1942 – Gladys Cooper
Now, Voyager
Gladys Cooper did a really great job in this movie. She played the film’s main antagonist. She was a mean, sour old lady who treated her children, especially her youngest daughter, played by Bette Davis, like possessions, holding the inheritance of her wealth over her head like a threat. She had very few kind words to say to her, but she had plenty of negative comments and opinions about her behavior. I didn’t like Mrs. Vale, but that’s ok. I wasn’t supposed to, which just means that Cooper did a great job, and she deserved her Oscar nomination.
From the first moment she is on the screen, she establishes herself as a bitter old woman who doesn’t ever realize how cruelly she is emotionally torturing her daughter. She controls every aspect of the girl’s life, telling her what to wear, what to say, what to do. And after her daughter’s stay at a sanitarium, after the girl has learned to be more independent and self-assured, she basically tells her to do as she is told or she won’t get any inheritance. And even though Charlotte is kind to her, I could see disgust in Cooper’s eyes every time she looked at her daughter.
Cooper’s final scene was particularly well-acted. Charlotte tells her that she has broken her engagement with a wealthy man from a high-born family. The look of anger and disgust on her face was horrible to see from a mother to a daughter. I was horrified to see that look. Cooper really sold the moment showing the audience in no uncertain terms just how the character regarded her independent child. My first thought when her heart gave out and she expired, was that it was the best thing that could happen to Charlotte. Cooper created a powerful villain. Even though she was not actively evil, she was most certainly a horrible manipulative person. I wasn’t sorry she died, and I wasn’t supposed to be.
I think Cooper deserved her nomination, and if it was not for Teresa Wright’s amazing performance in Mrs. Miniver, I thinks she would have taken home the Oscar. She was that good. She was bitter, crotchety, and mean in just the right amounts. And she was able to throw in self-righteousness and a “poor-me” attitude that was unmistakable. Cooper really turned in a fantastic performance.