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Ranking 1930s Best Actress Oscar Winners

For the first decade for the Academy Awards, they did not make as many mistakes with the actresses as they did with the actors. This is my ranking of all Best Actress Oscar winners based on the actresses’ legacy, the performances in their respective movies and their competition in their respective years.

12. Mary Pickford – Coquette

Coquette is a horribly dated mess of a movie that never had any business being nominated in any single category as it’s one of the weakest films of this already troublesome cinematic year. Although I did not find Mary Pickford’s performance as bad as others did, she was still just okay and far from great. This was the beginning of the Academy’s inherently wrong system of lobbying for the award. She lobbied so hard that she won. Others in the nominations slate all deserved it more.

Actress Who Should Have Won: Ruth Chatterton – Madame X

Best Actress of the Year: Ruth Chatterton – Madame X

11. Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegfeld

This was a bad, but expected pick for the Best Actress Oscar this year having in mind that The Great Ziegfeld was their Best Picture choice. She was fine in the role, but hardly memorable if you ask me. However, the entire slate this year was so mediocre that only Carole Lombard would have been an awesome choice, but others not so much. This year the male acting category was so much better. It’s interesting to note that, along with Spencer Tracy, Rainer ended up winning two consecutive Oscars in this decade.

Actress Who Should Have Won: Carole Lombard – My Man Godfrey

Best Actress of the Year: Jean Arthur – Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

10. Katharine Hepburn – Morning Glory

For me, Katharine Hepburn is of course an amazing actress, but her first Oscar win is definitely undeserved. She was fine in Morning Glory, but overly theatrical even for this time. That entire flick is forgettable for sure. It is surprising that they did not nominate her work in Little Women as that movie was nominated for so many awards this year. Of the nominees, May Robson clearly was the best one, but still this slate of just three was quite weak and the entire year isn’t really great when it comes to female talent.

Actress Who Should Have Won: May Robson – Lady for a Day

Best Actress of the Year: Marlene Dietrich – Blonde Venus

9. Helen Hayes – The Sin of Madelon Claudet

Helen Hayes was actually very strong in The Sin of Madelon Claudet. She was highly memorable, confident and selling her every scene quite well. But everything about this melodrama screamed Oscar bait to me, and nowhere is that the case more than with the main role. It was bound to win her an Oscar and that is what exactly ended up happening. However, this year was very weak for all actresses and the nominations slate was also inferior, so I cannot really see anybody else winning in this instance.

Actress Who Should Have Won: In Agreement

Best Actress of the Year: In Agreement

8. Luise Rainer – The Good Earth

Luise Rainer is so sweet and so emotional in The Good Earth, a drama that is now very dated, but was very much appreciated back in its day. This was her second consecutive win and it was much more deserved than the Ziegfeld performance, but still it was a very mediocre choice by the Academy having in mind that this year ranks among the greatest ever when it comes to female performances. Gaynor, Stanwyck, Garbo and Dunne were all tremendous in their superb roles.

Actress Who Should Have Won: Barbara Stanwyck – Stella Dallas

Best Actress of the Year: Barbara Stanwyck – Stella Dallas

7. Norma Shearer – The Divorcee

The Divorcee was a very important movie about divorce and how unfair of the treatment women got in this procedure during this period. Although its impact has blunted over time, it’s still a pretty good movie and the main role is great. It was an obvious choice, thus, for the Academy to honor Norma Shearer and I am glad that they did. She was not only excellent in this movie, but she also had a great run during the first couple of years in this decade, so it was only natural to reward her for it.

Actress Who Should Have Won: In Agreement

Best Actress of the Year: In Agreement

6. Bette Davis – Dangerous

Legend says it that Bette Davis won her Oscar this year in compensation for her snub that happened in 1934 as her turn in ‘Of Human Bondage’ was impressive, but ignored. This is something that the Academy usually does, and it was probably the first time that it happened here. I personally find her performance per usual great in this somewhat messy, but entertaining melodrama. However, Hepburn’s turn in Alice Adams was just better and she should have won instead.

Actress Who Should Have Won: Katharine Hepburn – Alice Adams

Best Actress of the Year: Katharine Hepburn – Alice Adams

5. Claudette Colbert – It Happened One Night

It’s only fitting that Claudette Colbert get the fifth spot on this list having in mind that is exactly the placement that her co-star, Gable, got on my actors list. And everything that I have said there applies here too. She is fantastic. She was always a terrific actress and this is undoubtedly her most quintessential role. She stole every scene she was in and she was particularly great at her line delivery. The fifth placement is just because of the comedic nature of the role, but other than that, she was fabulous without any doubt.

Actress Who Should Have Won: In Agreement

Best Actress of the Year: In Agreement

4. Bette Davis – Jezebel

This was the first truly deserved win for Bette Davis in what is one of her most famous roles and movies. She is iconic in the role of Julie Marsden. Her arc is amazing and emotionally rewarding and following her character’s growth was so powerful. She particularly excelled at the emotional scenes, including the ending itself, which was to some problematic, but still highly moving. Davis is usually thought of as the queen of bitchy roles, but she was just as great at playing the good-natured, more complex women as evidenced by this flick.

Actress Who Should Have Won: In Agreement

Best Actress of the Year: In Agreement

3. Marie Dressler – Min and Bill

Marie Dressler steals the show in Min and Bill as this is her movie of course. She is always great in every movie that she made, but here she really got a meaty, long role and she basically plays the protagonist. That was great to witness as she killed it in the role, delivering both in terms of humor and genuine emotion. She’s believable, very amusing and her final scene was just so powerful. This was the only win for an older actress in this decade and I am so glad that it happened for her as she wholeheartedly deserved it.

Actress Who Should Have Won: In Agreement

Best Actress of the Year: In Agreement

2. Janet Gaynor – Sunrise

Janet Gaynor absolutely ruled the late twenties period as evidenced by her Oscar win that was given to her on the strength of not just Sunrise, but also 7^th Heaven. In my opinion, the choice clearly was because of Sunrise first and foremost as that movie is just brilliant and her performance in it is so lovely. She is charming and radiant throughout this gorgeous romance. She remains the only silent movie winner in this category and it couldn’t have happened to a greater actress.

Actress Who Should Have Won: In Agreement

Best Actress of the Year: In Agreement

1. Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind

There were some truly amazing winners here, but nobody comes even close to the level of brilliance that is Vivien Leigh’s performance in the masterpiece that is Gone with the Wind. Scarlett O’Hara is one of the best characters in all of fiction and it was a role that was carefully examined between many actresses, eventually going to the then lesser-known Leigh. What she did with it was truly remarkable. Charming, horrible, scared, confident and so and so forth, she sold all of the complexities that the role required, thus making Scarlett feel very much real. As a result, her work here is in my opinion one of the greatest acting performances of all time.