Coolest dames in movies

[lissener]

Louise Brooks
Greta Garbo
Jeanne Moreau
Bette Davis
Simone Signoret
Helen Mirren
Jody Foster
Maggie Cheung
Cyd Charisse
Judy Dench


People I thought of while doing this list, but don't quite crack the top ten for me (in no particular order): Sigourney Weaver, Joan Crawford, Meryl Streep, Christina Ricci, Audrey Hepburn, Norma Shearer, Joan Blondell, Lori Petty, Linda Hamilton, Lauren Bacall, Hedy Lamarr, Jane Darwell.

[Sefton]

When you say "coolest dame," are you talking about the actress or the characters she plays? Because I've always appreciated Jody Foster, but I've never thought of her characters as being particularly cool.

I agree with Garbo being up there, but I'd put Lauren Bacall quite a bit higher on your list. If only for this scene (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY4zkWUTvQM).

[pepperlandgirl]

Kate Hepburn (http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=a36565f0ab2abace&q=Kate+Hepburn++The+Philadelphia+Story+source:life&usg=__1pZuB-MIU_yxwlxZ3h42TbMtUj8=&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKate%2BHepburn%2B%2BThe%2BPhiladelphia%2BStory%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG)

[lissener]

Kate Hepburn (http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=a36565f0ab2abace&q=Kate+Hepburn++The+Philadelphia+Story+source:life&usg=__1pZuB-MIU_yxwlxZ3h42TbMtUj8=&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKate%2BHepburn%2B%2BThe%2BPhiladelphia%2BStory%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG)

I thought of her, but there was so often something kind of fluttery about her performances. I'll give you Pat and Mike, but she had a kind of brittle, vaguely hysterical affect, in my mind, that keeps her off my list.

[tr0psn4j]

Audrey Hepburn :D

[Bumbershoot]

Myrna Loy.

Nick & Nora Charles were the epitome of cool!

[Tangent]

Ellen Burstyn

[lissener]

Myrna Loy.

Nick & Nora Charles were the epitome of cool!

Don't know why I didn't think of her. I'm not sure she'd crack my top ten, but she definitely belongs somewhere in this thread. She's at her coolest in The Best Years of Our Lives and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

[twickster]

Barbara Stanwyck!

It's Jodie Foster

[twickster]

Audrey Hepburn :D

Definitely not a dame.

[well he's back]

did you remember Rosalind Russell? pretty darn cool.

[The Second Stone]

Cameron Diaz

[lissener]

Barbara Stanwyck!

It's Jodie Foster

Man, I'm an idiot. Stanwyck definitely cracks the top ten. And I felt a twinge of misspelling when I typed "Jody," but I didn't check it.

[Suburban Plankton]

My first thought upon reading the OP was "the broad from The Thin Man", whose name I couldn't recall. Thank you Bumbershoot for coming up with Myrna Loy for me...

I problem I have with this question is the use of the word "dame" in the OP. To me, a "dame" means one of two things:

A venerated British woman
A no-nonsense, take charge kind of woman, with a certain...je ne sais quoi

By the second definition, Myrna Loy, Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn are "dames". Jodie Foster, Audrey Hepburn, Cameron Diaz, not "dames". They might play powerful characters, women of authority, but they aren't "dames".

Helen Mirren qualifies on both counts :)


Just my 2 cents...

[Ranchoth]

In other words...as far as the OP's concerned, does "dame" just mean "female character/actor," or does she outright have to act like something close to the lady in this clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je5caEFgAUI)?

[AuntiePam]

did you remember Rosalind Russell? pretty darn cool.

I'd agree with this, but what about the ferociously needy spinster she played in Picnic? That was a great character (the best part of the movie) but I always feel a bit sorry for Arthur what's his name.

I'm adding Susan Hayward to the list. And Ruby Dee and Eve Arden.

ETA: How could I forget Joanne Woodward. I wonder how she's getting on.

ETA again: Susan Sarandon?

[lissener]

"Dame" was just meant to be the female counterpart of "dude." Don't define it too narrowly: "cool" is the operative word here.

[Lamia]

It's the word "cool" that's hanging me up. I can think of lots of actresses who I'd consider cool in the "hip, young, fashionable" sense, a good number who are cool in the poised and unflappable sense, but few who are cool in the way that Steve McQueen or Humphrey Bogart are cool. Sigourney Weaver is definitely one, though.

[lissener]

I'm adding Susan Hayward to the list. And Ruby Dee and Eve Arden.I'll buy Hayward. Eve Arden's a good one too. I've only see Ruby Dee in a few things though, I don't have much sense of her really.

Ruth Gordon?

[Kozmik]

Judy DenchIndeed.

[aldiboronti]

Jean Peters - (catch her in Pickup on South Street with Richard Widmark and you'll be instantly spellbound.)

Ida Lupino - High Sierra and The Hard Way are two of her coolest performances

[lissener]

Jean Peters - (catch her in Pickup on South Street with Richard Widmark and you'll be instantly spellbound.)

Ida Lupino - High Sierra and The Hard Way are two of her coolest performancesJean Peters is great, but her performance in Singin in the Rain--while brilliant--is definitely not cool. Lupino's a good one.

ETA: Brainfart: Singin in the Rain was Jean Hagen. Jean Peters is definitely a good addition to this thread.

[Evil Captor]

My problem with this thread is that with the first, entirely absent, and second, very lax, definition of "cool dame" you have created a thread which is clearly destined to be just another "my fave actress" thread among thousands of similar threads. Uncool.

[wolf_meister]

Evil Captor
Perhaps you have trouble understanding the meaning of this topic but I don't. To me it seems the OP implies an actress that can play a tough role but still be incredibly sexy. A femme fatal dripping with class.

Two such actresses come to mind:

Gloria Grahame (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002108/)
Here's some dialogue from one of her movies:
Dixon Steele: Go ahead and get some sleep and we'll have dinner together tonight.
Laurel Gray: We'll have dinner tonight. But not together.

And my other choice would be:

Theresa Russell (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000622/bio)
Probably most famous for portraying the title role in the film "The Black Widow".

[panache45]

I'd definitely add Stanwyck and Lupino, maybe Arden and mid-to-late Crawford.

A dame is a woman who takes a puff of her cigarette, snaps her purse shut and exits. If she doesn't have a purse that snaps, she's no dame.

[Sleeps With Butterflies]

I'll go with Faye Dunaway

[Sage Rat]

Anne Bancroft

[twickster]

A dame is a woman who takes a puff of her cigarette, snaps her purse shut and exits. If she doesn't have a purse that snaps, she's no dame.

Good definition.

[well he's back]

actually I thought of the character "Auntie Mame" when I saw the phrase "cool dame", so that's why I nominated Rosalind Russell. I think I was really nominating Mame (though God forbid NOT played by Lucille Ball).

[JKilez]

A dame is a woman who takes a puff of her cigarette, snaps her purse shut and exits. If she doesn't have a purse that snaps, she's no dame.
Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?

[lissener]

My problem with this thread is that with the first, entirely absent, and second, very lax, definition of "cool dame" you have created a thread which is clearly destined to be just another "my fave actress" thread among thousands of similar threads. Uncool.Um, no. They're not my favorite actresses at all. Not sure why I should customize a CS opinion thread to your worldview, but I'll try to do better.

[lissener]

Evil Captor
Perhaps you have trouble understanding the meaning of this topic but I don't. To me it seems the OP implies an actress that can play a tough role but still be incredibly sexy. A femme fatal dripping with class. <--EXcellent definition.

Two such actresses come to mind:

Gloria Grahame (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002108/)
Here's some dialogue from one of her movies:
Dixon Steele: Go ahead and get some sleep and we'll have dinner together tonight.
Laurel Gray: We'll have dinner tonight. But not together.

I love Gloria Grahame. WAY underappreciated. Try to see Human Desire (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047101/). Almost impossible to track down--watch for it occasionally on TCM--but one of her best fatale roles.

And my other choice would be:

Theresa Russell (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000622/bio)
Probably most famous for portraying the title role in the film "The Black Widow".

I will never understand the respect she gets. I think she's an even worse actress than Debra Winger, with exactly one (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078326/)decent performance in her career. ...

[wolf_meister]

lissener
Well, since you liked my definition, I guess I knew what you were talking about.

Gloria Grahame is definitely underappreciated and she's very rarely talked about in any discussions of film.

[Quasimodem]

Virginia Mayo.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0562920/

Q

[Cicero]

Mary Astor for "The Maltese Falcon" and Veronica Lake for "This Gun For Hire." I would have Lauren Bacall a bit higher as well.

[tr0psn4j]

Definitely not a dame.

And why not?

[AuntiePam]

And why not?

[Talking about Audrey Hepburn]

Vulnerability and innocence. She's the woman you toss your cape over the puddle for. A dame sees chivalry as weakness.

[Captain Amazing]

Kay Francis.

[Nzinga, Seated]

Gloria Foster. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk5ahbpOsWA&feature=related)

ETA: JKilez, you are killing me.

[lissener]

My problem with this thread is that with the first, entirely absent, and second, very lax, definition of "cool dame" you have created a thread which is clearly destined to be just another "my fave actress" thread among thousands of similar threads. Uncool.
Sorry, but this continues to really piss me off. Just for the record, here are my favorite actresses. And allow me to suggest that, in future, if you don't want to participate in a CS thread, EC, why then bless you, don't.

Bette Davis
Barbara Stanwyck
Anna Magnani
Julianne Moore
Toni Collette
Carole Lombard
Glenda Jackson
Myrna Loy
Samantha Morton
Shelly Winters
Marisa Tomei

[gwendee]

panache45's definition is along the lines of what I thought when I read the OP. three names popped into my head. Two (Barbara Stanwyck and Eve Arden) have already been mentioned. The third was Jane Russell.