My choices are noted with a ★. Historical Oscar winners are noted with a ✔.
Note: I picked Bette Davis over Claudette Colbert and Myrna Loy because her blistering performance in Of Human Bondage pretty much finished the job James Cagney started in The Public Enemy, putting a fork in the genteel British stage style that had dominated the early sound era. I'll concede, though, that Davis gave better performances in her career, especially once she started working with director William Wyler in 1938 who stripped away the last of her actorly pretenses. Your call.
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