93. Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce Beragon
      Mildred Pierce (1945)

Crawford’s shrewd portrayal of a hard-working single mother willing to do anything to win her daughter’s love was ahead of its time. Whether Mildred is humoring her cocky suitor, scolding her obnoxious daughter, or making a cold-blooded financial arrangement with a man she does not love, Crawford’s beautifully chilly face and iron-willed self-possession breathe powerful life into this melodramatic noir. The potent performance revived Crawford’s stagnant career and won her her only Oscar. Which the famously difficult actress, nervous and feigning illness, accepted at home. In bed.

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