1943 – Ingrid Bergman
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Wow, Ingrid Bergman was certainly the hot ticket in 1943. Not only was she nominated for Best Actress for this film, she was also in Casablanca, for which she did not earn an Oscar nomination, though she certainly could have been. In For Whom the Bell Tolls, she played a much more dramatic and tragic character. She played Maria, the Spanish girl who had joined a rebel band of anti-fascists because they had found her after her village had been destroyed, her parents had both been murdered, and she, herself, had her head shaved, and then had been gang raped. Her short hair was a plot point, but she still looked gorgeous. It’s a good thing, those rebel guerillas had a professional hair stylist in their rag-tag band.
For the first half of the movie, Maria didn’t really do much. She was there as eye-candy, and a love interest for Gary Cooper. And to be sure, she and her leading man had a good on-screen chemistry. But about half way through the movie, we began to learn her back-story, and this is where Bergman had the chance to bring out the heavy drama. We learn about why her head had been shaved, and why she was with the rebels. Yes, the movie could be considered an action film, but I’d say it was a drama with a bit of action in it. It was Bergman’s performance that made it so. She played the part of a victim, and it was well-written, giving her a victim mentality, that said she was somehow worthless because she had been overpowered by cruel men who sexually abused her. Bergman played that well.
And when young and handsome Gary Cooper arrived and was kind to her, she fell head-over-heels in love with him. And though there wasn’t much to that, Bergman played it well, making her a little too aggressive and obsessive with her affections, which, given the situation, was actually appropriate for the character. After being defiled, and then being rescued and being shown kindness from Pilar, Maria was desperate for love and affection.
And in the films climax, she opened herself up to some powerful crying that felt sincere, and the tears were certainly real. Even when she was put on a horse, she was leaning back in the saddle as she was carried away, wailing for her lost love.