The Silver Screen Oasis

You may want to edit the year on your thread title- she passed Jan 4th 2023.
She was absolutely underrated-a very very good actress but sadly, most only know her from her performances in a few films.
Rest In Peace.

1983?

She was a very good actress, although the films she was in often pushed her to the side with minimal screentime, even though she made the most of what she had (I'm thinking of The April Fools, Songwriter, Prince of Tides, To Wong Foo..., How to Make an American Quilt, and Magnolia, though she did get a meaty scene in this final one). But with her four sizable parts (Bound for Glory, Close Encounters, Absence of Malice, Christmas Story), she showed herself to have a remarkable acting range, and maybe, if she had been born in an earlier era, she might have been one of Hollywood's most in demand character actresses.

Her performance in Absence of Malice is particularly striking, the role of a woman who has become guilt personified over what she did, and she shatters when her past becomes front page news. Her performance there feels like an open wound, and with just a few minutes of screentime, she overshadows two major stars (Newman and Field) completely. It becomes her film when the mind goes back over it, not theirs.

As for the obituaries mentioning Christmas Story more than Close Encounters, its likely due to the former plastering the TV airwaves at the close of every year. Quite a few people remember her still from Close Encounters, but due to many watching it once a year, the holiday film is what they associate her wirh most.

drednm wrote: ↑February 4th, 2023, 8:06 am1983?

CinemaInternational wrote: ↑February 4th, 2023, 11:30 am
As for the obituaries mentioning Christmas Story more than Close Encounters, its likely due to the former plastering the TV airwaves at the close of every year. Quite a few people remember her still from Close Encounters, but due to many watching it once a year, the holiday film is what they associate her wirh most.

I love Melinda Dillon!
I like both A Christmas Story and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind a lot.
I re-watched Close Encounters this week. It's a movie that gets better the more you watch it.
I also liked her as Nick Nolte's sister in The Prince Of Tides.

A lovely tribute