Angela Lansbury
Although her character would not win any Mother of the Year awards, Ms. Lansbury looked absolutely beautiful in this movie.
shareI so agree. She was stunning and gave a brilliant performance too. I can't say I'm a huge fan of this film but Miss Lansbury is the only reason I'd watch it again.
shareShe's lovely, very sophisticated -- and quite the snob.
As always Angela played the character superbly!
"I can't say I'm a huge fan of this film but Miss Lansbury is the only reason I'd watch it again."
Unlike you, I do like this film a lot--but Miss Lansbury is the main reason I watch it every chance I get. She's stunning, moves beautifully and upstages all the other actors (all of whom are good, just not as good as she is).
She's also the main reason I watch The Manchurian Candidate. She has a unique and powerful screen presence.
Miss Lansbury was perfectly cast for this role. She is beautiful, sophisticated, and heartless, all at the same time. In a lesser actress's hands, the role might have turned into a caricature, but she embodies it with a sense of realism. She's such an amazingly talented actress!
share"In a lesser actress's hands, the role might have turned into a caricature, but she embodies it with a sense of realism. She's such an amazingly talented actress!"
Definitely. I just watched the movie again today and was noticing all the tiny things she does to keep her character from turning into a caricature. She lets us get a glimpse behind the mask that Isabel Boyd presents to the world. Expressions of conscience and uncertainty on her face let us see that there's more there than what she shows her family and lovers.
In her phone conversation with her lover, Joe, he says Val told him he was a lousy pianist. When Isabel hears that word, you can see she's put two and two together and knows that the pianist Val is really interested in is Henry, not Joe. Angela Lansbury lets us see that Isabel has made the connection without saying a word. There's just a brief flicker across her face, nothing more; it's a marvelous moment.
She's just fascinating.