Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1955: Jo Van Fleet in East of Eden

Jo Van Fleet won the Oscar from her only nomination for her performance as Kate in East of Eden. 

East of Eden is a fantastic movie about Cal, a young, unhappy man who sees himself as the black sheep of his family and who longs for the affection of his father, who seems to prefer Cal's brother Abel. As World War I approaches, Cal decides to enter the bean-growing business in an attempt to win his father's love, while he finds out that his mother, whom he thought was dead, is actually alive. It's truly a beautiful movie that is wonderfully directed by Elia Kazan, with a terrific screenplay and some very good performances. Raymond Massey should have gotten a Best Supporting Actor nod for his pitch-perfect portrayal of Cal's and Abel's father, and Julie Harris also delivers a poignant, lovely performance as Abra. 

Kate is by far the juiciest and most interesting character in East of Eden: she doesn't get a lot of screen-time but this is one of those cases in which the lack of it works extremely well with the character - her limited time on screen only makes her character's motives even more mysterious and enigmatic. It's a character that benefits from an amazing writing and it's a fantastic showcase for an actress' talent: Jo Van Fleet's performance, sadly, doesn't quite live up to the demands of the role but it's still an extremely satisfying and interesting performance under many aspects. She has an extremely strong and intriguing screen-presence that makes her an very dominating figure even when she's seen from a distance. She brings the proper amount of mysteriousness to the role and makes Kate a truly intriguing character. Near the beginning she has a particularly great scene in which Cal, who is her son, goes to the brothel she owns in an attempt to get in touch with her but she angrily kicks him out: it's a brief but unforgettable moment and Jo Van Fleet does some truly effective facial acting as she witnesses Cal being beaten and sent away, suggesting for a second with a shocked, haunting expression that she might have recognized him. But she also shines in the quiet scene that takes place a few days later in which she finally speaks with Cal, who wants to ask her to borrow him the money he needs to get into business: James Dean and Jo Van Fleet share a perfect, phenomenal chemistry and they pay off each other exceptionally well. Their acting styles manage to match perfectly and it's a treat to watch them act together. They beautifully portray the unease of the situtation as the two are basically stranger but they also establish a believable and natural connection between their characters that make you see the similarities of their personality and their mutual understanding. 

Now there is her big scene in Kate's office and this is where the problems in her performance start to arise: she's never truly bad and she has a lot of terrific moments but there are others that could have been handled differently and it doesn't quite feel like she truly dig deep into the character. The fact is that Jo Van Fleet seems to care more about the technique rather than Kate's psychology which results in a performance that is a times overly mannered and at others a bit too shallow. Her showy, over-the-top acting style is at times extremely effective as it naturally works within her performance but other times it feels distracting and out of the place. In other moments, instead, she fails to give the depth and the complexity that the character deserves and the moment in which she tells Cal the reason why she shot his father, while far from bad, kind of feels like a missed opportunity because she doesn't convey the history between Kate and Adam as well as she should and, again, her sometimes overdone line-delivery doesn't work. Now this doesn't mean that the scene is bad: her aforementioned chemistry with James Dean is brilliant and she finds some great, powerful moments in the scene, such as when she tells him "You're a likeable kid", or when she tells him "Oh, get out of here" rejecting his attempt to have an operhearted conversation - and her sorrowful face after he leaves is alone more effective than the rest of the scene. 

I also think her final scene, in which an enraged and heartbroken Cal brings his brother to meet Kate, whom he thinks is dead, is fantastic and she nails every single emotion: the genuine happiness and surprise when she sees Cal, and then her shock, sadness and disappointment when she sees why he came - and her line-delivery of "Oh, Cal" is deeply heartbreaking. It's a small moment but an unforgettable and poignant one. In the end, this is a bit of a disappointing performance as I think that the role allowed for more but Jo Van Fleet still delivers an interesting portrayal that certainly adds to the film. She could have explored her character more, but she still gives a very good performance thanks to the excellent script, her terrific screen-presence and her brilliant chemistry with James Dean. 

3.5/5

On a side note, I've decided to stop doing the "Ranking of the nominees so far" under the results post of every year, and put instead my personal top 10 of the year (basically, my personal nominees). I'll still post my ranking of the nominees every now and then on an individual post, probably every five or ten years I will do, I just won't post it with the same frequency.