FEATS IN ACTRESSING, 1949

Not a top ten per se (MUBI lacks too many films at this point, so no Joan Crawford for Flamingo Road, Kinuyo Tanaka for My Love Has Been Burning, Patricia Neal for The Hasty Heart, Valerie Hobson for The Rocking Horse Winner, etc.). But here are ten films with great lead or supporting female performances.

Olivia de Havilland, The Heiress » Setsuko Hara, Late Spring » Barbara Bel Geddes, Caught » Alida Valli, The Third Man » Ann Todd, The Passionate Friends » Judy Holliday, Adam’s Rib » Virginia Mayo, White Heat » Barbara Britton, I Shot Jesse James » Yvonne de Carlo, Criss Cross » Elizabeth Patterson, Intruder in the Dust