Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1939: Ranking

5. Edna May Oliver in Drums Along the Mohawk

Edna May Oliver tries her best to bring some life to the dull proceeding, but her performance ultimately gets lost within the silly and overblown mess that her movie is.

Best scene: Gil and Lana meet Mrs. McKlennar.

4. Maria Ouspenskaya in Love Affair

Maria Ouspenskaya gets very little screen-time but the movie is at its best whenever she is in it: she's sweet, wise, warm and poignant, turning Grandmother Janou into the tender heart of this movie. 

Best scene: "I don't like boats' whistles"

3. Geraldine Fitzgerald in Wuthering Heights

Fitzgerald makes the most out of her role easily making Isabella the emotional center of the movie. She does a great job at portraying her character's transition from a lovely girl to an embittered, broken-down trophy wife and her final scene is absolutely outstanding.

Best scene: Isabella's final plea to Heathcliff.

2. Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind

Hattie McDaniel turns a potentially stock role into a three-dimensional human being: she is hilarious in her comedic moments but she also brings a lot of warmth, intelligence and humanity to her portrayal and absolutely shines in her most dramatic scenes.

Best scene: Mammy talks to Melanie about the aftermath of Bonnie's death.

1. Olivia De Havilland, Gone with the Wind

In what could have been a flat or cheesy role, Olivia De Havilland is absolutely phenomenal making Melanie one of the most compelling characters of the whole movie. She brings a pure, sincere honesty to the role while also adding depth, strength and complexity to her character's good-hearted nature. It's one of the best performances of all times, and an easy win.

Best scene: Melanie consoles Rhett after Scarlett's miscarriage. 

Honorable Omissions: Gladys George is terrific in the role of Panama Smith in The Roaring Twenties: she brings toughness and realism to her work perfectly conveying her character's history and as the movie progresses she is absolutely heartbreaking as she subtly and wordlessly shows Panama's love for Eddie (James Cagney) - her final line-delivery alone is worth of every kind of awards. Jean Arthur is wonderful in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, perfectly portraying her character's slow transition from utter cynism to optimistic hope while sharing a pitch-perfect chemistry with James Stewart. In Name Only is not a masterpiece but it's an underrated, interesting little movie featuring an absolutely outstanding turn from Kay Francis who turns her potentially one-note villain into a surprisingly powerful character with unexpected complexity. Claire Trevor is very moving as the prostitute Dallas in Stagecoach: she shares a subtle, poignant chemistry with John Wayne and she herself does a very effective job at revealing kind-hearted nature as well as her desperation caused by other people's prejudice. The Women has a truly terrific ensemble, with the MVP being, for me, Rosalind Russell who couldn't be more hilarious: she gives a delightfully bitchy and effortlessly scene-stealing turn and I loved every minute she was on-screen. Joan Crawford brings the right amount of both charm and callousness to her villain, and Paulette Goddard is excellent at portraying an equally seductive yet surprisingly tender and warm variation of Crawford's character. Margaret Hamilton makes for a scene-stealing villain in The Wizard of Oz as she is menacing and entertaining in equal parts without ever hamming it up. Geraldine Fitzgerald delivers a moving, beautifully restrained turn in Dark Victory: she never attempts to steal the scene from Bette Davis yet she manages to leave a strong emotional impact thanks to her unassuming and effortless approach. Edna Best has the thankless and clichéd role of the long-suffering wife in Intermezzo but she portrays incredibly well and brings to it a lot of emotional power: I really like Leslie Howard's and Ingrid Bergman's performances, but the more I think about it the more I realize that Best is the one who truly does the heavy lifting in it. Greer Garson received a Best Actress nomination for her charming, warm turn in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, but her performance easily should have been placed in this category. Ona Mulson makes the most out of her little role as Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind, revealing a far warmer and gentler heart than it first seems. 

Predictions: Congratulations to Tahmeed Chowdhury, ruthiehenshallfan99, Michael Patison and omar for predicting my ranking! You can now choose a year (the years that have already been requested are: 1976, 1994, 1969, 1957, 2001, 1968, 1975, 1992).

The next year: 1976 (I know I previously said that 1994 was going to be the next year, but I checked and 1976 was requested before 1994)

My Best Supporting Actress Ballot:

1. Olivia De Havilland, Gone with the Wind
2. Gladys George, The Roaring Twenties - 4.5/5
3. Kay Francis, In Name Only - 4.5/5
4. Jean Arthur, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - 4.5/5
5. Claire Trevor, Stagecoach - 4.5/5
6. Rosalind Russell, The Women - 4.5/5
7. Paulette Goddard, The Women - 4.5/5
8. Hattie McDaniel, Gone with the Wind 
9. Geraldine Fitzgerald, Wuthering Heights 
10. Margaret Hamilton, The Wizard of Oz - 4.5/5