring rendition of the nursery rhyme ever captured on record. Kirkland has many fabulous moments too alongside co-stars Porizkova and Daniel Fields, the latter portraying Anna's on-and-off boyfriend.

Perhaps the most devastating moment of Anna, however, is when the title character attends a New York screening of one of her old pictures, only to find the theater nearly empty. Then, the reel melts, at a critical moment in the film. It's a haunting moment in an obscenely underseen film that happens to sport one of the '80s finest leading turns.

The performances ranked (thus far)...

1. Jessica Lange, Frances
2. Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple
3. Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice
4. Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment
5. Meryl Streep, Silkwood
6. Jane Alexander, Testament
7. Sally Kirkland, Anna
8. Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
9. Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
10. Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction
11. Cher, Moonstruck
12. Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh
13. Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment
14. Diane Keaton, Reds
15. Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer
16. Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter
17. Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria
18. Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams
19. Sissy Spacek, Missing
20. Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful
21. Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
22. Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City
23. Meryl Streep, Out of Africa
24. Holly Hunter, Broadcast News
25. Julie Walters, Educating Rita
26. Candice Bergen, Starting Over
27. Maggie Smith, California Suite
28. Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond
29. Meryl Streep, Ironweed
30. Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God
31. Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman
32. Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant's Woman
33. Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
34. Penelope Milford, Coming Home
35. Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away

20 Years of Streep: 1985 ("Out of Africa")

In 1984, after making three consecutive Oscar appearances in Best Lead Actress, Meryl Streep was a no-show on nominations morning for her turn opposite Robert De Niro in the instantly forgotten Falling in Love. The odds of a Streep return to the ceremony looked strong, however, in 1985. Two projects were lined up, both awards-calibur on paper, with Oscar-friendly release dates.

The first of these two projects landed with a whimper that September. Plenty, directed by acclaimed Australian filmmaker Fred Schepisi (later of A Cry in the Dark) with a screenplay by David Hare (later of The Hours), cast Streep as an Englishwoman searching for fulfillment in life after serving with the French Resistance in WWII. While the film has its passionate defenders to this day, Plenty garnered a remarkably lukewarm reception upon release, with many arguing Streep was miscast and/or upstaged by supporting players John Gielgud and Tracey Ullman.

Plenty would be long out of theaters by the time Streep's second picture hit the silver screen in December. This one, thankfully, was a big, fat hit. Working under the direction of Sydney Pollack (in his follow-up to the even bigger, fatter hit Tootsie) and alongside leading man Robert Redford, Streep was about to headline her first Best Picture Oscar-winner since Kramer vs. Kramer.

The 1985 Oscar nominees in Best Lead Actress were...

Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God

Bancroft portrays the domineering Mother Miriam Ruth who clashes with Dr. Livingston (Jane Fonda), the court-appointed psychiatrist sent to evaluate Sister Agnes (Oscar-nominee Meg Tilly), a young nun found in her room, covered in blood beside a dead baby. Livingston's investigation into what happened is constantly interrupted by the overbearing Mother Miriam, who seems to know more about the tragedy than she's willing to admit. This performance marked Bancroft's fifth and final Oscar nomination.

Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple

Goldberg portrays Celie Johnson, an African-American woman grappling with life in rural Georgia over the first half of the 20th century. At age 14, Celie is raped and impregnated by her father (Adolph Caesar), who forces her into a marriage with the comparably abusive "Mister" Albert (Danny Glover, somehow not Oscar-nominated for his chilling turn). Celie spends all too much of her adulthood subjected to Albert's violence and the rampant racism of the south. Events, however, like the entrance of the colorful and strong-willed Shug Avery (Oscar-nominee Margaret Avery) give Celie reason to keep on going. This performance, which won her Best Lead Actress honors from the Golden Globes and National Board of Review, marked Goldberg's first Oscar nomination.

Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams

Lange portrays Patsy Cline, the talented and beautiful country singer who, early on in her career, is stuck in a loveless marriage and relegated to the most unrewarding of gigs. After meeting and falling for the charming Charlie (Ed Harris), Patsy ditches her dud of a husband, marries Charlie and at last starts to find success as a musician. Just as her star is rising, however, her marriage to Charlie goes downhill and, at age 30, tragedy strikes. This performance marked Lange's fourth Oscar nomination.

Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful

Page portrays Carrie Watts, a high-spirited senior citizen who bolts from her tiny apartment, over the objections of her obnoxious son and daughter-in-law, to venture on a bus trip to visit her childhood home one last time in Bountiful, Texas. On the way, she befriends Thelma (Rebecca De Mornay), a young woman who is fascinated by Carrie's memories from the past. This performance marked Page's eighth and final Oscar nomination and first victory.

Meryl Streep, Out of Africa

Streep portrays aristocrat Karen Blixen who, alongside husband Bror (Oscar-nominee Klaus Maria Brandauer), moves to Africa with the intention of opening a dairy farm. Things don't quite go as planned, however - Bror instead uses Karen's wealth to invest in a coffee plantation and engages in extramarital affairs that ultimately lead to Karen contracting syphilis from her husband. Karen leaves Bror and becomes involved with the dashing Denys (Robert Redford), a big-game hunter who adores her but has little interest in marriage. This performance, which won her Best Lead Actress honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, marked Streep's sixth Oscar nomination.

Won: Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful

Should've won: Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple

Overlooked: Norma Aleandro, The Official Story; Rosanna Arquette, Desperately Seeking Susan; Cher, Mask; Mia Farrow, The Purple Rose of Cairo; Sally Field, Murphy's Romance; Joyce Hyser, Just One of the Guys; Kathleen Turner, Prizzi's Honor

Dammit, 1982 and 1983 Best Lead Actress, you so spoiled me!

This category could've been a dynamite affair in 1985. Keep Goldberg, boot the rest and bring on board the heartbreaking Aleandro, hilarious Arquette, revelatory Cher and brilliant (as usual) Farrow, and this would have been one hell of a line-up. Alas, the Academy's selections here come a lot closer in quality to the leading ladies from 1981. They simply, I guess, just couldn't resist nominating Lange and Streep (again), plus the legendary Bancroft and Page, even if all were up for substandard performances.

This was, of course, the infamous year in which the Academy showered Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple with heaps of affection on Oscar nominations morning - 11 nods in total - only to award it with an an across-the-board shutout on the big night. Among the losers was Goldberg who, at the time, marked only the fifth African-American to grace Best Lead Actress at the Oscars. Unlike Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones), Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues), Cicely Tyson (Sounder) and Diahann Carroll (Claudine) before her, Goldberg had a legitimate shot at taking home the golden statute. Alas, that never came to fruition, as the sentimental vote won the day. I'll get to Goldberg's performance in just a bit.

First, I'll start with Bancroft, an actress I generally have enormous affection for - her stirring turn in The Miracle Worker is among my very favorite winners in this category - but who by the 1980s was prone to devouring every single inch of scenery on the film set. Her performance as the Mother Superior from Hell in Agnes of God kind of reminds me of Rosalind Russell's hammy work as another Mother Superior, in the Angels series from the late 1960s. The difference, of course, is Russell's performance worked and was entertaining in a comedy like The Trouble with Angels. In an overwrought drama like Agnes, Bancroft's histrionics are just plain distracting.

I do, however, have a few kind things to say about Bancroft here. One, at least her performance has a pulse, which is more than I can say about co-star Jane Fonda, who sleepwalks her way through the picture. I can't think of a time when Fonda was in more anemic form and yes, I've seen Old Gringo. Two, Bancroft does have one nice scene, where Mother Miriam lets loose a bit with Dr. Livingston by indulging in a cigarette. (It's the only moment with some levity in this maudlin picture.) Third, most significant, Mother Miriam might just be a downright impossible character to play. Agnes of God is pretty lackluster stuff and it's hard to see just what director Norman Jewison saw in the John Pielmeier play, which garnered mixed reviews on Broadway earlier in the decade, that screamed 'NEEDS FILM ADAPTATION!'

Oddly enough, it was none other than Geraldine Page who originated the role of Mother Miriam in the Broadway production and something tells me, given Page's history, her performance probably wasn't packed with subtlety either.

As for Streep's sixth Oscar-nominated performance, I'm admittedly not super-fond of Out of Africa, nor her performance in it, though I wouldn't quite throw it in the dumpster with something like The French Lieutenant's Woman.

While there's much to like about the Pollack picture, including David Watkin's sumptuous photography and the stunning John Barry music, the thing moves like molasses and is at least half an hour too long. I can appreciate the chemistry between Streep and Redford (who knew shampooing hair could be so orgasmic) but this just isn't among the most exciting acting by either of these two greats. It's actually Brandauer who gives the one amazing performance here and probably should've prevailed over that travesty of a Best Supporting Actor win for Don Ameche (Cocoon). What an oddity to see a picture sweep the way Out of Africa did and not carry along with it a victory for its strongest player.

Like Ameche, Page was able to withstand the Out of Africa lovefest and (at last!) score a victory at the Oscars. Now, that isn't to say Page's turn is on the same level as Ameche's extremely modest performance - there's a lot more to like - but I'm awfully skeptical either of them would have prevailed had they already taken home the golden fella in the past.

The Trip to Bountiful finds Page in fine form though, not unlike Out of Africa, I can't help but find the proceedings a little sleepy. It's a reliable vehicle for a leading lady but rather mundane beyond that. The flair-free direction by B-movie director Peter Masterson and high school-play level of acting by the rest of the ensemble don't much help, other than to make Page look all the better, I guess. Much like Bancroft, Page's late-career turns tended to become more and more affected but here, she actually reigns it in quite nicely, while still turning in a lively and colorful performance.

Presenter F. Murray Abraham wasn't far-off when he opened up that envelope on Oscar night and gleefully proclaimed Page "the greatest actress in the English language." I could totally make a case for a Page victory on several of her other nominations, including Sweet Bird of Youth and Interiors. The Trip to Bountiful, though, is just a little too slender for me to agree with the Academy on. I'm delighted Page was able to finally grab that Oscar, I just wish it were for another, better turn.

As was the case in 1982, I happen to prefer Lange over Streep here, not that Sweet Dreams is even half as compelling an effort as Frances.

On the heels of the grand success of Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980, it was all but inevitable Hollywood would quickly pump out a similar biopic on Patsy Cline, who perished in a tragic plane crash at the mere age of 30. Coal Miner's Daughter was a solid, if workmanlike piece of cinema (though I happen to strongly prefer Mary Tyler Moore over Sissy Spacek in Lead Actress that year) and Sweet Dreams can't even reach those modest heights. Perhaps it had something to do with being the follow-up picture for the director of..wait for it, wait for it...The French Lieutenant's Woman!

Sweet Dreams isn't without its pleasures. It does feature a rich, Oscar-calibur supporting turn from the insanely underappreciated Ann Wedgeworth as Cline's mother and also sports a nice early Ed Harris appearance. Lange is in good but not great form here. No doubt in part on account of the distracting lip-syncing to the old Cline tunes, I just don't find her terribly convincing in the role. She has several nice scenes with both Wedgeworth and Harris but ultimately doesn't transcend the disheveled production around her, like she so masterfully did three years prior. At the time same, for what it's worth, I still actually prefer this performance to her Oscar-winning one in Blue Sky. Go figure.

Ultimately, the only exceptional performance recognized here - and one of my all-time favorite nominees in this category period - is Goldberg, in her film debut, absolutely killing it in Spielberg's splendid The Color Purple.

I recognize the Spielberg picture isn't without its detractors (just look at what came to fruition on Oscar night), often strongly in opposition to his adaptation of the Alice Walker novel, but I don't think I've come across many, if any criticism to Goldberg's turn.

This is a legit powerhouse of a performance, a harrowing master class in acting from someone who somehow hadn't done a whole lot of acting beforehand. We feel Celie's suppressed anger toward Albert and society and want to leap out of our seats for a standing ovation when she at last stands up to her husband. ("Everything you've done to me..." is basically the epitome of an Oscar clip.) We're overcome by the same onslaught of emotions when Celie discovers all of the letters from her sister that Albert had for years hidden from her. And we're of course bursting into tears and applause at the film's sublime conclusion.

I know most of us adore Oda Mae Brown but come on, this, not Ghost, should've been Goldberg's Oscar.

The performances ranked (thus far)...

1. Jessica Lange, Frances
2. Whoopi Goldberg, The Color Purple
3. Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice
4. Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment
5. Meryl Streep, Silkwood
6. Jane Alexander, Testament
7. Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
8. Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
9. Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh
10. Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment
11. Diane Keaton, Reds
12. Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer
13. Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter
14. Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria
15. Jessica Lange, Sweet Dreams
16. Sissy Spacek, Missing
17. Geraldine Page, The Trip to Bountiful
18. Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
19. Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City
20. Meryl Streep, Out of Africa
21. Julie Walters, Educating Rita
22. Candice Bergen, Starting Over
23. Maggie Smith, California Suite
24. Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond
25. Anne Bancroft, Agnes of God
26. Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman
27. Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant's Woman
28. Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
29. Penelope Milford, Coming Home
30. Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away

20 Years of Streep: 1983 ("Silkwood")

In her first eight appearances on the silver screen, Meryl Streep portrayed a diverse host of characters, all fictional. In 1983, Streep at last took on a real-life role, that of the plutonium technician-turned-nuclear safety whistleblower Karen Silkwood in Silkwood. The project marked Streep's first of four career collaborations with filmmaker Mike Nichols and first of three efforts alongside screenwriter Nora Ephron. (The gang would get back together three years later for Heartburn, which gave all three talents a lot of heartburn.)

No one had more riding on the success of Silkwood than the picture's director. After a string of acclaimed box office hits in the late '60s, into the early '70s, including Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate (which won him the Best Director Oscar) and Carnal Knowledge, Nichols stumbled with two misfires - The Day of the Dolphin and The Fortune. He left Hollywood for Broadway, where at this point in his career he'd already racked up five Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play. He produced and directed several productions, winning a Tony for producing Annie and netting two more direction nods, for Comedians and The Gin Game.

Sans his direction of the stage-to-stage production Gilda Live, however, Nichols did not direct any feature film between 1975 and 1983, the year of Silkwood's release. Thankfully for the filmmaker, Silkwood not only garnered critical acclaim but solid box office receipts to boot, knocking Terms of Endearment from the top slot after that film spent four consecutive weeks as the highest grosser. Terms would, however, soon get its revenge on Oscar night...

The 1983 Oscar nominees in Best Lead Actress were...

Jane Alexander, Testament

Alexander portrays Carol Wetherly, a wife and mother whose quiet suburban existence is irreversibly shattered by the onslaught of nuclear war. Cities across the United States, including nearby San Francisco, are hit, and while residents try to proceed with business as usual for some time, it is not long before many, particularly children and the elderly, fall gravely ill. Carol guides her family and other stranded survivors toward a future with no light at the end of the tunnel. This performance marked Alexander's fourth (and to date, final) Oscar nomination.

Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment

MacLaine portrays Aurora Greenway, the brash but loving mother of Emma (Debra Winger). Aurora's relationship with her daughter has its share of tumultuous moments, especially on the heels of Emma's marriage to Flap (Jeff Daniels), a man Aurora isn't terribly fond of. Aurora also finds love, becoming romantically involved with the charming former astronaut (Jack Nicholson, in an Oscar-winning turn) who for years has lived next door without much interaction. This performance, which also won MacLaine a Golden Globe and Best Lead Actress honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle, marked her sixth (and to date, final) Oscar nomination and first victory.

Meryl Streep, Silkwood

Streep portrays Karen Silkwood, a nuclear facility technician who lives alongside boyfriend Drew (Kurt Russell) and friend and co-worker Dolly (Oscar-nominee Cher). A union activist with concerns about nuclear plant safety practices, Karen believes her employers are placing her and fellow personnel at risk of radiation contamination. With union officials of negligible help, Karen investigates on her own and comes across evidence that could bring down the nuclear site but also place her at great risk. This performance marked Streep's fifth Oscar nomination.

Julie Walters, Educating Rita

Walters portrays Rita, a twentysomething hair dresser, with a dud of a husband, who decides to go back to school before having children. She studies with Dr. Bryant (Michael Caine), an alcoholic professor of literature who lost passion for teaching long ago but is completely won over by Rita's enthusiasm. Before long, Rita sees Dr. Bryant as her hero and he sees her as the apple of his eye. This performance, which won Walters a BAFTA Award and Golden Globe, marked Walters' first Oscar nomination.

Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment

Winger portrays Emma Greenway Horton, daughter of the strong-willed Aurora (MacLaine) and wife of the mild-mannered Flap (Daniels). Emma has roller coaster rides of relationships with both. Her marriage sours on account of Flap's cheating, which leads to Emma briefly taking on a lover (John Lithgow, somehow Oscar-nominated) of her own. Tragedy strikes when Emma is diagnosed with terminal cancer, a development that draws her closer than ever to Aurora and Flap. This performance, which won Best Lead Actress honors from the National Society of Film Critics, marked Winger's second Oscar nomination.

Overlooked: Anne Bancroft, To Be or Not to Be; Louise Fletcher, Brainstorm; Mariel Hemingway, Star 80; Dee Wallace, Cujo

Won and should've won: Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment

1983 was a rough awards season, even though I'm ultimately fond of most of the year's Oscar-winners. This was a season in which garbage (albeit nicely scored garbage) like Flashdance was garnering recognition left and right and middling performances like Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben; Charles Durning in To Be or Not to Be; and (the also Razzie-nominated) Amy Irving in Yentl scored Oscar nominations. That and, much as I love John Lithgow, his Oscar nod for seven minutes of screen time in Terms of Endearment is the epitome of riding a picture's coattails.

Best Lead Actress, thankfully, was a mostly splendid affair in '83, nearly on-par overall with the leading ladies from the year prior, even if none of the turns is quite on the level of a Lange in Frances or Streep in Sophie's Choice.

Even the weakest of the five, Julie Walters, is still a plenty commendable performance, though I would've much preferred seeing Louise Fletcher (brilliant in the strange and completely fascinating Brainstorm) or Mariel Hemingway (all too convincing playing out the tragic life of the late Dorothy Stratten in Bob Fosse's terrifying Star 80) in her slot.

I think Walters is a fabulous actress - I probably would've voted for her in Best Supporting Actress for Billy Elliot nearly two decades down the line - but I'm just not fond of Educating Rita at all. The film, based on the 1980 stage play (which was a two-person show, in contrast to the film, which is packed with supporting players who feel entirely unnecessary) has a stagebound, claustrophobic feel and it reminds me all too much of another piece I'm not fond of - My Fair Lady. Also, even if it's not among his best career turns, I think Caine is more compelling than Walters here. So, while I'm delighted the success of Educating Rita opened up heaps of career opportunities for Walters, I'm not so enamored with this nomination.

Beyond Walters, though, this is a pretty dynamite line-up.

Oscar nomination number two for Debra Winger was a nice step-up from the doldrums of LOVE LIFT US UP WHERE WE BELONG. I adore Terms of Endearment and am committed to defending its victory over The Right Stuff (just like I'll go to bat for Kramer vs. Kramer over Apocalypse Now and Ordinary People over Raging Bull). I guess I'm just a sucker for an all-star family drama, especially from this era.

Winger has plenty of remarkable moments in Terms, most of them in the second half. The big 'holy shit' scene is of course Emma's final conversation with Teddy and Tommy in the hospital (I get a lump in my throat just writing about it). Winger plays it pitch-perfectly there, as does she in the devastating last scene with MacLaine - her facial expressions say everything. And she has several great moments earlier in the film with both Daniels and Lithgow too. That being said, I do tend to prefer the MacLaine/Nicholson stuff in Terms, not because those scenes don't drive me to the tissue box but because I frankly think, for the most part, they're a bit better-written and directed.

When it comes to restrained acting, Winger is on-point but she still hasn't a thing on the Queen of Nuance, that quiet scene-stealer Jane Alexander. If you found her Oscar-nominated Supporting work in All the President's Men and Kramer vs. Kramer riveting, just wait 'til you discover (presuming you haven't already seen the film) her Lead turn in Testament.

'83 was THE year for nuclear war cinema. There were two much-buzzed-about, Emmy-winning television specials - The Day After and Special Bulletin - and then a big screen feature, Testament. None of the three hold up terribly well, I'm afraid, but I do think the most compelling and moving of the films is Testament, even if it too largely has the look and feel of a humdrum '80s 'Movie of the Week.'

Unlike those two aforementioned TV projects, Testament has a performer willing to take on considerable heavy-lifting. Indeed, Alexander is essentially the only reason to seek out the picture but, for her turn alone, Testament becomes something of a must-see. What's so powerful and ultimately overwhelming about Alexander's performance is the sense of just how deep Carol goes in suppressing her emotions - that is, her commitment to remaining cool while the world around her is literally exploding. There comes a point when Carol at last loses it (a rare obvious 'Oscar scene' from Alexander) and the moment is equal parts heartbreaking and cathartic. There was a time when I actually thought of Alexander as my favorite of this category (I love the idea of her having an Oscar) but, in revisiting the line-up, I think Testament is just too vastly inferior to Terms and Silkwood for me to go that distance. I love Alexander here but the film is a middling ball and chain constantly tugging at her.

Decidedly not middling is Silkwood, one of my very favorite Mike Nichols pictures and, in a close call with When Harry Met Sally..., probably the best Nora Ephron script too (she co-wrote with Alice Arlen). Cher is phenomenal in her breakout big screen appearance and Kurt Russell doesn't get nearly enough credit for his fine work - he certainly should've garnered an Oscar nod over the likes of Charles Durning and John Lithgow.

Streep is, of course, splendid as well. The performance and film, for obvious reasons, remind me a lot of Norma Rae, though I think the Nichols picture is ultimately even more infuriating and engrossing (I tend to think Sally Field carried most of that film on her shoulders). Like watching a superhero flick, the audience is cheering and on the edge of their seats for Karen from start and finish and Streep is convincing throughout. Even though I'm not picking her for the win, this has to be among the five or so best Streep turns recognized by the Academy.

I do, however, think the Academy got this one right - the first time I'm agreeing with them on a Streep category.

Some, I know, tend to view the MacLaine victory as something of a career win, which makes sense, given how absurdly overdue she was at the time. She should have totally triumphed in 1960 for The Apartment, as opposed to Elizabeth Taylor's eyebrow-raising sympathy victory for the dreadful BUtterfield 8. To write it off as a mere "she was just due" win, however, I don't think is quite fair, given how absolutely fabulous she is in Terms.

MacLaine's scenes with Nicholson are a delightful hoot - you can tell how much of a ball these two had finally working together. Her performance really comes to life, however, in the film's second half, with the onset of Emma's illness. The "give my daughter the shot" moment is of course legendary but I'm even more taken with Aurora knocking some sense into Tommy outside the hospital; her lunch with Flap; and Aurora's final moments with her daughter. The turn is a masterful blend of hilarity and heartbreak and I don't think MacLaine has come the least bit close to topping it since.

Like Lange vs. Streep the year before, it's downright agonizing to have to choose among MacLaine, Streep and Alexander, and with Winger not terribly far behind. I've gone from once preferring Alexander to now thinking the Academy got MacLaine right...maybe in another five years I'll be siding with Streep?

The performances ranked (thus far)...

1. Jessica Lange, Frances
2. Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice
3. Shirley MacLaine, Terms of Endearment
4. Meryl Streep, Silkwood
5. Jane Alexander, Testament
6. Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
7. Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
8. Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh
9. Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment
10. Diane Keaton, Reds
11. Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer
12. Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter
13. Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria
14. Sissy Spacek, Missing
15. Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
16. Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City
17. Julie Walters, Educating Rita
18. Candice Bergen, Starting Over
19. Maggie Smith, California Suite
20. Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond
21. Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman
22. Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant's Woman
23. Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
24. Penelope Milford, Coming Home
25. Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away

20 Years of Streep: 1982 ("Sophie's Choice")

After discovering the cure to insomnia with The French Lieutenant's Woman in 1981, Meryl Streep lined up two exciting projects for the following year, both lead turns and both given prime late-year release dates for Oscar contention.

First on tap was Streep's much-anticipated reunion with Kramer vs. Kramer director Robert Benton. Still of the Night would mark her first big screen thriller to date, pairing Streep with two-time Oscar-nominee Roy Scheider (still pretty hot off All That Jazz). Exciting, right? Well, the Benton picture came and went that November in the blink of an eye, failing to even crack the box office top 10. Not only were reviews for the Hitchcockian film itself lukewarm but critics argued both Scheider and Streep were woefully miscast and devoid of the faintest chemistry. Streep herself went on to label Still of the Night the worst picture of her career.

Three weeks after the Benton film barnstormed theaters with a whimper, Streep's second 1982 release hit the screen in New York and Los Angeles and well, to put it mildly, let's just say this effort was a bit of an improvement.

The 1982 Oscar nominees for Best Lead Actress were...

Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria

Andrews portrays Victoria Grant, a down-and-out entertainer who is discovered in Paris by cabaret performer Toddy (the delightful, Oscar-nominated Robert Preston). Toddy has an eyebrow-raiser of an idea - what if Victoria were to put on shows as a male impersonator...who's pretending to be a female impersonator? The desperate Victoria goes for it and proves a grand success in the City of Lights. Enter a Chicago gangster (James Garner), who finds himself curiously taken with "Victor," and his daffy moll (Lesley Ann Warren, also Oscar-nominated) and heaps of screwball comedy ensue. Andrews won a Golden Globe for this performance, which marked her third (and to date, final) Oscar nomination.

Jessica Lange, Frances

Lange portrays Frances Farmer, the brilliant, beautiful and notoriously rebellious actress whose modest stardom on the stage and screen in the 1930s was steadily derailed by substance abuse, a reputation as impossible to work with and the ultimate Mother from Hell (Kim Stanley, in a quietly terrifying, Oscar-nominated turn), who institutionalizes her daughter after a nervous breakdown. This performance, alongside 1982's Tootsie (in Best Supporting Actress), marked Lange's first appearance at the Oscars.

Sissy Spacek, Missing

Spacek portrays Beth, wife of the American journalist Charles Horman who mysteriously disappeared in the aftermath of the 1973 Chilean coup d'etat that removed from power President Salvador Allende. Beth finds no support from the American consulate and ultimately teams up with Charles' father Ed (Jack Lemmon, also Oscar-nominated) in the search for her husband. While Ed can't fathom there could possibly be some sort of conspiracy or cover-up, Beth isn't so convinced. This performance marked Spacek's third Oscar nomination.

Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice

Streep portrays Sophie Zawistowski, a Polish immigrant who resides in a Brooklyn boarding house alongside her paranoid schizophrenic lover Nathan (Kevin Kline) and new tenant Stingo (Peter MacNicol), an aspiring writer. Stingo comes to learn of Sophie's survival in a concentration camp and the devastating decision she had to make upon arrival at Auschwitz. Streep made a killing in the precursors this year, winning Best Lead Actress honors from the Golden Globes, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle. Her sole loss came at BAFTA, where she fell short to Julie Walters (Educating Rita). This performance marked Streep's fourth Oscar nomination and second victory.

Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman

Winger portrays Paula Pokrifki, an unhappy factory worker whose rinky-dink town offers negligible opportunities. Enter fellow lost soul/aviator-in-training Zack Mayo (Richard Gere), however, and love might just lift her up where she belongs. This performance marked Winger's first Oscar nomination.

Overlooked: Carol Burnett, Annie; Diane Keaton, Shoot the Moon; Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fast Times at Ridgemont High; Shelley Long, Night Shift; Dolly Parton, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; JoBeth Williams, Poltergeist

Won: Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice

Should've won: Jessica Lange, Frances

Talk about a Sophie's Choice.

The 1982 ceremony stands as one of the all-time most-watched Oscar telecasts, no doubt in part due to the year's two highest-grossing films - Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Sydney Pollack's Tootsie - being up for a plethora of prizes. Moviegoers rooting for those two box office smashes watched in awe that evening as the films lost one award after another to Richard Attenborough's bloated epic Gandhi, which scored eight wins on 11 nominations.

There was scant suspense in that year's acting categories. Ben Kingsley (Gandhi), Streep, Louis Gossett, Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) and Lange were the overwhelming favorites in their respective line-ups. That is not to say, however, they had no impressive competition. Dustin Hoffman (Tootsie), Jack Lemmon (Missing), Robert Preston (Victor/Victoria), Teri Garr (Tootsie) and Kim Stanley (Frances) were all dead-on brilliant too and probably could've prevailed in another cycle.

The contenders in Best Lead Actress were no slouch either, though it could have, frankly, been an even stronger line-up. Diane Keaton's devastating dramatic turn in Shoot the Moon is, for my money, the finest work of her entire career and the picture should've netted acting nods for Albert Finney and Dana Hill to boot. Keaton should've grabbed the slot of an actress who was richly deserving of her nomination the year following but certainly did not deserve recognition for the cornball romance that is An Officer and a Gentleman.

I adore Debra Winger, not only in her Oscar-nominated turns in Terms of Endearment and Shadowlands, but also pictures like Urban Cowboy, Betrayed and Forget Paris. Even an actress of Winger's calibur, however, could not make much out of Paula Pokrifki, an underwritten, borderline-Supporting character in a real underwhelmer of a film. The kindest thing I can say about Winger's performance is she's the most compelling part of the picture but that just isn't saying a whole lot here. Even Legal Eagles had more to offer.

Now, on to the good stuff.

Just as I have an impossible time deciding between Lange and Streep, I find myself see-sawing between Andrews and Spacek in the second tier. These are two dynamite actresses and I support their nominations, even if neither is quite the strongest part of her respective film.

Contrary to how it might sound on paper, Andrews is actually very much the straight man of Victor/Victoria. That isn't to say she isn't wonderful - this is arguably the last truly great Andrews turn on the silver screen - but she (and Garner, for what it's worth) is constantly upstaged by fellow Oscar-nominees Robert Preston and Lesley Ann Warren, who really have the juicier, more fun roles here. Andrews is still great, a master of screwball comedy (directed here by husband Blake Edwards), and "Le Jazz Hot" is one hell of a musical number, but it just isn't a performance in the same league as Lange or Streep.

Likewise, Spacek is in strong form in the very underrated Missing (the best film overall of these five) but she's largely playing second banana to Lemmon, whose Ed Horman runs a roller coaster of emotions (whereas Spacek's hitting the same note for most of the picture). The nomination reminds me somewhat of Susan Sarandon's from the year prior, in that both turns are terrific but just as Atlantic City was the Burt Lancaster show, Missing belongs to Lemmon.

While Andrews and Spacek turned in commendable work in 1982, this category is of course all about Lange and Streep for me, both turns among the strongest performances of any category in the decade, arguably - and if this sounds like bombastic hyperbole, it's not - of all-time. It kills me that Lange had to compete here, as I suspect she would've prevailed in virtually any other year in the 1980s, sans maybe vs. Shirley MacLaine, Geraldine Page and Jessica Tandy (for career Oscar reasons).

Since I'm head-over-heels for these two turns at roughly the same level, I'll start alphabetically with Lange, whose Frances Farmer is the most flat-out phenomenal work she's ever done and ever will do - no small feat, considering she's turned in a dozen or more brilliant performances over the past half-century.

Frances as a film is a bit sloppy, and may not be the most accurate biographical take on Farmer's tragic life. What it does work superbly as, however, is a showcase for two gangbusters actresses, Lange and Kim Stanley, who is legitimately horrifying in her first big screen appearance in more than a decade. When these two acting titans go at it, it's about as riveting as cinema can get. Lange also has several nice scenes (and heaps of chemistry) with future husband Sam Shepard, who portrays Farmer's on-and-off lover Harry.

The Lange film isn't a subtle picture by any stretch, yet she manages to completely transcend the haphazard direction and screenwriting, even in scenes that otherwise raise eyebrows. The picture's ending, in which Frances meets up with Harry for the first time since an involuntary lobotomy turned her into something out of The Stepford Wives, is downright devastating because Lange makes it so damn convincing.

Speaking of imperfect cinema lifted by pitch-perfect performances, Sophie's Choice is also not without its issues. It's about half an hour too long and long stretches of the picture are simply tedious. Alan J. Pakula directed several marvelous films in the 1970s, among them Klute and All the President's Men, but by the 1980s, his output was decidedly less-than-exemplary. Sophie's Choice, in fact, might well be the only watchable picture Pakula delivered in the decade, before making a late-career comeback in 1990s with box office successes like Presumed Innocent and The Pelican Brief.

Still, like Frances, Sophie's Choice remains a must-see for its performances. Peter MacNicol's mesmerized turn as Stingo marked a memorable breakthrough for him. Even better is Kevin Kline, oozing with charisma yet also petrifying as the violently unstable Nathan. Fine as MacNicol and Kline may be, Streep of course still owns the film, in one of the most harrowing turns of her career.

Streep feels less constrained here than in prior pictures. It's her first great non-Supporting turn on the big screen and at last, she has the license to tear the screen apart from start to finish without sharing the camera with a leading man. Her Polish-American accent is remarkably convincing and while the performance is a heartbreaker, she has also rarely been so glowing or charming.

Having to choose between these two extraordinary performances is truly unfair. It's an impossible decision right on-par with, for instance, Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia vs. Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird. Lange and Streep are both just so, so, SO fantastic. I lean ever-so-slightly toward the former for now, as there's just something about Lange's Frances that lingers with me after viewing her picture - a real gut-punch - that isn't quite there with Streep and Sophie's Choice. But who knows, I can easily see myself flip-flopping on this one in the future.

The performances ranked (thus far)...

1. Jessica Lange, Frances
2. Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice
3. Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
4. Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
5. Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh
6. Diane Keaton, Reds
7. Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter
8. Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer
9. Julie Andrews, Victor/Victoria
10. Sissy Spacek, Missing
11. Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
12. Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City
13. Candice Bergen, Starting Over
14. Maggie Smith, California Suite
15. Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond
16. Debra Winger, An Officer and a Gentleman
17. Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant's Woman
18. Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
19. Penelope Milford, Coming Home
20. Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away

20 Years of Streep: 1981 ("The French Lieutenant's Woman")

After blowing the roof off the joint in 1979 with a trio of gangbusters performances - including an Oscar-winning one with Kramer vs. Kramer - Meryl Streep took 1980 off from the big screen, instead focusing her energies on a stage musical of Alice in Wonderland that premiered at New York's Public Theater in December 1980. While the production itself garnered mixed notices, Streep herself, of course, received wall-to-wall raves.

The following year, Streep not only returned to the screen but took on her very first leading role - a screen adaptation of John Fowles' acclaimed 1969 novel The French Lieutenant's Woman. The marvelous playwright Harold Pinter would adapt the book to the screen and British filmmaker Karel Reisz - who worked wonders with leading lady Vanessa Redgrave on Morgan! and Isadora in the 1960s - signed on to direct. Moreover, another hot up-and-comer would star opposite Streep - the dashing future Oscar/Emmy/Tony-winner Jeremy Irons.

The result then simply had to be an incredible motion picture, right? Well, the Academy, to some extent at least, evidently thought so. In my humble opinion, however...not so much.

The 1981 Oscar nominees for Best Lead Actress were...

Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond

Hepburn portrays Ethel Thayer, who, alongside husband Norman (Henry Fonda, at last taking home an Oscar), makes the annual summer trip up to New England and her beloved cottage that overlooks Golden Pond. Norman may be the ultimate curmudgeon but Ethel's love for him is unconditional and particularly critical at a time when, on the heels of his 80th birthday, Norman finds his memory fading and physical health declining. This performance, which also won Hepburn her second BAFTA Award, marked her 12th and final Oscar nomination and fourth victory.

Diane Keaton, Reds

Keaton portrays Louise Bryant, the famed American journalist known for her sympathetic coverage of the Bolsheviks throughout the Russian Revolution. Initially a bored, married socialite, Louise ultimately leaves her husband for journalist John Reed (Warren Beatty, who picked up an Oscar here for his directing) and from there, it's a roller coaster ride of a life as Louise emerges a proud radical, has an affair with playwright Eugene O'Neill (Jack Nicholson) and goes off to Europe to write as a war correspondent. This performance marked Keaton's second Oscar nomination.

Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh

Mason portrays Georgia Hines, a boozy Broadway actress who emerges from rehab hell-bent on staying sober and revitalizing her career. Such sobriety is tested, however, by the drama of her two best friends (James Coco and Joan Hackett, also Oscar-nominated) and the entrance of estranged daughter Polly (Kristy McNichol) who moves in with her recovering mother. This performance marked Mason's fourth (and to date, final) Oscar nomination.

Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City

Sarandon portrays Sally Matthews, an Atlantic City waitress with big dreams of one day working in Monte Carlo. She becomes involved with has-been gangster Lou (the brilliant Burt Lancaster, in his final Oscar-nominated turn) after Sally's estranged husband, in town to sell cocaine with Lou, is killed by mobsters. Sally and Lou are left with heaps of cocaine to sell but it isn't long before they too are in danger. This performance marked Sarandon's very first Oscar nomination.

Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant's Woman

Streep portrays contemporary actress Anna, who in turn plays Sarah Woodruff in a film set during the Victorian Era. During the filming of their picture, Anna carries on an affair with British actor Mike (Jeremy Irons) but loses interest in the romance after production wraps. Meanwhile, in the film within the film, Sarah is a mysterious outcast who becomes the apple of biologist Charles' (Irons again) eye. Take a wild guess what happens on that end. This performance, which (inexplicably) won her a BAFTA Award, Golden Globe and Best Actress honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, marked Streep's third overall Oscar nomination and first nod in Best Lead Actress.

Overlooked: Nancy Allen, Blow Out; Elizabeth Berridge, The Funhouse; Jill Clayburgh, First Monday in October; Faye Dunaway, Mommie Dearest; Sally Field, Absence of Malice; Audrey Hepburn, They All Laughed; Sissy Spacek, Raggedy Man; Kathleen Turner, Body Heat; Sigourney Weaver, Eyewitness

Won: Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond

Should've won: Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh

1981, the year Chariots of Fire scored a jaw-dropper of an upset over Reds for the Best Picture Oscar, was an embarrassment of riches for leading ladies on the silver screen. You wouldn't necessarily know that, however, based on the Academy's selections that year in Best Lead Actress. (Not that Dunaway's terrifying Joan Crawford likely had a prayer of winning approval from the Academy.) For while I generally adore the five actresses up for recognition here, I'm not super-enamored with any of their nominated performances. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to label this line-up one of the weaker Lead Actress affairs at the Oscars in the 1980s.

The least compelling of the nominees, by a country mile, is, I'm afraid, Streep. I suspect most Streep aficionados would label Music of the Heart as the worst Streep turn recognized at the Oscars in Best Lead Actress (or is it August: Osage County now?) but I'd make a strong case The French Lieutenant's Woman is actually far more egregious a nomination - it might well be my least favorite of all Streep performances. It's not entirely her fault, however - the picture she's in is the epitome of drab, a dreary romance that's devoid of any romantic feeling and may run only two hours but feels like at least three. Even the usually reliable Freddie Francis' photography is oddly lackluster. Streep herself has said she was miscast in the roles of Anna and Sarah and while I think she's right to some extent, I think she understates the fault Pinter and Reisz deserve for their sleepy adaptation. Just imagine what Merchant and Ivory could have done with this!

Now, on to Katharine Hepburn and Bette Dav..scratch that...Susan Sarandon! I'm coupling these two ladies together, as I have immense fondness for them and their pictures here but both are ultimately playing second banana to superior, more notable late-career turns from Henry Fonda and Burt Lancaster, respectively.

Hepburn's a delight to watch - then again, Hepburn reading from a thesaurus would be awe-inspiring - but, beyond that amazing "you are my knight in shining armor" scene late in the film, there's nothing Hepburn does in On Golden Pond that I would place alongside the all-time great Hepburn moments in film. I think I even prefer her Oscar-winning turn in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which also, frankly, shouldn't have won the Lead Actress prize, over this. It's too bad she didn't win Oscars instead for superior work in films like Summertime and Long Day's Journey Into Night. That said, I'm hardly devastated Hepburn has the all-time record for Oscar victories, even if they're not for career-best performances.

Like Hepburn with Fonda, Sarandon is mostly upstaged by leading man Lancaster in Atlantic City, even if it's a thoroughly credible performance. Sarandon is sumptuously photographed here, much like she was a few years prior in director Louis Malle's Pretty Baby. It's an immensely sensual turn, like so many Sarandon performances, and she has a fine grasp on the wonderful playwright John Guare's dialogue. I have no qualms about Sarandon here other than to say the meat simply isn't there on the bone for her to chew as it is for her co-star. She would go on to upstage the likes of Nick Nolte, Kevin Costner and Sean Penn, among others, but Atlantic City is the Lancaster show through and through.

Ultimately, I find myself see-sawing between the final two contenders, Keaton and Mason.

I consider Keaton an astoundingly underappreciated dramatic talent. Her turns in Annie Hall, Baby Boom, Something's Gotta Give, etc. are all packed with subtle comic brilliance, of course, but it's her more somber work in pictures like Looking for Mr. Goodbar and especially Shoot the Moon (sadly neither of which she was Oscar-nominated for) that most floors me. Keaton is very compelling in Reds too, especially in the film's first half (Louise's transformation is pretty remarkable), but she doesn't quite command or flat-out own the screen in the same way she did those aforementioned dramas.

There's so much to like in the Warren Beatty picture (though I'd argue the Chariots victory was a deserving one) but I think the sprawling nature of it all and meticulous attention to detail with the film's design and look ultimately overshadow a lot of the acting. So, while Beatty, Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Maureen Stapleton are all terrific, I'm often more awe-struck by the scenery around them, and that incredible Vittorio Storaro photography too. In an even more anemic year, I could see myself siding with Keaton, even if it's not among her strongest work.

Alas, I think I lean ever-so-slightly toward Mason, who of course duked it out with (and lost to) Keaton in the 1977 Oscar race for The Goodbye Girl. (Mason and Keaton famously tied at that year's Golden Globes, where the Hollywood Foreign Press Association much preferred Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl to Woody Allen's Annie Hall. The Academy was not on the same page.)

Mason might well be the least-remembered performer to garner four or more Best Lead Actress Oscar nominations. After a handful of small roles on stage and both the big and small screens, Mason floored critics with her turn as a hooker with a heart of gold, opposite James Caan, in 1973's Cinderella Liberty. There, she garnered her first Oscar nod and it was also in '73 that Mason married the much-celebrated screenwriter/playwright Neil Simon. Mason took four years off from the silver screen and returned in '77 with the most prominent role of her career, Paula McFadden in The Goodbye Girl, written by her husband. She quickly followed that one up with a third Lead Actress Oscar nomination, again in a Simon-penned picture, for 1979's Chapter Two.

The best of the four Oscar-nominated Mason performances, by far, is her final one, as on-edge recovering alcoholic actress Georgia in Only When I Laugh. The film itself, while no Atlantic City, On Golden Pond or Reds, is still one of the better Simon pictures, adapted from his play The Gingerbread Lady, which won a Tony Award for Maureen Stapleton in the Mason role. Mason is dead-on convincing as a woman desperate to maintain her sobriety and sanity, if only she weren't surrounded by such self-absorbed and needy people. The Mason-McNichol relationship has shades of Terms of Endearment and Postcards from the Edge and, like those superior pictures, Only When I Laugh goes for equal parts laughter and tears.

Mason may not be an actress on the spectacular level of the other four nominees here but in Georgia Hines she found the pitch-perfect role of her career. It would ultimately mark her penultimate performance in a Simon film (behind Max Dugan Returns) prior to the couple's divorce in 1983.

The performances ranked (thus far)...

1. Maureen Stapleton, Interiors
2. Mariel Hemingway, Manhattan
3. Marsha Mason, Only When I Laugh
4. Diane Keaton, Reds
5. Meryl Streep, Kramer vs. Kramer
6. Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter
7. Jane Alexander, Kramer vs. Kramer
8. Susan Sarandon, Atlantic City
9. Candice Bergen, Starting Over
10. Maggie Smith, California Suite
11. Katharine Hepburn, On Golden Pond
12. Meryl Streep, The French Lieutenant's Woman
13. Dyan Cannon, Heaven Can Wait
14. Penelope Milford, Coming Home
15. Barbara Barrie, Breaking Away