It seems like a rare occasion when AMPAS gives the best actor or actress award to the most deserving performer. This year they did the right thing. Hilary Swank was born to play Brandon Teena/ Teena Brandon, in the same way that Dustin Hoffman was the perfect choice to play Ratso Rizzo (in Midnight Cowboy). Unfortunately, Dustin was robbed by the Academy, losing out to John Wayne. 

The first time you watch Swank, you are amazed at how well she portrays a guy in a woman's body. The second time you watch the movie, you begin to notice the subtle nuances she adds to the performance, how her eyes evoke fear and terror so movingly toward the end of the movie. Her first love scene with Chloe Sevigny is tasteful, tender, and emotionally satisfying. There is nothing insincere, artificial or staged about it. I haven't seen such wonderful kissing between women since I saw Ginger Lynn kissing Raven in a prison movie. Can you imagine Sharon Stone, Holly Hunter, Annette Bening, Meryl Streep, or even Ashley Judd in the same role? It just wouldn't work.

Now, here's some romantic advice from Don Juan DeHarpo. If you want to become a truly great lover of woman, then you must learn to kiss her deeply, passionately, on both sets of lips. Know what I mean? Hilary Swank does.

Even if you haven't seen the film yet, it is easy to confirm the top screen shot by viewing the movie trailer, and matching the aspect ratio (1.85:1).
 

I was amazed at how many people missed this movie as well as Sullivan's Travels, but were able to figure out the bonus question (more or less). Even if you didn't recognize Garbo from the top picture (and confused her with Dina Merrill or one of the Gabor sisters), you could have located the film by doing a keyword search on Queen, using Cinemania, limiting the window to pre-1950 movies. Get rid of any color movies, or films without a real queen, and you will essentially have just Queen Christina, based on the constraints imposed by the bonus question. Sullivan's Travels can be guessed just by searching for hobo, and reading the review carefully.

Bonus Question: The four films this week have something very specific in common. What is it?

Here was my answer to the above question (paraphrasing from memory): Swank, Paltrow, Lake, and Garbo dress up in men's clothing, allowing them to assume identities other than their own.

Initially, this answer was scored wrong. I thought it was because I forgot to insert the implicit word male before the word identities. It turns out that I did such a great job of hiding the Lady in the Lake, or should I say, the Lake among the Ladies, that the quizmaster did not see Veronica Lake in my answer. If you had to read several hundred answers to the quiz each week, then you too might be bleary-eyed after awhile. Thus my advice to other contestants is (a) spell out the full name of each performer to eliminate confusion, and (b) include an essay to further illustrate your line of reasoning. Here is the quizmaster's full explanation for the type of answer he was looking for.

In each of the four films from last week, the lead actress spends part of the film disguised as a man: Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry, Greta Garbo in Queen Christina, Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love and Veronica Lake in Sullivan's Travels.

I received many, many answers that were "close but no cigar." Gender-bending was too general; cross-dressing was too general (especially since this answer was given by many folks who thought that Shot D was from Some Like It Hot); androgyny (having the sexual characteristics of both sexes) was plain incorrect; characters disguising themselves or pretending to be someone they are not -- again too general (in fact this answer was often given by folks who cited Joel McCrea pretending to be a hobo in Sullivan's Travels, forgetting that Veronica Lake was also in that film, disguised as a male hobo).

Congratulations to all the folks who simply (and correctly) stated that all four films had female characters who were disguised as, or pretended to be, or dressed as boys or men. That's what I was looking for and you all got credit for such answers.

Final note: TV Guide's review mentions that Greta Garbo was disguised as a man in her movie. This is subject to interpretation. To be disguised as someone (especially someone of the opposite sex) implies prior intent. Here is how I view the plot. Garbo decides to go out for a ride. She dons mannish clothing, for comfort. When she and her escort (C. Aubrey Smith) meet Gilbert on the road, she offers advice to him on how to get his carriage unstuck. She never says explicitly that she is a member of the male sex. When she later stops by a tavern to obtain a room, she does not refer to herself as a prince. The innkeeper mistakes her for a male member of the nobility. She goes along with this ruse, on the spur of the moment. In fact, if you watch the movie carefully, she removes her hat while speaking to the innkeeper, half expecting him to recognize that she really is a woman. When he doesn't, she goes along with the misidentification, and continues the ruse with Gilbert. Later, when she and Gilbert are in the room together, she finally removes her jacket, exposing a woman's blouse. The contour of her breasts is clearly visible, because unlike Swank or Paltrow, she did not strap them down. This is a further indication that she did not go out that day with the intention of disguising herself as a man. It is more like circumstances allowed her to pose as a man, and only by her whimsical failure to deny this perception. 

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