Ten Favorite Female Leads

Sandrine Bonnaire
Favorite Films: À nos amours (Maurice Pialat, 1983), Vagabond (Agnès Varda, France), Joan the Maid (Jacques Rivette, 1994), The Ceremony (Claude Chabrol, 1995)

Irene Dunne
Favorite Films: Back Street (John M. Stahl, 1932), The Awful Truth (Leo McCarey, 1937), Love Affair (McCarey, 1939), My Favorite Wife (Garson Kanin, 1940)

Setsuko Hara
Favorite Films: Late Spring (Yasujiro Ozu, 1949), Early Summer (Ozu, 1951), Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953), Sound of the Mountain (Mikio Naruse, 1954)

Meena Kumari
Favorite Films: Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (Abrar Alvi, 1962), Pakeezah (Kamal Amrohi, 1972)

Waheeda Rehman
Favorite Films: Pyaasa (Guru Dutt, 1957), Kagaaz Ke Phool (Dutt, 1959), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (M. Sadiq, 1960), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (Abrar Alvi, 1962)

Marie Rivière
Favorite Films: The Aviator's Wife (Eric Rohmer, 1981), Summer (Rohmer, 1986), An Autumn Tale (Rohmer, 1998)

Leonor Silveira
Favorite Films: Abraham's Valley (Manoel de Oliveira, 1993), Inquietude (Oliveira, 1998), The Uncertainty Principle (Oliveira, 2002), A Talking Picture (Oliveira, 2003)

Barbara Stanwyck
Favorite Films: The Bitter Tea of General Yen (Frank Capra, 1933), Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937), Remember the Night (Mitchell Leisen, 1940), Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks, 1941)

Hideko Takamine
Favorite Films: Mistress (Shirô Toyoda, 1953), Floating Clouds (Mikio Naruse, 1955), Untamed (Naruse, 1957), When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Naruse, 1960)

Kinuyo Tanaka
Favorite Films: Love of the Sumako the Actress (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1947), The Life of Oharu (Mizoguchi, 1952), Mother (Mikio Naruse, 1952), Sansho the Bailiff (Mizoguchi, 1954)