Best Actress Rewind: 1975

Oscar Nominees:

Isabelle Adjani … The Story of Adele H.

Ann-Margret … Tommy

Louise Fletcher … One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

Glenda Jackson … Hedda

Carol Kane … Hester Street

Mazur Nominees:

Isabelle Adjani … The Story of Adele H.

Ann-Margret … Tommy

Karen Black … The Day of the Locust

Elizabeth Montgomery … The Legend of Lizzie Borden

Delphine Seyrig … Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Oscar Winner: Louise Fletcher rode the tide of a Cuckoo’s Nest Oscar sweep and is, in my mind, one of the most unjust winners this category has ever seen. Not because her performance is bad — in fact, this is a great, controlled, iconic performance — but it belongs in the supporting category, not Best Actress.

Mazur Winner: Adjani and Montgomery give two assured, interesting performances, one in a film by an international auteur (Truffaut), the other in a surprisingly strong television film. But there is no other choice this year other than Delphine Seyrig, as the titular housewife in Chantal Akerman’s international success. She holds the film together with a steady, devastating performance that is still and quiet, but always captivating.