For me, it has to be Debbie Reynolds as the mother in Albert Brooks' MOTHER. I pick her because in this role Debbie managed to unlock the secret that all real-life mothers hold dear in their relationships with their fully grown children: how to push all their child's buttons and make that child feel both resentful and guilty at the same time. And the film is hillarious to bout! FRANC
-----Original Message----- From: MoPo List [mailto:mop...@listserv.american.edu] On Behalf Of Bruce Hershenson Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 4:16 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: [MOPO] The most memorable mom, final version (I could not include just a few MoPo choices, cause I ran out of time)! Who do you feel played the most MEMORABLE movie mom? Last week, we asked, "who do you feel played the FUNNIEST movie dad?" This week (because there are very few "humorous" moms) we are asking, "Who do you feel played the most MEMORABLE movie mom?" IMPORTANT! This is kind of tricky! We are not asking what character in a movie who happened to be a mother was the most memorable ever, but rather we are asking what character in a movie was the most memorable MOTHER ever (many women characters in movies have children, but in many of them the mother/child relationship is very secondary to what makes the female character so memorable, so those performances should NOT be considered). Try to focus on the "mother/child" scenes, where it is those scenes that are so memorable (and sometimes these memorable performances can be very brief, sometimes only a single scene, but they can really stick in your memory)! You are welcome to give any second or third choices in the comments field!Please pick one of the options below, and then please discuss why you chose the option that you did in the comments field (and it is fine if you include second or third choices), or anything else you would like to share with the rest of the e-mail club. Ann-Margret (Tommy) Mary Astor (Mee Me in St. Louis) Anne Bancroft (The Graduate) Ellen Barkin (This Boy's Life) Ethel Barrymore (The Spiral Staircase) Louise Beavers (Imitation of Life 1934) Eugenie Besserer (The Jazz Singer) Brenda Blethyn (Secrets and Lies) Ellen Burstyn (Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More) Darlene Cates (What's Eating Gilbert Grape?) Cher (Mask) Glenn Close (World According to Garp) Claudette Colbert (Imitation of Life 1934) Gladys Cooper (Now Voyager) Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) Bette Davis (Little Foxes) Viola Davis (Doubt) Doris Day (Please Don't Eat the Daisies) Faye Dunaway (Mommie Dearest) Irene Dunne (I Remember Mama) Jo Van Fleet (Cool Hand Luke) Constance Ford (A Summer Place) Jodie Foster (Little Man Tate) Ruth Gordon (Where's Poppa?) Eileen Heckart (Butterflies Are Free) Katharine Hepburn (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) Jane Hoffman (Sybil) Anjelica Huston (The Grifters) Elsa Janssen (Pride of the Yankees) Lainie Kazan (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) Diane Keaton (The Good Mother) Leopoldine Konstantin (Notorious) Angela Lansbury (Manchurian Candidate) Piper Laurie (Carrie) Myrna Loy (Cheaper by the Dozen) Shirley MacLaine (Postcards From the Edge) Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment) Marjorie Main (Ma & Pa Kettle) Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl) Dorothy McGuire (A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) Dorothy McGuire (Old Yeller) Juanita Moore (Imitation of Life 1959) Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People) Agnes Moorehead (Citizen Kane) Patricia Neal (Subject Was Roses) Maureen O'Hara (Parent Trap) Maria Ouspenskaya (Dodsworth) Vivian Pickles (Harold and Maude) Anne Ramsey (The Goonies) Anne Ramsey (Throw Momma from the Train) Donna Reed (It's a Wonderful Life) Adeline De Walt Reynolds (Going My Way) Debbie Reynolds (Mother) Rosalind Russell (Gypsy) Susan Sarandon (Lorenzo's Oil) Barbara Stanwyck (Stella Dallas) Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice) Lana Turner (Imitation of Life 1959) Lana Turner (Madame X) Alberta Watson (Spanking the Monkey) Shelley Winters (Lolita) Joanne Woodward (Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds) Jane Darwell ("Ma Joad" from Grapes of Wrath) Myrna Loy (The Best Years of Our Lives) Other (but PLEASE be sure to explain WHY you chose this option below) \ How do you MoPo members feel? Bruce Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
