Like Mark said in his Veronica Cartwright tribute, this 4/20 is an essential date for actressexuals... among others. After all, we celebrate the horror queen's 75th birthday and that of Jessica Lange as well. Initially, I thought about writing about the star's upcoming adaptation of O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night, but that film seems trapped in some nebulous distribution limbo. By all accounts, production wrapped in late 2022 after a brief halt due to financing issues. Since then, there's been hardly any news, and Lange herself speculated it might not yet be finished in a Vulture interview. Let's hope we don't have another Blue Sky situation in our hands, though that farrago resulted in a Best Actress Oscar.
So, instead of dwelling on that mystery, why not remember The Film Experience's collective love for Jessica Lange? Going through the site, I came up with a selection of write-ups worth revisiting, plus some bonus Nina Foch to mark her centennial…
T'was beauty that... ooh, look King Kong
Back in 2019, the site did a multi-part celebration of legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis on the occasion of his centennial. Here's Nathaniel's take on the 1976 King Kong remake, which happened to be Jessica Lange's big-screen debut. In the shadow of a giant animatronic gorilla, a star is born.
Four years ago, I revisited one of the great Best Actress duels in Oscar history when Jessica Lange and Meryl Streep competed for the 1982 trophy. In a controversial turn of events, I concluded Lange's Frances deserved it more than AMPAS' chosen winner.
1984: Year of the Heroic Farm Wife
During the 1984 Supporting Actress Smackdown celebration, John Guerin wrote about that year's Best Actress race. In his overview of the many nominated farmwives, he highlights Lange's ability to summon and channel anger. Her work in Country is a piece of ferocious naturalism.
Crimes of the Heart: The Other "Steel Magnolias"
Kurt O wrote this wonderful dissection of Crimes of the Heart, delineating its actresses' different strategies. While I'm not a fan of the film, this analysis made me re-appreciate Lange's tightly coiled sexuality, her sense of devil-may-care abrasiveness in a role that could have been much flatter.
Horror Actressing: Jessica Lange in "Cape Fear"
As part of his sensational series, Jason Adams explored Lange's performance in Scorsese's 1991 remake. It's one of the actress' most underrated turns, tapping into her mercurial qualities for a terrified tour de force.
For Rob Roy's 25th anniversary, Eric Blume considers this period drama that tried to capitalize on Braveheart's popularity. Though the production finds Lange out of her comfort zone, she still delivers and then some. Chemistry-wise, she and Liam Neeson are a horny match made in heaven.
The site's odyssey through HBO's LGBT History led Manuel Betancourt to Normal, a TV movie about a trans woman's late-in-life transition. Tom Wilkinson plays the central figure, with Lange offering a tremendous duet partner as her wife. She's a live-wire of nervousness slowly settling into a new normal.
HBO's LGBT History: "Grey Gardens"
Lange won an Emmy for her rendition of Big Edie for the Grey Gardens TV Movie, a dramatization of the real-life figures presented in the homonymous documentary. Articulating her character's outward dereliction, the actress starts the film in high glamour before old age makeup encases her. She excells.
American Horror Story: Coven - "Bitchcraft" & "Boy Parts"
As far as Jessica Lange is concerned, Nathaniel is an admitted agnostic. When you add Ryan Murphy to the equation, skepticism only grows, but there's an exception to every rule. Against all odds, he surrendered to her spell in American Horror Story: Coven. So did the TV Academy, for that matter.
Jessica's Long Journey to that Triple Crown
With all this talk of awards, it might be wise to go over Jessica Lange's overall trajectory. That's exactly what Eric Blume did when the actress completed her Triple Crown through the stage version of Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Beyond Lange and Cartwright's 75th birthdays, today is also Nina Foch's centennial. The Dutch-born thespian is mainly known for her various supporting turns in a wide range of films, from post-war noir to 90s erotic thrillers. My favorite effort of hers is probably as a lonely heiress who falls for Gene Kelly in An American in Paris. Though she plays a mildly antagonistic role in the Best Picture winner, there's complexity to her portrayal, breathing life into a woman who weaponizes her wealth to help a struggling artist and bind him to her. There's marvelous ambivalence in Foch's sly characterization, the type of underrated mastery that can be found in some of Old Hollywood's best character actors.
Yet, her sole Oscar nomination didn't come for An American in Paris. Instead, it materialized three years later with Robert Wise's Executive Suite. She'd get my vote from that ceremony's Supporting Actress lineup, but both the Academy and the Supporting Actress Smackdown ended with an Eva Marie Sant victory. That said, there's some excellent writing about Foch's brilliance in a limited role, and I'd urge you all to give the Smackdown another look.
Tomorrow, the Jessica Lange celebration continues on The Film Experience. Stay tuned for more.