Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)

At the beginning of this film, Shirley Booth is annoying. She’s pushy and needy and seems oblivious to the people she bulldozes over. But she’s more than that. She’s desperately lonely, she has suffered more rejection than she can bear, and she loves fully, her recently recovered alcoholic husband played by Burt Lancaster. Lancaster is a little less fully realized. He’s conservatively close-minded and unhappy with the direction his life took after an unexpected pregnancy forced him to marry, allowing these things to cause him to spiral. There’s quite a bit of this that ends up feeling like an AA advertisement, but these two performances, especially Booth’s, elevate it to something stronger.

Oscar Win: Best Actress in a Leading Role

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress in a Supporting Role; Best Film Editing