Most Over-rated Actress of the Golden Era?

[Flat Foot Floey]

Excellent point LizzieMaine and an excellent question as well. Most are afraid to say"The emporer has no clothes" when it comes to MM and James Dean, etc. They've been icons so long, mostly because of their age at death, that no one questions their abilities as actors. Marylin mostly played bimbos. She was great in Some Like It Hot and several others, but had a limited range. Had she lived to become an old hag like Bette davis did, Oh brother! I can just imagine....
James Dean? Played a neurotic teen no better or worse than a million others. Really just another stock actor. Dead young= Superstardom.
Best,
Toots

:arated:

True! I was always disappointed when I watched their "classics". Sorry but not my cup of tea and not very good acting IMO.
Even if the movies were entertaining it wasn't due to Monroe or Dean

 

[dhermann1]

Jayne Mansfield

I don't think Jayne qualifies for this list because nobody EVER accused her of being a good actress. But she was really a pretty sharp woman in her own right. I'll never forget when Jack Paar used to have her and Zsa Zsa gabor on together. It was a scream. It was the old "I'd have a battle of wits with you, but I never fight an unarmed man" situation. Jayne was a genius compared to stuffy old Zsa Zsa. Just brilliant.

 

[Tomasso]

I don't agree with the assessment of Dean as overrated

Nor does Dennis Hopper, who in this interview calls Dean a genius, and the best actor he's ever seen........ and he's seen a few.

 

[Lincsong]

Audrey Hepburn.

 

[Widebrim]

I hate to say it, but Basil Rathbone. He could definately be a real ham at times...as could Charles Laughton. But I still love Rathbone in The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro.

 

[Widebrim]

I don't think Jayne qualifies for this list because nobody EVER accused her of being a good actress. But she was really a pretty sharp woman in her own right. I'll never forget when Jack Paar used to have her and Zsa Zsa gabor on together. It was a scream. It was the old "I'd have a battle of wits with you, but I never fight an unarmed man" situation. Jayne was a genius compared to stuffy old Zsa Zsa. Just brilliant.

Jayne was actually a pretty good straight woman, as evidenced in The Girl Can't Help It, and her appearance on The Jack Benny television show (in which she played a heck of a fiddle).

 

[Mr. 'H']

I think Jane Russell would laughingly agree with you. She's got a great attitude and no illusions.
To take another favorite, opinions on Lana Turner cover the whole gamut. She had a lot of truly nauseating roles, so it's kind of hard to tell. I remember Liz Smith saying she was very underrated, but I've always thought she was pretty lame.
There are some would call Bette Davis overrated, but I wouldn't be one of them.

I was at a farmer's market earlier today and got to meet Jane Russell. No kidding....

She sold me some sausages! lol lol :eusa_clap

 

[chanteuseCarey]

Sota OT: I just want Carole's swimsuit! Gosh wasn't Anne B just gorgeous- seeing her in Ten Commandments, yowza! What a pic here, Fletch!

I run hot and cold on Carole Landis.
Sometimes she was a real eyeful (see below).
Other times she just looked drawn and brittle and acted it too.

Maybe it's her name. Another Miss Landis really hung me out to dry years ago.
Interestingly, she looked kinda like Anne Baxter, whom I have no problems with.

 

[MCPRE]

I always thought of Katharine Hepburn as a very classy gifted actress, a natural with girl next door quality and beauty. On another note I saw a show on hurricanes which told the story of how her family survived the 1938 storm in Connecticut by floating around in what was left of a neighbors attic, sounded very harrowing, real life drama, this was shortly before her career took off.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Well, despite the feminine attributes, young Jean Harlow, wasn't exactly a superb actress at the best of times, yet another Howard Hughes 'finds' as well, I wonder why, and how.....[huh]

One of Jean Harlow's lesser-known roles was as schoolmarm Miss Crabtree in the Our Gang comedies.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

One of Jean Harlow's lesser-known roles was as schoolmarm Miss Crabtree in the Our Gang comedies.

That's news to me:

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0100700/

 

[Atomic Age]

Nor does Dennis Hopper, who in this interview calls Dean a genius, and the best actor he's ever seen........ and he's seen a few.

I'm not going to say that James Dean was a bad actor, but clearly OVER RATED! In fact deified by those who think that Dean, and the whole method movement is the end all be all of acting. I don't find most method actors to be particularly compelling.

Doug

 

[dhermann1]

Razzle Bathroom

No doubt about it. Basil Rathbone was a TERRIBLE actress!

 

[skyvue]

I always thought of Katharine Hepburn as a very classy gifted actress, a natural with girl next door quality and beauty. On another note I saw a show on hurricanes which told the story of how her family survived the 1938 storm in Connecticut by floating around in what was left of a neighbors attic, sounded very harrowing, real life drama, this was shortly before her career took off.

By 1938, Hepburn had notched two Best Actress Oscar nominations (and one win), so I'm not sure one could say her career hadn't yet taken off by then.

She did experience a dip in box-office popularity in the late '30s, though. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is widely seen as her comeback vehicle.

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Not sure what's being rated on this thread, but for her reputation... I have never understood Ava Gardner's appeal.

I would agree with the mention of Audrey Hepburn if not for Roman Holiday.

I've never been a fan of Katherine Hepburn, but I think that's my problem.

 

[LizzieMaine]

By 1938, Hepburn had notched two Best Actress Oscar nominations (and one win), so I'm not sure one could say her career hadn't yet taken off by then.

She did experience a dip in box-office popularity in the late '30s, though. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY is widely seen as her comeback vehicle.

La Hepburn was one of a number of top stars tagged "box office poison" by an exhibitors' association in the spring of 1938:

SHOWMEN IN REVOLT, LIST TOP FILM STARS AS BOX OFFICE FLOPS

By Frank Ryhlick

A red-bordered advertisement in the Hollywood Reporter, trade paper of the motion picture industry, delivered a blow to film stars yesterday as stunning as if the heavens had fallen. The advertisement, paid for by the Independent Theatre Owners of New York, announced that the independent picture exhibitors were "tired" of losing money on films featuring such cinema kings and queens as --

Greta Garbo, whose salary is $8,500 a week; Mae West, who receives an average of $300,000 a picture; Joan Crawford, who is paid $200,000 for forty weeks work a year; Katharine Hepburn, whose compensation is $100,000 a picture; Kay Francis, who receives $5,500 a week; Marlene Dietrich, $200,000 a picture; and Edward Arnold, $2,000 a week.

Compensation per picture is based on eight weeks' work. Overtime is extra. For her part in "Knight Without Armor," Dietrich was paid $400,000.

Stressing the fact that the rebellion of the exhibitors was launched against the star system, and not against the individuals involved, Harry Brandt, president of the Independents' association, announced that the organization was ready "to settle the issue in court," if anyone wanted to carry it there.

Of Garbo and the others names, the advertisement asserted that their "artistic ability is unquestioned, but their box office draw is nil." Brandt said the independents did not object to high salaries -- "no matter how fabulous" -- for stars who are rising, or who remain at their zenith.

The Hollywood advertisement, inserted at a cost of $300, was headlined "Wake Up, Hollywood producers!" It read in part:

"Practically all of the major studios are burdened with stars -- whose public appeal is negligible -- receiving tremendous salaries necessitated by contractural obligations. Having these stars under contract, and paying them sizable sums weekly, the studios find themselves in the unhappy position of having to put these box office deterrents in expensive pictures in the hope that some return on the investment might be had.

"This condition is not only burdensome to the studios but is likewise no boon to exhibitors who, in the final analysis, suffer by the non-drawing power of these players. Garbo, for example, is a tremendous draw in Europe, which does not help theatre owners in the United States. Hepburn turned in excellent performances in 'Stage Door' and 'Bringing Up Baby,' but both pictures died.

"The combined salaries of these stars take millions out of the industry and millions out of the box office. We are not against the star system, mind you, but we don't think it should dominate the production of pictures."


'FRAME UP BY PRODUCERS!' STARS REPLY

Special to The News

Hollywood, May 4 -- "Frame up!" was the cry in Hollywood tonight as stunned motion picture actors and actresses recovered from the shock of a published charge that the Garbos, the Crawfords, the Hepburns -- most of the greats of the film capital -- had lost their box office appeal and should have their salaries slashed.

"This is an attempt to scare us into taking pay cuts," one actress told The News, pointing out that numerous contracts come up for renewal at this time of the year. The artful dodgers behind it all are the producers, the men who hire us and sign our checks."

 

[Bustercat]

I'll wade in - if not a career spent entirely in the golden era - here it goes - MARILYN MONROE.

A beauty - of course.

An actress? Suzanne Sommers has equal talent.

Sorry folks, needed to be said....

Agree 100%. Classic story of a manufactured star (a mobster's girlfriend put into pictures because a studio boss owed a big favor).
I think Lizzie's absolutely right, part of the appeal is her untimely death. Also, her connections to people in high places.
My fiancee loves her, I find her kind of obnoxious (especially the lazy eye thing she does).

Forgive me for being harsh, but alot of the time she comes across to me like someone's elderly rummy aunt who's had one too many mimosas at the wedding and starts getting flirty (probably because she defined sexy for a generation and was so widely imitated long after people should have stopped.)
Her screen character in so many pictures, that of what is essentially a dumb mercenary, is kind of a turnoff and created a nasty archetype too many young women still try to emulate today. I just don't find it cute.

I can tolerate her in the Prince and the Showgirl; and She does a great job in the Misfits, but it's such a stellar movie and cast, it's hard to tell how much of that was her. I would have liked to see more roles like that.
There are others who nailed the blonde bombshell thing alot better, in my mind (Jayne Mansfield).

Now Kate Hepburn is fantastic in my book. Funny that people see her as overacting; beyond the over the top delivery I see a lot of depth, subtlety and skill in her facial reactions, timing, gestures, moreso than many others of her era.

 

[MisterCairo]

lol

No doubt about it. Basil Rathbone was a TERRIBLE actress!

lol lol lol

 

[Atomic Age]

La Hepburn was one of a number of top stars tagged "box office poison" by an exhibitors' association in the spring of 1938:

Compensation per picture is based on eight weeks' work. Overtime is extra. For her part in "Knight Without Armor," Dietrich was paid $400,000.


"This condition is not only burdensome to the studios but is likewise no boon to exhibitors who, in the final analysis, suffer by the non-drawing power of these players. Garbo, for example, is a tremendous draw in Europe, which does not help theatre owners in the United States. Hepburn turned in excellent performances in 'Stage Door' and 'Bringing Up Baby,' but both pictures died.

$400,000 for 8 weeks work in 1938! That would be $6 million today. Still considerably less than Schwarzenegger was making at the height of his acting career.

Interesting that Bringing Up Baby is listed as a movie that died, and is now considered a classic example of screwball comedy. But then I guess there are many films that weren't hits right off the bat. Its A Wonderful Life is a good example.

Doug

 

[Widebrim]

No doubt about it. Basil Rathbone was a TERRIBLE actress!

Ok, Dan, I failed to notice that the thread was aimed just at actresses...I am a bonehead.:eusa_doh: