The Volpi Cup and its History of Best Actresses

(Note: Years skipped are those where the prize was not handed out, for whatever reason.)

• 1934 Katharine Hepburn in "Little Women"

• 1935 Paula Wessely in "Episode"

• 1936 Annabella in "Veille D'armes"

• 1937 Bette Davis in "Kid Galahad" & "Marked Woman"

• 1938 Norma Shearer in "Marie Antoinette"

• 1941 Luise Ullrich in "Annelie"

• 1942 Kristina Soderbaum in "Die Goldene Stadt"

• 1947 Anna Magnani in "L'onorevole Angelina"

• 1948 Jean Simmons in "Hamlet"

• 1949 Olivia de Havilland in "The Snake Pit"

• 1950 Eleanor Parker in "Caged"

• 1951 Vivien Leigh in "A Streetcar Named Desire"

• 1953 Lilli Palmer in "The Four Poster"

• 1956 Maria Schell in "Gervaise"

• 1957 Dzidra Ritenberga in "Malva"

• 1958 Sophia Loren in "The Black Orchid"

• 1959 Madeleine Robinson in "À Double Tour"

• 1960 Shirley Maclaine in "The Apartment"

• 1961 Suzanne Flon in "Tu ne Tueras Point"

• 1962 Emmanuelle Riva in "Thérèse Desqueyroux"

• 1963 Delphine Seyrig in "Muriel"

• 1964 Harriet Andersson in "Att Alska"

• 1965 Annie Girardot in "Trois chambres à Manhattan"

• 1966 Natalya Arinbasarova in "Pervyj Uchitel"

• 1967 Shirley Knight in "Dutchman"

• 1968 Laura Betti in "Teorema"

• 1982 Susan Sarandon in "Tempest"

• 1983 Darling Legitimus in "Rue Cases Negres"

• 1984 Pascale Ogier in "Les Nuits de la pleine lune"

• 1986 Valeria Golino in "Storia d'amore"

• 1985 Kang Soo-yeon in "Contract Mother"

• 1988 Shirley Maclaine in "Madame Sousatzka" & Isabelle Huppert in "Une Affaire De Femmes"

• 1989 Peggy Ashcroft & Geraldine James in "She's Been Away"

• 1990 Gloria Münchmeyer in "La Luna en el Espejo"

• 1991 Tilda Swinton in "Edward II"

• 1992 Gong Li in "Qiu Ju Da Guan Si"

• 1993 Juliette Binoche in "Trois Coleurs: Bleu"

• 1994 Maria de Medeiros in "Três Irmãos"

• 1995 Sandrine Bonnaire & Isabelle Huppert in "La Cérémonie"

• 1996 Victoire Thivisol in "Ponette"

• 1997 Robin Tunney in "Niagara, Niagara"

• 1998 Catherine Deneuve in "Place Vendôme"

• 1999 Nathalie Baye in "Une Liaison Pornographique"

• 2000 Rose Byrne in "The Goddess of 1967"

• 2001 Sandra Ceccarelli in "Luce Dei Miei Occhi"

• 2002 Julianne Moore in "Far From Heaven"

• 2003 Katja Riemann in "Rosenstrasse"

• 2004 Imelda Staunton in "Vera Drake"

• 2005 Giovanna Mezzogiorno in "The Beast in the Heart"

• 2006 Helen Mirren in "The Queen"

• 2007 Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There"

• 2008 Dominique Blanc in "L'Autre"

• 2009 Kseniya Rappoport in "The Double Hour"

I have see 12 of these 56 performances, and there isn't a bad one among them. I've probably been spoiled there. The win that sticks out the most has to be Shirley Knight for "Dutchman", victorious over Catherine Deneuve in "Belle de Jour" (the Golden Lion that year), and in a sex comedy that lasts less than an hour. Still, who am I to judge?

Analysis of some of these women to follow soon, beginning with the youngest of them. Stay tuned!