Unlike most of the reviewers who have responded to the initial post, I have seen all of the films featuring the actresses against whom Ms. Hepburn's performance was up against. The film most seem not to have seen would be "The Whisperers." Of the five films there is little doubt that the role played in that film by the great Edith Evans offered the most demanding and least glamorous role for an actress and that Ms. Evans responded with the proverbial tour de force. In "The Whisperers," hers is truly one of the great screen performances in film history. So, yes, Ms. Evans should have won hands down for her exceptional performance of what was, comparatively, an exceptional role. But then compared to the four other nominees, all of whom were outstanding performers, Edith Evans was arguably in a league of her own, although she had precious few opportunities in film to demonstrate that to posterity. In short, while Ms. Evans had the advantage of a film role with tremendous depth in which she was center stage and there was little else to distract from her performance, she was also arguably a superior actress to any of her competitors, even against someone with as prestigious and lengthy a film career as the great Katharine Hepburn.
That said, I urge those who have not seen it to make an effort to track down a copy of "The Whisperers," a film that tackles the painful and little examined topic of isolation amongst the elderly.
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